Linda Columbus is an American chemist who is Professor of Chemistry and Molecular Physiology at the University of Virginia.
Columbus was born to young parents, neither of whom were educated beyond high school, and grew up in New Hampshire.
[1] Columbus was an undergraduate student at Smith College and moved to the University of California, Los Angeles, for graduate research.
[2] Her doctoral research with Prof. Wayne L. Hubbell involved the use of spin labelling to understand the backbone and side chain dynamics of α-helices in the nanosecond regime.
[4][6] To study the structures of the membrane proteins involved in cellular invasion by bacterial pathogens, Columbus makes use of site-directed spin labelling and nuclear magnetic resonance.