Dr. med. Linda Gailīte, Leading researcher and Head of the Scientific Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, Riga Stradins University.
Research requires patience, persistence of interest, creativity and clarity of purpose to arrive at important results.
Linda has been working in the RSU Scientific Laboratory of Molecular Genetics since 2002. The main activity of the laboratory is genetic analysis, studying acquired or inherited DNA changes in various diseases and signs. That is why Linda and her colleagues’ research areas are very diverse; their directions and relevance are determined by the laboratory’s collaborators – clinicians from various specialities, including the Children’s Clinical University Hospital and Pauls Stradins Clinical University Hospital, who see patients’ needs, facing unanswered questions and diagnostic challenges on a daily basis. For Linda, working with practising clinicians provides a link to reality and to specific patients, which is very important in research. Linda has also developed a genetic test, GENTERF, for the simultaneous detection of genetic variations important for reproduction, which helps to diagnose known genetic causes of infertility more quickly.
Linda started her scientific career in the RSU genetics group. It was one of the few scientific groups where future doctors – first-year students – could also work on research papers. Without noticing it at first, the laboratory “pulled her in” – very small projects remotely related were followed by more serious works and tasks. Now, as the head of the lab herself, Linda is well aware of the bold and uncertain investment of student involvement in projects, and is very grateful to the people who gave her the opportunity and this invaluable vote of confidence. At the same time, she is equally grateful to her current colleagues – a strong team without whom her research achievements would not have been possible.
Linda considers the most important thing in her work as the head of the laboratory to be her ability to create, as she puts it, a “sandbox” for her employees, i.e., to secure the necessary funding, technological and all other prerequisites so that colleagues can creatively and purposefully focus on their research work, as well as generate and implement ideas without having to worry about practical and administrative issues.
Linda is attracted to molecular genetics because the object of her research is human DNA, which can be viewed and studied in many different ways, and from many different angles. In addition, despite the increasing possibilities in this field, including artificial intelligence and near-perfect databases, it is the researcher’s expertise and scientific intuition that are increasingly crucial: the biggest challenge nowadays is no longer to obtain data, but to analyse and interpret it unerringly. Molecular genetics is important, Linda believes, because it provides an answer to the causes of changes in the human body – the specific diagnosis or pathology. She recognises that finding answers is important even when they are not followed by a solution – every research success encourages us to move forward in the large and still uncharted field of genetics. At the same time, Linda is very pleased that the project is using genetic tests to reduce time to diagnosis, improve clinical decision-making and tailor treatment.
Thinking about the future of science in Latvia, Linda believes that the most important thing is not to lose the potential and resources of young Latvian scientists, to maintain and not break the link even when they go to study and work outside Latvia. She is convinced that cross-border cooperation and professional communication is also possible and very necessary with domestic scientists, and not only with foreign ones – then there is more hope that they will return and continue their careers in the interests of Latvian science