March 15, 2024 • 30 mins
Join me on today's episode where I sit down with Dr. Linnea Baudhuin, a devoted wife and mother of five who just so happens to be a distinguished molecular geneticist. Dr. Linnea shares with us how she stays focused on her vocational call of motherhood while also contributing to advancing the field of genetic science as a Professor of Laboratory Medicine at the Mayo Clinic.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Good afternoon and welcome to everybody.
The podcast which sharesstories that highlight people in
life, that make the world aninteresting place, which
ultimately ties us all togetherin unique and wonderful ways.
And who am I?
You might ask.
I would be the headwrappedsocialite Weith mom,
(00:23):
micro-influencer in the fashionand etiquette world, but on this
podcast I will be introducingyou to some people who I've had
the opportunity to meet along myjourney, who have helped enrich
me in my life in beautiful waysand who I hope will do the same
in your life.
I have the pleasure of sittingwith Dr Linnea Bodewin, a loving
(00:49):
wife and mother of five, who isalso a distinguished clinical
molecular geneticist andprofessor of laboratory medicine
at the Mayo Clinic, a co-deputyeditor of clinical chemistry,
who is at the forefront ofcutting edge research, with
expertise in a vast array ofgenomic medicine.
(01:09):
I'm excited to welcome myfriend Linnea to today's podcast
.
Could you tell the listeners alittle bit about who you are?
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Thank you, trina, it's so great to be here.
A little bit about myself, Ithink you summed it up really
well.
As you mentioned, I am aclinical molecular geneticist.
I specialize in genetic testingfor cardiovascular and renal
genetic disorders.
I also specialize inpharmacogenetics, which is
(01:39):
looking at the genetic makeup ofsomebody to try to
individualize their therapy.
I've been at Mayo for 21 years.
Like you said, I have five kids.
I'm incredibly busy.
I have two in college, two inhigh school and one in middle
school and, yeah, life is good.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
What you do I find really interesting.
Question that I have is what isthe difference between genetics
and genomics?
Could you please enlighten me?
Speaker 2 (02:10):
I think it's a really good question and it's
something that comes up a lot.
It's kind of subtle and it'sfunny because even my field has
changed over the past 10 yearsand how it's naming things and
even the division that I'm in.
At Mayo we went from thedivision of laboratory genetics
to now the division oflaboratory genetics and genomics
(02:32):
.
My board certifying agency wentfrom the American board of
medical genetics to the Americanboard of medical genetics and
genomics and genetics is, Ithink, more of a little bit
narrow focus.
It's more looking at just thegenes that encode for proteins.
So we have our genome, which isthree billion base pairs, and
(02:58):
only about one to two percent ofour genome is actually encodes
for genes that encode forproteins.
So we have this 98 percent ofthe genome where a lot of it we
don't really know what it does.
And it can regulate geneexpression or RNA expression or
(03:20):
chromosome folding and differentthings, but we don't really
have a good grasp on it.
So, basically, genetics is alittle bit narrow or focus, but
it's most of what we do whenwe're talking about testing and
diagnosing people and doingpharmacogenetic treatment,
(03:40):
companion diagnosis, those kindsof things, whereas again,
genomics is broader but againthere's less we understand about
it.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Thank you.
I would say well, how doesbioinformatics?
What section would that fallunder?
Speaker 2 (03:53):
That's a combination.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
My field has changed a lot.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
So when I started 20 years ago as a fellow in a
clinical genetic testinglaboratory, we were doing very
focused genetic testing.
We did not have the technologyto do what we're doing today and
my field has really explodedand it's just a fun place to be.
But the technology requiresbioinformatics.
(04:18):
And it's actually like, I'mimpressed that you know that.
So now, because we're doing,we're able to sequence our whole
genome, but how do we makesense of it?
Because it's huge.
Again, we're talking, you know,3 billion base pairs and we
need some sort of computationalanalyses or bioinformatics in
(04:40):
order to be able to seedifferences in our genome
compared to you know thereference genome again in
diagnosing diseases orunderstanding what's going on
for somebody's health.
So bioinformatics is really abig part of what we do today.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
When did you know this was going to be the field
that you were going to go into?
Like?
When was that moment that yousaid you know what I'm all in?
This is my jam.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
I love it that you're asking me this question because
it's a conversation I have withmy kids a lot about.
You know.
There's so many great optionsout there, I mean, and so many
different things that interestus right.
So I always was interested inscience and I always love math
and I started out in college asa math major thinking because I
(05:30):
love math puzzles and you knowso much.
And then I went down the pathand then I took my first course
in abstract math and I was likewait a minute.
This is ridiculous.
It was just too likephilosophical.
So I changed my major tobiology and I grew up in a house
(05:51):
where my dad was a pathologistso go and visit him at work.
But it was just fascinating andhe would tell us stories and so
I was always interested inmedicine as well and so many
different things that I like Icould do this, I could do that.
And so how do you?
How do you narrow down, how doyou focus?
How do you determine whereyou're, where you want to go?
(06:14):
And for me it was really amatter of of asking God what he
had planned for me and trustingthat he would open doors for me.
And you know, I got mybachelor's degree in biology,
and then I really wasn't surewhat I wanted to do next.
And I ended up going to gradschool to work on a master's
(06:35):
degree in clinical laboratoryscience, which is essentially
working in a clinical lab doingtesting.
And when I was there, one of myfriends said, hey, there's this
graduate program over inCleveland and you can go there
and get your PhD in, basicallyin clinical laboratory science.
I was like, oh, that soundsinteresting.
(06:55):
And I kind of thought, oh,maybe this is a door that's open
for me.
