Linda Bloom, Ph.D.
Professor and Associate Chair of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
College of Medicine
Linda Bloom is a world-class leader and researcher in the field of biochemistry and molecular biology. After graduating from the University of Florida with a Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 1990, she has dedicated her career to improving the understanding of DNA replication and repair mechanisms and dynamics, a path that has also brought her distinction as an accomplished educator and mentor in her more than 25 years at the UF College of Medicine.
Bloom’s discoveries have had a profound impact on the foundational understanding of mechanisms for maintaining genome stability, providing insights into biochemical bases of genetic disorders and cancers.
In particular, her studies on the mechanisms of clamp loaders, helicases and DNA damage tolerance pathways have transformed the global understanding of how cells maintain genome integrity. More recently, her research on Rad3/XPD DNA helicases in Escherichia coli has opened new frontiers in the study of bacterial genome maintenance and its parallels in human disease.
“Every time a cell divides, it has to accurately copy the genome so that each daughter cell gets the same set of instructions with no mutations,” she said. “Cells have mechanisms to look at the DNA and make sure that it’s intact, and if something happens, that they can repair it. And so what we’re trying to understand is how those enzymes do that, how they maintain the structure and the integrity of genomic DNA and what factors can make them not work as they should, with the hope of understanding the basis for disease and practical applications like developing antibiotics and cancer therapies.”
As a result, Bloom has authored 65 peer-reviewed research publications — often featured in prestigious scientific journals like Nature Communications — contributed several academic book chapters on DNA replication and repair and maintained consistent National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation grant funding throughout her tenure, amounting to almost $2 million.
She also received the 2024 Dr. Mavis Agbandje- McKenna Distinguished Research Mentoring Award from the College of Medicine in recognition of her work training 14 doctoral and eight master’s students while also serving as associate department chair and graduate coordinator, assisting with curriculum development, graduate program leadership and faculty mentorship.
“As a mentor, I think my biggest success is to help train the next generation of students and get them out into the world so they can do exciting new research and make exciting new discoveries,” she said.