• Postdoctoral Fellowship
  University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
  Aurora, CO
  2005 – 2011
• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
  Pharmacology
  University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
  Aurora, CO
  2005

• Bachelor of Science
  Biology
  University of Maryland College Park
  College Park, MD
  1998

• 2019 – Present: Associate Professor of Pharmacology
  Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine
• 2013 – 2019: Assistant Professor of Pharmacology
  Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine
• 2016 – 2017: Affiliate Faculty, Department of Biology
  Regis University
• 2014 – 2015: Editor-in-Chief, The POSTDOCket
  National Postdoctoral Association
• 2012 – 2013: Associate Editor, The POSTDOCket
  National Postdoctoral Association
• 2011 – 2012: Research Associate, Department of Pediatrics
  University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus
• 2011: Guest Lecturer, Department of Biomedical Sciences
  Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine
• 2003: Teaching Assistant, Department of Biology
  University of Colorado Denver
• 1998 – 2000: Research Associate
  MedImmune, Inc.
• 1998: Temporary Worker
  Lab Support Inc.
• 1997: Summer Intern, Section on Molecular Pharmacology and Development
  NICHD
• 1995 – 1998: Undergraduate Research Assistant, Department of Biology
  University of Maryland College Park

Rocky Vista University College of Osteopathic Medicine

• MSBS Admissions Committee (2017 – present)
• Research and Scholarly Activities Committee (2013 – 2018)
  – Chair of Committee (2016 – 2018)
• Faculty Development Committee (2016 – present)
• Faculty Council Executive Committee (2016 – 2018)
• Biomedical Sciences Faculty Search Committee (2016 – 2018)
• Master of Biomedical Science Program Steering Committee (2014 – present)
• Chair, Institutional Review Board (IRB) (2017)
• RVUCOM Admissions Committee (2015 – 2017)
• Phase Director Search Committee (2016)
• Student Wellness Committee (2015)
• Pharmacology Faculty Search Committee (2014)

Miscellaneous

• Peer Reviewer (2007 – 2011)
• UCHSC Graduate Student Council (2000 – 2003)
• Delegate and Secretary, University of Colorado Inter-Campus Student Forum (2003)
• President, UCHSC Student Senate (2003)

• Postdoctoral Research Day Poster Award
  University of Colorado Denver
  2010
• LCRF Scientific Merit Award
  2008
• SPORE in Lung Cancer Career Development Award
  University of Colorado Cancer Center (UCCC)
  2008 ‐ 2009
• Predoctoral NRSA
  National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
  2003 ‐ 2005
• Norman Weiner Award for Excellence in Research
  University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (UCHSC)
  2003
• Dunwiddie Travel Fellowship
  University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (UCHSC)
  2003
• Dept. of Pharmacology Student Travel Award
  University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (UCHSC)
  2002
• Norman Weiner Award for Academic Excellence
  University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (UCHSC)
  2001
• Student Research Forum Award
  University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (UCHSC)
  2001
• Dept. of Pharmacology NIH Training Grant
  University of Colorado Health Sciences Center (UCHSC)
  2001 ‐ 2003
• Chairman’s Award
  MedImmune, Inc.
  1999
• Employee of the Month
  Lab Support, Inc.
  1998
• Honors Research Grant
  University of Maryland
  1997 – 1998
• Howard Hughes Undergraduate Research Fellowship
  1997 – 1998
• Maryland Senatorial Scholarship
  1996 – 1998
• Maryland Distinguished Scholar Scholarship
  1995 – 1998
• NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates Grant
  1995 – 1996
• Student Competitive Edge Scholarship
  Walmart
  1994 – 1998