So I I applied to that programand I got in and Bob and I moved
to Cleveland.
We were married by then andthings kept happening and doors
kept opening for me.
The door to come to mail to doa fellowship opened for me.
The door for my currentposition opened for me a year
(07:20):
before I was done with myfellowship.
I think all along I've justfelt that this, this is what God
has intended for me and I'm soglad because I love my job.
And if I was telling Bob theother day I was saying you know,
you could probably talk toanybody and nobody would love
(07:41):
their job more than I do exceptmaybe Jay Morris.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
He's got a love.
His job Fantastic.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
You know I'm helping patients.
I'm in an area that's sointeresting and changing.
I work with fantastic peopleand I have a family.
I live in a great community.
You know if that's not God?
Speaker 1 (08:04):
what is it?
You know this is.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
This is really where I feel that God wanted me to go,
and so I I try to think of thatas much as possible, because
you know why did he put me here,and I want to be able to use
the talents he gave me to helppeople.
So I think anybody who'sstruggling with knowing what to
do and I tell my kids, prayabout it and think about you got
(08:31):
opening doors for you, becausehe has a plan for you.
You don't know what it is, buthe does, and so you have to
trust in that as much aspossible.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Yeah, and I like what you said, how every step of the
way, like the Holy Spirit, likemoving you through those doors,
each thing that you were doingbecame crystal clear.
There are those moments that wehave.
I believe God shows his hand tous and allows us to be a part
of this beautiful story and bebrave enough to step through
(09:04):
that door.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
That's the other part of it.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Yeah, I mean, it's not easy to get.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
You can't just have things handed to you.
You have to work for it.
So yeah, but it's a risk thatyou have to be willing to take
if that's where you think yourpath is going, for sure, thank
you for sharing that.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
So, as code deputy editor of clinical chemistry,
what exactly does your jobentail?
Speaker 2 (09:30):
This is my second year now as code deputy editor
of clinical chemistry.
Clinical chemistry is a journalit's actually the premier
journal in laboratory medicineand our journal publishes papers
that are based on differentmethods for the clinical lab and
for diagnostics, monitoringdisease and in areas like that,
(09:56):
in all areas of laboratorymedicine, which includes
microbiology, genetics, genomics, chemistry, all different
disease states, and so it'sactually a really fun thing to
be code deputy editor.
And what code deputy editormeans is that I'm one step below
the editor in chief and if theeditor in chief is unable to
(10:17):
answer questions or makedecisions, the code deputy
editors there's two of us westep in and make the decisions,
and it's really fun.
I find it a nice little sidething to do, even though it
involves quite a bit of time,because there's so many
interesting things that come ourway and we meet every week the
editor in chief and some of thestaff and talk about different
(10:41):
papers that we've been reviewingor handling different
situations.
There's all sorts ofinteresting things that come up
besides the science and themedicine of the manuscripts how
are we going to guide authors interms of different
controversial things and so it'sreally fun.
(11:01):
It's completely different thanmy day-to-day job, but it's
really fun to be more on thecutting edge of what's coming
out in laboratory medicine.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
What advancements in genomic technologies are you
most excited about currently?
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Yeah, there's so many things.
One area that I really focus onis called genotype phenotype
correlations, and we have thisability to sequence the genome
and find so many more thingsgoing on in the genome than we
used to be able to do.
We can make better correlationsbetween the genetics of
(11:41):
somebody and the disease thatthey're expressing.
So with that we are now findingthat we can really personalize
medicine for individuals so wecan say, ok, you have this
phenotype and you have thisgenetic makeup.
We can give you this certaintherapy.
(12:02):
We can do this management.
We may want to considerprophylactic surgery depending
on the dimensions of your aorticroute and having this gene
involved.
So we're able to make theseconnections again to provide
this more personalized medicine.
But there's just so much, evenmore than that that we're still
(12:24):
not able to do what we want todo and it should be coming and
it has to do more withartificial intelligence and
taking all these different omicsthings, genomics,
transcriptomics, patient imaging.
There's so many possibilitiesnow with artificial intelligence
(12:45):
and machine learning and now wehave the electronic health
record so we can mine data fromthe electronic health record and
make better correlations andjust integrating everything to
make things more personalizedfor the patient, so they get the
best treatment possible.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
That's so cool, but how close do you think we are to
getting to something like that,where people who may not have
access to health here, but theycan go to their CVS or Walgreens
or whatever you know getting OK.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
I think that's a great question because it's
something that we do talk aboutand I think there's definitely
right now some inequity inhealth care in terms of genetic
testing, because it is veryexpensive and it is only able to
be performed by really largerlaboratories.
(13:43):
Because it is a very expensivetechnology and it requires a lot
of resources, requires a lot ofsupport to be able to do this
type of testing.
Whether it's bioinformatics,genetic counselors, lab
directors, physicians there's awhole team of people that need
to be involved in order toperform the genetic testing,
(14:03):
interpret the results and puttogether a report that makes
sense.
But I am excited about the waythat technologies are changing.
They're becoming smaller,cheaper faster, better.
That eventually this technologyin the near future, I think is
going to be able to be rolledout to smaller labs, perhaps
(14:25):
even places like CBS andWalgreens, and be more
accessible to everybody.
And I think that's reallyexciting, because we all have
things in our genetic makeupthat can influence our health
care, and there's so many morecommon things that many of us
(14:46):
are not aware of.
So, even genetics or not,everybody should get their
cholesterol checked, but a lotof people don't.
A lot of people don't knowtheir cholesterol, and there's a
very common genetic disorderknown as familial hypercluster
alemia.
