Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Sarah Linnstaedt, PhD received her undergraduate degree at Virginia Tech and her doctoral degree at Georgetown University in Washington DC. She then completed a Post-Doctoral Fellowship at Duke University, researching the role of small regulatory RNAs, called microRNAs, in the pathogenesis of B cell lymphomas. While working as a post-doc, in addition to her interest in the mechanistic role of microRNAs, Dr. Linnstaedt also became interested in the potential of microRNAs to serve as biomarkers of various disease states. She soon noticed a particular need for the discovery of these diagnostic molecules in the chronic pain field and joined The Department of Anesthesiology TRYUMPH research team in the Fall of 2012 to commence such studies. With the mentorship and collaboration of Dr. Samuel McLean and the use of blood samples from his large prospective Emergency Department based study of chronic pain development following Motor Vehicle collision (MVC), she has been able to examine microRNA signatures that are predictive of chronic pain development after traumatic or stressful events. With these microRNA signatures, Dr. Linnstaedt can gain insight into molecular mechanisms driving the development of chronic pain. Techniques currently used in her laboratory include genetic association analyses, cell culture assays, molecular cloning, next generation sequencing, quantitative PCR, and bioinformatics and statistical analyses of RNA expression data.
Dr. Linnstaedt’s long term goals are to define diagnostic molecules and therapeutic targets that will help improve the outcome of individuals experiencing chronic pain following traumatic or stressful events. She very much enjoys mentoring the amazing group of students in her laboratory and outside of research, Dr. Linnstaedt spends time with family and friends, travels to new destinations, and takes lots and lots of photos.
Chronic pain after trauma may depend on what stress gene variation you carry
Aug 28, 2018 13:00 pm UTC| Insights & Views Health
Unfortunately, almost every individual in the world will experience at least one traumatic event, such as a car crash, assault, exposure to war combat or a natural disaster during their lifetime. Many will endure more than...
Johannesburg in a time of darkness: Ivan Vladislavić’s new memoir reminds us of the city’s fragility
Economist Chris Richardson on an ‘ugly’ inflation result and the coming budget
Biden administration tells employers to stop shackling workers with ‘noncompete agreements’
Labour can afford to be far more ambitious with its economic policies – voters are on board
IceCube researchers detect a rare type of energetic neutrino sent from powerful astronomical objects