Publications

• Cummings CT, Linger RMA, Cohen RA, Sather S, Kirkpatrick GD, Davies KD, DeRyckere D, Earp HS, and Graham DK (2014). Mer590, a novel monoclonal antibody targeting MER receptor tyrosine kinase, decreases colony formation and increases chemosensitivity in non‐small cell lung cancer. Oncotarget, 5(21):10434‐10445.
• Linger RMA and Graham DK (2014). A common case of cell line misidentification. The Winnower, accessed June 1, 2014.
• Linger RMA, Lee‐Sherick AB, DeRyckere D, Cohen RA, Jacobsen KM, McGranahan A, Brandão LN, Winges A, Sawczyn KK, Liang X, Keating AK, Tan AC, Earp HS, and Graham DK (2013). Mer receptor tyrosine kinase is a therapeutic target in pre‐B‐cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Blood, 122(9):1599‐609.
• Linger RMA, Cohen RA, Cummings CT, Sather S, Migdall‐Wilson J, Middleton DHG, Lu X, Barón AE, Franklin WA, Merrick DT, Jedlicka P, DeRyckere D, Heasley LE, and Graham DK (2013). Mer or Axl receptor tyrosine kinase inhibition promotes apoptosis, blocks growth, and enhances chemosensitivity of human non‐small cell lung cancer, Oncogene, 32(29):3420‐31.
• Migdall‐Wilson J, Bates C, Schlegel J, Linger RMA, DeRyckere D, and Graham DK (2012). Prolonged exposure to a Mer ligand in leukemia: Gas6 favors expression of a partial Mer glycoform and reveals a novel role for Mer in the nucleus. PLoS ONE, 7(2): e31635.
• Lee‐Sherick AB, Linger RMA, Gore L, Keating AK, and Graham DK. (2010) Targeting paediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia: novel therapies currently in development. British Journal of Haematology, 151(4):295‐311.
• Linger RMA, Keating AK, Earp HS, and Graham DK. (2010) Taking aim at Mer and Axl receptor tyrosine kinases as novel therapeutic targets in solid tumors. Expert Opinion on Therapeutic Targets, 14 (10):1073‐1090.
• Jacobsen KM, Linger RMA, and Graham DK (2010). TYRO3 (TYRO3 protein tyrosine kinase). Atlas of Genetics and Cytogenetics in Oncology and Haematology, January.
• Goebel‐Goody SM, Davies KD, Alvestad Linger RM, Freund RK, and Browning MD (2009).Phospho‐regulation of synaptic and extrasynaptic N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate receptors in adult hippocampal slices. Neuroscience, 158:1446‐1459.
• Keating AK, Linger RMA, and Graham DK (2008). MERTK (c‐mer proto‐oncogene tyrosine kinase). Atlas of Genetics and Cytogenetics in Oncology and Haematology, November.
• Linger RMA, Keating AK, Earp HS, and Graham DK (2008). TAM receptor tyrosine kinases: biologic functions, signaling, and potential therapeutic targeting in human cancer. Advances in Cancer Research, 100:35‐83.
• Alvestad RM, Goebel SM, Coultrap SJ, and Browning MD (2008). Glutamate receptor trafficking in LTP. Vol. [4] of Learning and Memory: A Comprehensive Reference, 4 vols. (J. Byrne Editor), pp. 611‐632 Oxford: Elsevier.
• Davies KD, Alvestad RM, Coultrap SJ, and Browning MD (2007). αCaMKII autophosphorylation levels differ depending on subcellular localization. Brain Research, 1158:39‐49.
• Goebel SM, Alvestad RM, Coultrap SJ, and Browning MD (2005). Tyrosine phosphorylation of the N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate receptor is enhanced in synaptic membrane fractions of the adult rat hippocampus. Molecular Brain Research, 142 (1):65‐79.
• Coultrap SJ, Nixon KM, Alvestad RM, Valenzuela CF, and Browning MD (2005). Differential expression of NMDA receptor subunits and splice variants among the CA1, CA3, and dentate gyrus of the adult rat. Molecular Brain Research, 135 (1‐2):104‐111.
• Alvestad RM, Grosshans DR, Coultrap SJ, Nakazawa T, Yamamoto T, and Browning MD (2003). Tyrosine dephosphorylation and ethanol inhibition of NMDA receptor function. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 278 (13):11020‐11025.
• Palmer MA, Swan CM, Nelson K, Silver P and Alvestad RM (2000). Streambed landscapes: evidence that stream invertebrates respond to the type and spatial arrangement of patches. Landscape Ecology, 15:563‐576.

Presentations

• “Novel anti‐MerTK Monoclonal Antibody Improves Chemosensitivity of NSCLC Cells”
  11th Annual Targeted Therapies for the Treatment of Lung Cancer
  2011
• “The Value of Combining Standard Chemotherapy with New Targeted Therapies”
  Uniting Against Lung Cancer Insights into Research Reception
  2009
• “The Mer Receptor Tyrosine Kinase is a Novel ALL Therapeutic Target”
  22nd Annual American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology
  2009
• “TAM Receptor Tyrosine Kinases as Novel Therapeutic Targets in Non‐small Cell Lung Cancer”
  9th Annual Targeted Therapies for the Treatment of Lung Cancer
  2009

• Research Funding
  • Joan’s Legacy: Uniting Against Lung Cancer ($100,000); 2009 – 2010
  • Lung Cancer Research Foundation ($100,000); 2008 – 2009; 2009 – 2010
  • University of Colorado Cancer Center Lung SPORE, Career Development Award ($91,732); 2008 – 2010
• Patents
  • Graham, DK, Linger RMA, Brandao L, Sather S, Jones A, and Keating AK. Anti‐Mer Antibodies. Provisional patent filed 2/10/2010.
  • Graham, DK, Linger R, DeRyckere D, Sather S, Keating AK, Kim G, and Brandao L. Methods and compounds for enhancing anti‐cancer therapy. Provisional patent filed 7/29/08.

Born and raised near Annapolis, Maryland, Dr. Linger graduated from the University of Maryland in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science in biology with high honors in zoology. Her undergraduate thesis involved field ecology studies of streambed invertebrates and their responses to habitat heterogeneity. After college, she worked in the Maryland biotechnology industry for two years before moving to Colorado to pursue graduate studies in neuropharmacology.

During graduate school, Dr. Linger investigated molecular mechanisms of synaptic plasticity, focusing on ethanol-mediated changes in glutamate receptor phosphorylation and subcellular localization in the hippocampus. Her work was funded by a predoctoral National Research Service Award from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. In addition to research, Dr. Linger taught general biology to undergraduate students and served as President of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center Student Senate. She received her Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Colorado in 2005.

Dr. Linger continued her research training as a postdoctoral fellow in the Pediatrics Department at the University of Colorado. Her postdoctoral research focused on the identification of novel biologic targets for new therapies in lung cancer and leukemia. Dr. Linger’s work contributed to the publication of several scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals and two patents. In 2008, Dr. Linger received the Scientific Merit Award from the Lung Cancer Research Foundation. Toward the end of her postdoctoral fellowship, Dr. Linger joined the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA), a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the postdoctoral experience. She served as an associate editor for the NPA’s quarterly newsletter, The POSTDOCket, from January 2012 to December 2013, and as the editor-in-chief from January 2014 to May 2015.

After many years of research-intensive training, Dr. Linger left the bench to pursue a career in teaching. She has been a faculty member in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Rocky Vista University since July 2013.

In her free time, Dr. Linger enjoys Pilates and spending time outdoors with her husband and their two children.