It's one of the most commongenetic disorders.
It's very treatable and so ifsomebody can get their
(15:07):
cholesterol checked, even whenthey're a kid, they could
potentially be treated for itearly on and prevent early
cardiovascular disease, and sowe can detect that with a
cholesterol test.
We can also detect it with agenetic test, and in fact it is
being done in some studies on apreventative case where
(15:31):
population genetic type of thing, where.
So, for example, mayo Clinichas the tapestry study, where
they do look at the genesinvolved in familial
hypercluster alemia, and so youcan get tested through that, and
I think it's just thatawareness of just knowing you
might be at risk forcardiovascular disease based on
(15:53):
your genetic makeup or yourcholesterol.
I think it's really importantfor everybody to be able to have
access to that Very simple,easy blood test, whether from
the standpoint of cholesterol oreven a genetic test.
And, like I said, thetechnology is changing, so if
(16:14):
things are becoming more andmore accessible, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Can you elaborate a little bit more on the
significance of genomics andunderstanding and treating these
conditions?
Because a lot of times I feelespecially within the African
American community, this issomething that's very prevalent.
I cholesterol runs deep andsometimes we think that, well,
(16:39):
because my mom didn't have it.
Maybe your mom didn't know shehad it, but that is not going to
happen to me.
And some people think, well, Idon't eat fast food all the time
, oh, that means I'm not goingto get high cholesterol, but it
could be something that isfamilial.
So no matter what you eat, youcan still have that.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
I think that's also a really excellent question
because there is sort of alimited awareness of if you have
a genetic basis for highcholesterol.
You can change your lifestylebut you're still going to have
high cholesterol because of themechanism of what's going on
inside your body.
And FH is very common it's it'sone in 200 to one in 300
(17:21):
worldwide.
You can eat healthier, you canexercise, which is all great,
but if you have FH, the besttreatment for you is likely
going to be a statin drug andstatins work are very effective
for low cholesterol, for FH.
So you don't necessarily have toget a genetic test to know that
(17:42):
you might have FH.
You know FH can be diagnosedbased on LDL cholesterol levels,
which is like what they callquote unquote bad cholesterol,
and sometimes family history ispresent, sometimes it's not and
sometimes, like you said, youmight not know your family
history, your parents might notknow their family history or
their cholesterol levels.
So cholesterol test issomething that's very easy to do
(18:06):
and, again, it's very treatableand cardiovascular disease with
FH can be very preventable ifcaught early.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Thank, you Balancing a demanding career with being a
wife and mother of five?
How do you manage to balancelife?
Speaker 2 (18:23):
A couple years ago, I was asked to write an article
on work life balance and Iwasn't sure how to approach it,
because they're integrated.
You can't really separate workfrom life and life from work,
and what I found is thatsomething has to give and,
(18:47):
depending on what it is, itmight be your work, it might be
your home life, but it's it'salways kind of a constant state
of flux.
You can have it all but youcan't have it all, and I think
just the recognition of you know, I want to raise my kids and be
(19:08):
there for them and try toattend as many of their things
as possible and be close to them, and in order to do that, I
might have to sacrifice some ofmy career high profile
activities, which I think isokay.
The way I look at it, part of myvocation is is as a mother, as
(19:30):
well and and trying to raisegood people to also be
productive citizens, and so Ithink the balance is really it's
a give and take, and thensometimes I'll say you know,
what I want to go over to Europeand give this presentation, or
go over to South Korea and bepresent for this conference and
(19:54):
give a presentation there, andso I'm not going to be around,
so you know.
So then I'm grateful I have agreat spouse who is very hands
on as well, and I think we justhave to to rely on on each other
.
But it is like I said, it's anebb and flow, a give and take,
and just the realization thatyou can have it all, but you
(20:16):
can't have it all without somesort of sacrifice.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Well, so my takeaway from what you just said is that
having it all may not meanperfection, but at all moments
we try to prioritize what trulymatters in our lives, and I just
want to say thank you forsharing.
I would have sat in a spotlighton you, but you enjoy playing
the piano, sports, gardening,puzzles like you mentioned
(20:43):
earlier and travel.
How do these hobbies contributeto your well-being and your
work-life balance?
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Yeah.
So I was just thinking, yeah, Ilove those things, but when do
I get to do them?
So actually I think the pianohas been a huge godsend for me
because it's just I don't playthe piano a lot, but what I do
is just very relaxing and it's away to just kind of get into a
(21:12):
different world.
And during COVID is when Ireally play the piano a lot and
I was so grateful to have thatas a distraction and I learned
Moonlight Sonata, which I love.
It's such a beautiful piece.
Probably the first movement.
I cannot do the second and thirdmovements, but my kids play
(21:33):
piano and it's wonderful to beable to have some sort of music
going on in my life.
I love working out andexercising.
I ran track and cross countryand college.
I can't run so much anymorebecause of an injury, but I
(21:55):
still try to do something almostevery day, even if it's just
for like 20 minutes and even ifit's just something like going
for a walk, which doesn't exciteme as much as doing something
more cardiovascular.
But I think it's important alsofor our mental health and
well-being to spend some timejust exercising.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
For sure.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
And I like to put together puzzles and board games
and all those things.
It can be very challenging tofind downtime to do those things
but, it's important, I think,to carve out time during our day
to try to fit those things in.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Oh yeah, I agree with you, and even though right now
we're in negative temperatures,so it's hard to look forward to
the spring.
But how often do you get out togarden?
