Researcher Spotlight: Patrick McLinden Senior Research Specialist – Pulmonary

What is your professional background?
I completed my undergrad in Microbiology at the University of Michigan at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Serendipitously, with the entire world focused on the field of pulmonary medicine and disease, I found a real calling for myself working in that very same field. Amidst early pandemic lockdowns and a relatively bleak job market, I consider myself infinitely lucky to have found myself—a mere three months later—working in the lab of Dr. Vibha N Lama.

Which division do you work in? Who is your mentor?
I work in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, and my research mentor and Principal Investigator is Dr. Vibha N Lama.

Briefly describe your research. Why is it important?
Despite excellent advances made in the medical management of many end-stage lung diseases, lung transplantation is often the best available resource for improving the quality of life for many patients. This fact is juxtaposed, however, to the reality that lung transplants have the lowest 10-year survival rate among all solid organ transplants performed in the U.S.

The Lama Lab fights every day to improve the outcomes these patients face. Our work’s primary focus is on lung-resident mesenchymal cells and their contribution to fibrosis and chronic lung allograft dysfunction or CLAD, the leading cause of death in lung transplant recipients. So our work is imperative—patients with a lung transplant deserve a fighting chance to breathe both easily and without the concern that they’re simply living on borrowed time.

What do you like most about Emory?
The last few months have been a real whirlwind. Transitioning a lab to a new institution isn’t easy, but thanks to the hard work of so many phenomenal people and teams here at Emory, our research picked right back up where we left off within two months of arriving!

As such, what I love most about Emory so far is how committed the research community and its various organs are to making sure Emory’s research never stops.

What is your favorite movie or TV show?
I’m a real film buff, so please forgive the (likely) obscure reference here, but my favorite film of all time is The Third Man (1949).

What do you like to do in your spare time?
When I can, I love to bake, hike with my partner and our two dogs, and explore Atlanta’s great dining scene.

What is a fun fact about you?
A fun fact about me is that, in my free time, I teach first-year medical students sensitive exam techniques and patient-centered care.