Linda Carol Samuelson (born 1954) is an American physiologist who researches the role of

stem cell In multicellular organisms, stem cells are undifferentiated or partially differentiated cells that can differentiate into various types of cells and proliferate indefinitely to produce more of the same stem cell. They are the earliest type o ...

s in the

gastrointestinal tract The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organ (biology), organs of the digestive syste ...

. She is the John A. Williams Collegiate Professor of Gastrointestinal Physiology at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

, president of the American Physiological Society, and fellow of the American Physiological Society and the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

Early life and education

Linda Carol Samuelson was born to parents Bonnie and Roy Samuelson. She grew up in East Lansing, Michigan with three siblings. She had an early interest in science and math, and would help her high school chemistry teacher facilitate lab sessions. She attended

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the fi ...

for her bachelor's degree in biochemistry (1976) and the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

for her PhD in microbiology (1984) under the advisorship of Rosann Farber.

Career

She worked as an assistant research scientist at the

from 1988 to 1991, at which point she became an assistant professor in the Department of Physiology. She was promoted to associate professor in 1998 and full professor in 2003. In 2011, she became the John A. Williams Collegiate Professor of Gastrointestinal Physiology. Samuelson researches the role of

s in the

. She has served on the editorial boards of several journals, including the ''

Annual Review of Physiology The ''Annual Review of Physiology'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes review articles about physiology. First published in 1939 through a collaboration between the American Physiological Society and Annual Reviews, it was publish ...

'', ''Physiological Genomics'', ''

Gastroenterology Gastroenterology (from the Greek gastḗr- “belly”, -énteron “intestine”, and -logía "study of") is the branch of medicine focused on the digestive system and its disorders. The digestive system consists of the gastrointestinal tract ...

'', and '' AJP-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology''.

Awards and honors

In 2015 she was elected as an inaugural fellow of the American Physiological Society. She was elected a fellow of the

in 2019. In 2020 she became the 93rd president of the American Physiological Society.

Personal life

Her interests include the

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...

and cycling. She is married to Joel Howell, who is also a faculty member at the University of Michigan. They met while studying at Michigan State University. They have two sons.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Samuelson, Linda C Living people 1954 births People from East Lansing, Michigan Michigan State University alumni University of Chicago alumni University of Michigan faculty American physiologists Women physiologists Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science American women scientists American women academics 21st-century American women