Speaker 2 (22:44):
I love doing, but oh, my garden is pathetic, no, okay
.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Well, let me just tell you, dear listeners, that,
first of all, her garden is notpathetic.
It's going to downplay hergardening abilities, but she
really is an avid gardener andshe has a wonderful green thumb.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Thank you so much.
I have to credit my parents.
So, first of all, my name isLinnea, which is it's a Swedish
name, and the reason my parentslove the name Linnea is because
it's named after a famousbotanist, carl Linnaeus.
My mom was a master gardener,my dad loved horticulture so I
(23:24):
grew up we'd go for walks and myparents would be teaching me
names of trees, and my mom was ahuge gardener.
We always had beautiful flowerbeds, vegetables.
She grew up on a farm, which youknow I think it's still that
and her so I just always lovednature and loved having, you
(23:45):
know, a lot of flowers andinteresting plants in my yard
and actually, like you know, myhusband's really great with the
pruning and knowing when to doall that kind of thing, and
together it's been really fun,because our yard started out as
pretty much blank, a typical.
Our house was built in the 80s.
We have a typical 1980s yard,when we first moved there, and
(24:09):
now it's been transformed intosomething that we really love
and it's just.
I think it's a place to, youknow, find refuge, even though
you know we're in town and ouryard isn't that big or anything,
but it's just.
You can look out the window, oryou can sit outside and just
kind of take you away to adifferent place for a moment,
(24:31):
which I think is alwayswonderful.
For sure, you're a perfectoasis.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Yes, and I will tell the listeners and I don't know
if you remember, but you mightif I bring the story up.
There's one time where we hadcome over to your home, and I
believe it was during like thefamily rosary, and all of a
sudden Linnea starts bringingout these boxes.
Like what's in these boxes?
We're like what are these?
Are these like cookies?
Can I tell you?
(24:57):
Inside the boxes were labeledthese beautiful and I would say
they were butterflies.
Oh, do you remember Linnea?
Yes, and I was like, oh my gosh.
And then her handwriting.
I mean, it was just so perfect,it was so tiny.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Yeah, I was like we couldn't do that today and I was
like who does this?
I?
Speaker 1 (25:14):
was like this is somebody I could be friends with
.
I was like she's really cool.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
But yeah, oh gosh, you're taking me back.
Yeah, so those are myentomology collection from
college actually.
So, as I mentioned, I was abiology master, I was a math
major, became a biology majorand I'm so glad I became a
biology major because I got totake all these cool classes
Entomology, arachnology, whichis spiders.
(25:41):
I took a bird class I can't bethat in for it.
So now I'm really good atidentifying birds.
But yeah, I had this or I havethis insect collection,
basically that I've held on to,and I also have interesting fact
a spider collection fromarachnology and I donated it to
(26:03):
my professor and he donated itto the Smithsonian.
So I have spiders that are inthe vaults of the Smithsonian
somewhere.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
That is so cool, like I just want to clap.
That is so awesome.
Yeah, that is pretty cool, soit's really fun yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
Because you know, with basically like what my
parents taught me growing up intrees and plants and everything,
and then the courses I took incollege.
I love nature and I lovegetting out there and
identifying things and it's sofun because we live in such a
fascinating natural world andthere's just so many interesting
and interesting things to see.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Okay, that's one fact that I never knew about you.
Yeah, so now next time when Igo to the Smithsonian, I'm going
to be like, excuse me, I'm acurator.
That is so.
That is so awesome.
I have thoroughly enjoyed this,this chat with you and this sit
(27:05):
down today and as we concludethis episode with Dr Linnea
Bodwin and explored themultifaceted life of a clinical
molecular geneticist.
We've also discovered herpersonal side, beyond the lab,
from the joy of playing thepiano moonlight sonata to the
therapeutic nature of gardeningand I've heard this saying
(27:30):
before and it has often beenattributed to Mary Engelbreit
it's about people being therefor one another and being a
friend in the garden of life.
And there are certain peoplethat you meet along the road
where they just add anotherlayer to your story and they
just make your life just morebeautiful.
(27:51):
And every time I have aninteraction with you, linnea, my
heart is left full.
You bloom me and you grow me inways that I didn't know that I
needed to be bloomed, and I amgrateful for our friendship.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Thank you so much, trina.
I think it's just beautiful theway that that God has brought
us together, and I'm so gratefulfor my friends in faith.
They lift me up and they remindme that there's more to life
than you can see, and it givesme a lot of hope and joy.
(28:28):
So the same back to you.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
So now that this interview is officially
concluded, I have a couple funquestions for you, okay, okay.
So the first question.
I was thinking I'm like if youwere to organize a genetics
themed dinner party and you caninvite three historical figures,
fictional characters orcontemporary personalities, who
(28:53):
would be on your guest list andwhy?
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Oh my gosh, that's a great question.
You're always, so I keep sayingthat that's a great question.
Okay, gregor Mendel, okay, so Ialways think it's so
interesting because so much ofour, our scientific knowledge is
from, like, monks and you know,saintly Catholic people who
(29:19):
studied science, and GregorMendel is one of those he was he
was the the father of genetics.
You know, everybody knows theirpea flower colors, biology class
and like how to cross hybridizedifferent pea strains to get
(29:42):
like different colored flowers.
You know that was Gregor MendelJust I think you'd be
fascinated to talk to just.
You know how did he even thinkof?
Doing this or think that it hadto do with genetics, and so
that's, that's one person.
Oh gosh, I'm trying to likenarrow it down, I don't know.
(30:03):
I just think that there's a lotof even modern day geneticists
who have really revolutionizedtechnology and our creative
thinkers.
Good afternoon and welcome to everybody.
The podcast which sharesstories that highlight people in
life, that make the world aninteresting place, which
ultimately ties us all togetherin unique and wonderful ways.
And who am I?
You might ask.
I would be the headwrappedsocialite Weith mom,
(00:23):
micro-influencer in the fashionand etiquette world, but on this
podcast I will be introducingyou to some people who I've had
the opportunity to meet along myjourney, who have helped enrich
me in my life in beautiful waysand who I hope will do the same
in your life.
I have the pleasure of sittingwith Dr Linnea Bodewin, a loving
(00:49):
wife and mother of five, who isalso a distinguished clinical
molecular geneticist andprofessor of laboratory medicine
at the Mayo Clinic, a co-deputyeditor of clinical chemistry,
who is at the forefront ofcutting edge research, with
expertise in a vast array ofgenomic medicine.
(01:09):
I'm excited to welcome myfriend Linnea to today's podcast
.
Could you tell the listeners alittle bit about who you are?
Speaker 2 (01:17):
Thank you, trina, it's so great to be here.
A little bit about myself, Ithink you summed it up really
well.
As you mentioned, I am aclinical molecular geneticist.
I specialize in genetic testingfor cardiovascular and renal
genetic disorders.
I also specialize inpharmacogenetics, which is
(01:39):
looking at the genetic makeup ofsomebody to try to
individualize their therapy.
I've been at Mayo for 21 years.
Like you said, I have five kids.
I'm incredibly busy.
I have two in college, two inhigh school and one in middle
school and, yeah, life is good.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
What you do I find really interesting.
Question that I have is what isthe difference between genetics
and genomics?
Could you please enlighten me?
Speaker 2 (02:10):
I think it's a really good question and it's
something that comes up a lot.
It's kind of subtle and it'sfunny because even my field has
changed over the past 10 yearsand how it's naming things and
even the division that I'm in.
At Mayo we went from thedivision of laboratory genetics
to now the division oflaboratory genetics and genomics
(02:32):
.
My board certifying agency wentfrom the American board of
medical genetics to the Americanboard of medical genetics and
genomics and genetics is, Ithink, more of a little bit
narrow focus.
It's more looking at just thegenes that encode for proteins.
So we have our genome, which isthree billion base pairs, and
(02:58):
only about one to two percent ofour genome is actually encodes
for genes that encode forproteins.
So we have this 98 percent ofthe genome where a lot of it we
don't really know what it does.
And it can regulate geneexpression or RNA expression or
(03:20):
chromosome folding and differentthings, but we don't really
have a good grasp on it.
So, basically, genetics is alittle bit narrow or focus, but
it's most of what we do whenwe're talking about testing and
diagnosing people and doingpharmacogenetic treatment,
(03:40):
companion diagnosis, those kindsof things, whereas again,
genomics is broader but againthere's less we understand about
it.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
Thank you.
I would say well, how doesbioinformatics?
What section would that fallunder?
Speaker 2 (03:53):
That's a combination.
Speaker 1 (03:55):
My field has changed a lot.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
So when I started 20 years ago as a fellow in a
clinical genetic testinglaboratory, we were doing very
focused genetic testing.
We did not have the technologyto do what we're doing today and
my field has really explodedand it's just a fun place to be.
But the technology requiresbioinformatics.
(04:18):
And it's actually like, I'mimpressed that you know that.
So now, because we're doing,we're able to sequence our whole
genome, but how do we makesense of it?
Because it's huge.
Again, we're talking, you know,3 billion base pairs and we
need some sort of computationalanalyses or bioinformatics in
(04:40):
order to be able to seedifferences in our genome
compared to you know thereference genome again in
diagnosing diseases orunderstanding what's going on
for somebody's health.
So bioinformatics is really abig part of what we do today.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
When did you know this was going to be the field
that you were going to go into?
Like?
When was that moment that yousaid you know what I'm all in?
This is my jam.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
I love it that you're asking me this question because
it's a conversation I have withmy kids a lot about.
You know.
There's so many great optionsout there, I mean, and so many
different things that interestus right.
So I always was interested inscience and I always love math
and I started out in college asa math major thinking because I
(05:30):
love math puzzles and you knowso much.
And then I went down the pathand then I took my first course
in abstract math and I was likewait a minute.
This is ridiculous.
It was just too likephilosophical.
So I changed my major tobiology and I grew up in a house
(05:51):
where my dad was a pathologistso go and visit him at work.
But it was just fascinating andhe would tell us stories and so
I was always interested inmedicine as well and so many
different things that I like Icould do this, I could do that.
And so how do you?
How do you narrow down, how doyou focus?
How do you determine whereyou're, where you want to go?
(06:14):
And for me it was really amatter of of asking God what he
had planned for me and trustingthat he would open doors for me.
And you know, I got mybachelor's degree in biology,
and then I really wasn't surewhat I wanted to do next.
And I ended up going to gradschool to work on a master's
(06:35):
degree in clinical laboratoryscience, which is essentially
working in a clinical lab doingtesting.
And when I was there, one of myfriends said, hey, there's this
graduate program over inCleveland and you can go there
and get your PhD in, basicallyin clinical laboratory science.
I was like, oh, that soundsinteresting.
(06:55):
And I kind of thought, oh,maybe this is a door that's open
for me.
So I I applied to that programand I got in and Bob and I moved
to Cleveland.
We were married by then andthings kept happening and doors
kept opening for me.
The door to come to mail to doa fellowship opened for me.
The door for my currentposition opened for me a year
(07:20):
before I was done with myfellowship.
I think all along I've justfelt that this, this is what God
has intended for me and I'm soglad because I love my job.
And if I was telling Bob theother day I was saying you know,
you could probably talk toanybody and nobody would love
(07:41):
their job more than I do exceptmaybe Jay Morris.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
He's got a love.
His job Fantastic.
Speaker 2 (07:48):
You know I'm helping patients.
I'm in an area that's sointeresting and changing.
I work with fantastic peopleand I have a family.
I live in a great community.
You know if that's not God?
Speaker 1 (08:04):
what is it?
You know this is.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
This is really where I feel that God wanted me to go,
and so I I try to think of thatas much as possible, because
you know why did he put me here,and I want to be able to use
the talents he gave me to helppeople.
So I think anybody who'sstruggling with knowing what to
do and I tell my kids, prayabout it and think about you got
(08:31):
opening doors for you, becausehe has a plan for you.
You don't know what it is, buthe does, and so you have to
trust in that as much aspossible.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Yeah, and I like what you said, how every step of the
way, like the Holy Spirit, likemoving you through those doors,
each thing that you were doingbecame crystal clear.
There are those moments that wehave.
I believe God shows his hand tous and allows us to be a part
of this beautiful story and bebrave enough to step through
(09:04):
that door.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
That's the other part of it.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
Yeah, I mean, it's not easy to get.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
You can't just have things handed to you.
You have to work for it.
So yeah, but it's a risk thatyou have to be willing to take
if that's where you think yourpath is going, for sure, thank
you for sharing that.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
So, as code deputy editor of clinical chemistry,
what exactly does your jobentail?
Speaker 2 (09:30):
This is my second year now as code deputy editor
of clinical chemistry.
Clinical chemistry is a journalit's actually the premier
journal in laboratory medicineand our journal publishes papers
that are based on differentmethods for the clinical lab and
for diagnostics, monitoringdisease and in areas like that,
(09:56):
in all areas of laboratorymedicine, which includes
microbiology, genetics, genomics, chemistry, all different
disease states, and so it'sactually a really fun thing to
be code deputy editor.
And what code deputy editormeans is that I'm one step below
the editor in chief and if theeditor in chief is unable to
(10:17):
answer questions or makedecisions, the code deputy
editors there's two of us westep in and make the decisions,
and it's really fun.
I find it a nice little sidething to do, even though it
involves quite a bit of time,because there's so many
interesting things that come ourway and we meet every week the
editor in chief and some of thestaff and talk about different
(10:41):
papers that we've been reviewingor handling different
situations.
There's all sorts ofinteresting things that come up
besides the science and themedicine of the manuscripts how
are we going to guide authors interms of different
controversial things and so it'sreally fun.
(11:01):
It's completely different thanmy day-to-day job, but it's
really fun to be more on thecutting edge of what's coming
out in laboratory medicine.
Speaker 1 (11:11):
What advancements in genomic technologies are you
most excited about currently?
Speaker 2 (11:18):
Yeah, there's so many things.
One area that I really focus onis called genotype phenotype
correlations, and we have thisability to sequence the genome
and find so many more thingsgoing on in the genome than we
used to be able to do.
We can make better correlationsbetween the genetics of
(11:41):
somebody and the disease thatthey're expressing.
So with that we are now findingthat we can really personalize
medicine for individuals so wecan say, ok, you have this
phenotype and you have thisgenetic makeup.
We can give you this certaintherapy.
(12:02):
We can do this management.
We may want to considerprophylactic surgery depending
on the dimensions of your aorticroute and having this gene
involved.
So we're able to make theseconnections again to provide
this more personalized medicine.
But there's just so much, evenmore than that that we're still
(12:24):
not able to do what we want todo and it should be coming and
it has to do more withartificial intelligence and
taking all these different omicsthings, genomics,
transcriptomics, patient imaging.
There's so many possibilitiesnow with artificial intelligence
(12:45):
and machine learning and now wehave the electronic health
record so we can mine data fromthe electronic health record and
make better correlations andjust integrating everything to
make things more personalizedfor the patient, so they get the
best treatment possible.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
That's so cool, but how close do you think we are to
getting to something like that,where people who may not have
access to health here, but theycan go to their CVS or Walgreens
or whatever you know getting OK.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
I think that's a great question because it's
something that we do talk aboutand I think there's definitely
right now some inequity inhealth care in terms of genetic
testing, because it is veryexpensive and it is only able to
be performed by really largerlaboratories.
(13:43):
Because it is a very expensivetechnology and it requires a lot
of resources, requires a lot ofsupport to be able to do this
type of testing.
Whether it's bioinformatics,genetic counselors, lab
directors, physicians there's awhole team of people that need
to be involved in order toperform the genetic testing,
(14:03):
interpret the results and puttogether a report that makes
sense.
But I am excited about the waythat technologies are changing.
They're becoming smaller,cheaper faster, better.
That eventually this technologyin the near future, I think is
going to be able to be rolledout to smaller labs, perhaps
(14:25):
even places like CBS andWalgreens, and be more
accessible to everybody.
And I think that's reallyexciting, because we all have
things in our genetic makeupthat can influence our health
care, and there's so many morecommon things that many of us
(14:46):
are not aware of.
So, even genetics or not,everybody should get their
cholesterol checked, but a lotof people don't.
A lot of people don't knowtheir cholesterol, and there's a
very common genetic disorderknown as familial hypercluster
alemia.
It's one of the most commongenetic disorders.
It's very treatable and so ifsomebody can get their
(15:07):
cholesterol checked, even whenthey're a kid, they could
potentially be treated for itearly on and prevent early
cardiovascular disease, and sowe can detect that with a
cholesterol test.
We can also detect it with agenetic test, and in fact it is
being done in some studies on apreventative case where
(15:31):
population genetic type of thing, where.
So, for example, mayo Clinichas the tapestry study, where
they do look at the genesinvolved in familial
hypercluster alemia, and so youcan get tested through that, and
I think it's just thatawareness of just knowing you
might be at risk forcardiovascular disease based on
(15:53):
your genetic makeup or yourcholesterol.
I think it's really importantfor everybody to be able to have
access to that Very simple,easy blood test, whether from
the standpoint of cholesterol oreven a genetic test.
And, like I said, thetechnology is changing, so if
(16:14):
things are becoming more andmore accessible, Thank you.
Speaker 1 (16:17):
Can you elaborate a little bit more on the
significance of genomics andunderstanding and treating these
conditions?
Because a lot of times I feelespecially within the African
American community, this issomething that's very prevalent.
I cholesterol runs deep andsometimes we think that, well,
(16:39):
because my mom didn't have it.
Maybe your mom didn't know shehad it, but that is not going to
happen to me.
And some people think, well, Idon't eat fast food all the time
, oh, that means I'm not goingto get high cholesterol, but it
could be something that isfamilial.
So no matter what you eat, youcan still have that.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
I think that's also a really excellent question
because there is sort of alimited awareness of if you have
a genetic basis for highcholesterol.
You can change your lifestylebut you're still going to have
high cholesterol because of themechanism of what's going on
inside your body.
And FH is very common it's it'sone in 200 to one in 300
(17:21):
worldwide.
You can eat healthier, you canexercise, which is all great,
but if you have FH, the besttreatment for you is likely
going to be a statin drug andstatins work are very effective
for low cholesterol, for FH.
So you don't necessarily have toget a genetic test to know that
(17:42):
you might have FH.
You know FH can be diagnosedbased on LDL cholesterol levels,
which is like what they callquote unquote bad cholesterol,
and sometimes family history ispresent, sometimes it's not and
sometimes, like you said, youmight not know your family
history, your parents might notknow their family history or
their cholesterol levels.
So cholesterol test issomething that's very easy to do
(18:06):
and, again, it's very treatableand cardiovascular disease with
FH can be very preventable ifcaught early.
Speaker 1 (18:14):
Thank, you Balancing a demanding career with being a
wife and mother of five?
How do you manage to balancelife?
Speaker 2 (18:23):
A couple years ago, I was asked to write an article
on work life balance and Iwasn't sure how to approach it,
because they're integrated.
You can't really separate workfrom life and life from work,
and what I found is thatsomething has to give and,
(18:47):
depending on what it is, itmight be your work, it might be
your home life, but it's it'salways kind of a constant state
of flux.
You can have it all but youcan't have it all, and I think
just the recognition of you know, I want to raise my kids and be
(19:08):
there for them and try toattend as many of their things
as possible and be close to them, and in order to do that, I
might have to sacrifice some ofmy career high profile
activities, which I think isokay.
The way I look at it, part of myvocation is is as a mother, as
(19:30):
well and and trying to raisegood people to also be
productive citizens, and so Ithink the balance is really it's
a give and take, and thensometimes I'll say you know,
what I want to go over to Europeand give this presentation, or
go over to South Korea and bepresent for this conference and
(19:54):
give a presentation there, andso I'm not going to be around,
so you know.
So then I'm grateful I have agreat spouse who is very hands
on as well, and I think we justhave to to rely on on each other
.
But it is like I said, it's anebb and flow, a give and take,
and just the realization thatyou can have it all, but you
(20:16):
can't have it all without somesort of sacrifice.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Well, so my takeaway from what you just said is that
having it all may not meanperfection, but at all moments
we try to prioritize what trulymatters in our lives, and I just
want to say thank you forsharing.
I would have sat in a spotlighton you, but you enjoy playing
the piano, sports, gardening,puzzles like you mentioned
(20:43):
earlier and travel.
How do these hobbies contributeto your well-being and your
work-life balance?
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Yeah.
So I was just thinking, yeah, Ilove those things, but when do
I get to do them?
So actually I think the pianohas been a huge godsend for me
because it's just I don't playthe piano a lot, but what I do
is just very relaxing and it's away to just kind of get into a
(21:12):
different world.
And during COVID is when Ireally play the piano a lot and
I was so grateful to have thatas a distraction and I learned
Moonlight Sonata, which I love.
It's such a beautiful piece.
Probably the first movement.
I cannot do the second and thirdmovements, but my kids play
(21:33):
piano and it's wonderful to beable to have some sort of music
going on in my life.
I love working out andexercising.
I ran track and cross countryand college.
I can't run so much anymorebecause of an injury, but I
(21:55):
still try to do something almostevery day, even if it's just
for like 20 minutes and even ifit's just something like going
for a walk, which doesn't exciteme as much as doing something
more cardiovascular.
But I think it's important alsofor our mental health and
well-being to spend some timejust exercising.
Speaker 1 (22:17):
For sure.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
And I like to put together puzzles and board games
and all those things.
It can be very challenging tofind downtime to do those things
but, it's important, I think,to carve out time during our day
to try to fit those things in.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Oh yeah, I agree with you, and even though right now
we're in negative temperatures,so it's hard to look forward to
the spring.
But how often do you get out togarden?
Speaker 2 (22:44):
I love doing, but oh, my garden is pathetic, no, okay
.
Speaker 1 (22:50):
Well, let me just tell you, dear listeners, that,
first of all, her garden is notpathetic.
It's going to downplay hergardening abilities, but she
really is an avid gardener andshe has a wonderful green thumb.
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Thank you so much.
I have to credit my parents.
So, first of all, my name isLinnea, which is it's a Swedish
name, and the reason my parentslove the name Linnea is because
it's named after a famousbotanist, carl Linnaeus.
My mom was a master gardener,my dad loved horticulture so I
(23:24):
grew up we'd go for walks and myparents would be teaching me
names of trees, and my mom was ahuge gardener.
We always had beautiful flowerbeds, vegetables.
She grew up on a farm, which youknow I think it's still that
and her so I just always lovednature and loved having, you
(23:45):
know, a lot of flowers andinteresting plants in my yard
and actually, like you know, myhusband's really great with the
pruning and knowing when to doall that kind of thing, and
together it's been really fun,because our yard started out as
pretty much blank, a typical.
Our house was built in the 80s.
We have a typical 1980s yard,when we first moved there, and
(24:09):
now it's been transformed intosomething that we really love
and it's just.
I think it's a place to, youknow, find refuge, even though
you know we're in town and ouryard isn't that big or anything,
but it's just.
You can look out the window, oryou can sit outside and just
kind of take you away to adifferent place for a moment,
(24:31):
which I think is alwayswonderful.
For sure, you're a perfectoasis.
Speaker 1 (24:35):
Yes, and I will tell the listeners and I don't know
if you remember, but you mightif I bring the story up.
There's one time where we hadcome over to your home, and I
believe it was during like thefamily rosary, and all of a
sudden Linnea starts bringingout these boxes.
Like what's in these boxes?
We're like what are these?
Are these like cookies?
Can I tell you?
(24:57):
Inside the boxes were labeledthese beautiful and I would say
they were butterflies.
Oh, do you remember Linnea?
Yes, and I was like, oh my gosh.
And then her handwriting.
I mean, it was just so perfect,it was so tiny.
Speaker 2 (25:10):
Yeah, I was like we couldn't do that today and I was
like who does this?
I?
Speaker 1 (25:14):
was like this is somebody I could be friends with
.
I was like she's really cool.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
But yeah, oh gosh, you're taking me back.
Yeah, so those are myentomology collection from
college actually.
So, as I mentioned, I was abiology master, I was a math
major, became a biology majorand I'm so glad I became a
biology major because I got totake all these cool classes
Entomology, arachnology, whichis spiders.
(25:41):
I took a bird class I can't bethat in for it.
So now I'm really good atidentifying birds.
But yeah, I had this or I havethis insect collection,
basically that I've held on to,and I also have interesting fact
a spider collection fromarachnology and I donated it to
(26:03):
my professor and he donated itto the Smithsonian.
So I have spiders that are inthe vaults of the Smithsonian
somewhere.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
That is so cool, like I just want to clap.
That is so awesome.
Yeah, that is pretty cool, soit's really fun yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:23):
Because you know, with basically like what my
parents taught me growing up intrees and plants and everything,
and then the courses I took incollege.
I love nature and I lovegetting out there and
identifying things and it's sofun because we live in such a
fascinating natural world andthere's just so many interesting
and interesting things to see.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
Okay, that's one fact that I never knew about you.
Yeah, so now next time when Igo to the Smithsonian, I'm going
to be like, excuse me, I'm acurator.
That is so.
That is so awesome.
I have thoroughly enjoyed this,this chat with you and this sit
(27:05):
down today and as we concludethis episode with Dr Linnea
Bodwin and explored themultifaceted life of a clinical
molecular geneticist.
We've also discovered herpersonal side, beyond the lab,
from the joy of playing thepiano moonlight sonata to the
therapeutic nature of gardeningand I've heard this saying
(27:30):
before and it has often beenattributed to Mary Engelbreit
it's about people being therefor one another and being a
friend in the garden of life.
And there are certain peoplethat you meet along the road
where they just add anotherlayer to your story and they
just make your life just morebeautiful.
(27:51):
And every time I have aninteraction with you, linnea, my
heart is left full.
You bloom me and you grow me inways that I didn't know that I
needed to be bloomed, and I amgrateful for our friendship.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
Thank you so much, trina.
I think it's just beautiful theway that that God has brought
us together, and I'm so gratefulfor my friends in faith.
They lift me up and they remindme that there's more to life
than you can see, and it givesme a lot of hope and joy.
(28:28):
So the same back to you.
Speaker 1 (28:32):
So now that this interview is officially
concluded, I have a couple funquestions for you, okay, okay.
So the first question.
I was thinking I'm like if youwere to organize a genetics
themed dinner party and you caninvite three historical figures,
fictional characters orcontemporary personalities, who
(28:53):
would be on your guest list andwhy?
Speaker 2 (28:56):
Oh my gosh, that's a great question.
You're always, so I keep sayingthat that's a great question.
Okay, gregor Mendel, okay, so Ialways think it's so
interesting because so much ofour, our scientific knowledge is
from, like, monks and you know,saintly Catholic people who
(29:19):
studied science, and GregorMendel is one of those he was he
was the the father of genetics.
You know, everybody knows theirpea flower colors, biology class
and like how to cross hybridizedifferent pea strains to get
(29:42):
like different colored flowers.
You know that was Gregor MendelJust I think you'd be
fascinated to talk to just.
You know how did he even thinkof?
Doing this or think that it hadto do with genetics, and so
that's, that's one person.
Oh gosh, I'm trying to likenarrow it down, I don't know.
(30:03):
I just think that there's a lotof even modern day geneticists
who have really revolutionizedtechnology and our creative
thinkers.
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