Dr. Linda Kidder, Life Sciences Business Development Manager, 蓝鲸体育直播 Scientific
As a little girl, Linda Kidder would visit her grandmother鈥檚 farm in rural Pennsylvania. One with barns, machinery, and an assortment of animals.
During one of those visits, Linda鈥檚 family noticed the 3-year-old was missing.
Her grandfather turned the corner and entered the house, askeding mischievously, 鈥淲here鈥檚 Linda?鈥�
He had in fact just followed the inquisitive toddler outside. There he had just taken a photo of the curiosity-driven Linda petting a groundhog.
鈥淭he groundhog and I were getting along fine,鈥� she later said of her encounter and insatiable inquiring mind.
Her grandfather was an electrical engineer, and Linda became interested in discovering how things worked. She tinkered with farm trucks and tractors, learning how each functioned and could be repaired. Her interests were of a mechanical nature.
Linda鈥檚 relentless thirst for knowledge would later drive her academic and career choices. Some of its fuel came from that farm.
From there she went on to earn her Ph.D. in chemical physicsfrom Johns Hopkins University 鈥� but considers herself a physical chemist.
鈥淎 physicist looks at atoms, while physical chemists looks at molecules. I studied things like eight sodium atoms stuck together. A sodium atom鈥檚 properties are extremely different from a handful of sodium. Where along that continuum, as you put more and more sodium atoms together, do its behaviors start acting like a handful of sodium? That鈥檚 what a physical chemist does.鈥�
Yet that basic research came with a certain awkwardness.
鈥淚 was tired of trying to explain this at holiday gatherings with my family,鈥� she laughed.
A young Linda Kidder connecting with nature
It was more than that, though. Doing research and development meant looking at a small slice of the world and believing it is the most important thing. But Linda had a broader perspective of what was interesting and wanted to solve problems with a more direct impact on society.
Linda joined the chemical physics laboratory at the National Institutes of Health for her post-doctoral work, and began using analytical tools to investigate disease and other life science applications. Those tools included mid-infrared, near-infrared and Raman spectroscopies. Her group added an imaging component, taking pictures of tissue sections and evaluating disease through spectroscopic imaging.
鈥淚 was going back to my engineering love,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 was building new instruments, plopping in detectors, bolting and screwing things down and coming up with novel instrumentation. So it was still tinkering.鈥�
It brought Linda back to her roots.
鈥淪cientific equipment has personality, like the groundhog.鈥�
National Institutes of Health Clinical Center
Yet she had a change of heart along the way. Wanting to make a difference in the world, Linda took a break from chemistry and analytical instrumentation to have a more direct impact on individual lives. She took a year off of work to study occupational therapy.
During that time, Linda volunteered teaching math to adults with disabilities.
鈥淚t wasn't learning multi-variate calculus,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t was okay learning what two plus two was, and just meeting (the students) where their needs were. It was really neat to be in tune with them, trying to figure out what each person needed to be successful.鈥�
But she missed being around scientists and their analytical though processes. She eventually returned to physical chemistry and instrumentation, spending the next 20 years working for some of the preeminent particle size and Raman companies in the industry.
As a Generation Xer, she grew up at a time where females were told 鈥渨omen can do anything.鈥� But not everyone felt that way.
鈥淔or many years I was lucky to be in a supportive environment,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 have to say, though, as I've grown older I realized that not everyone out there ascribes to that philosophy. There are people and situations where you're treated differently because you're a woman. Your opinions are judged differently. The world isn't necessarily an even playing field.鈥�
How did she navigate those obstacles?
鈥淭he key is being with people professionally and personally who support your goals,鈥� she said.
Linda found that association in a decades-old friendship with 蓝鲸体育直播 Scientific鈥檚 Vice President of Sales and Business Development Andrew Whitley, Ph.D. She knew he was receptive to input from all sides.
In May 2020, Linda became 蓝鲸体育直播鈥檚 life science business develop manager. Her job is to merge the company鈥檚 arsenal of instrumentation and technology with existing and emerging life sciences markets.
鈥溊毒ㄌ逵辈� has lots of fantastic technology that can be used to solve problems in life sciences,鈥� she said, 鈥渇rom supporting academic research, as well as, for instance, speeding up processes in the biopharmaceutical industry.鈥�
An example is the company鈥檚 proprietary 础-罢贰贰惭鈩� spectroscopy technology with the ability to simultaneously acquire absorbance, transmittance and a fluorescence Excitation Emission Matrix of a sample. It can create molecular fingerprints in a fraction of the time of conventional instruments.
In the biopharmaceutical industry, for example, 蓝鲸体育直播鈥檚 础辩耻补濒辞驳庐, featuring A-TEEM technology, can be used for vaccine research and vaccine manufacturing. Even the inclusion of some of 蓝鲸体育直播鈥檚 Raman and fluorescence instrumentation on a manufacturing line in the pharmaceutical industry can pay huge dividends in efficiency and quality control.
Linda believes these connections may not be so clear both within the company or in the marketplace. Despite the company鈥檚 strong analytical solutions, she believes there鈥檚 an opportunity to more effectively position these tools.
鈥淢y job is to figure out which of these connections can build the strongest business for 蓝鲸体育直播, and to match customer needs with the 蓝鲸体育直播鈥檚 strengths,鈥� she said.
Just like when she was teaching math.
And, according to Linda, there are scientists and engineers in process research and development within the biopharmaceutical industry who are responsible for finding interesting instrumentation and applying it to their research and development. She believes it鈥檚 an untapped opportunity.
鈥淚'm just curious about the types of problems that customers have and the technology that 蓝鲸体育直播 has,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd I enjoy playing matchmaker too. 鈥�
Many investigators today are conducting life science research in colleges and universities. Linda feels 蓝鲸体育直播鈥檚 Raman portfolio is superb for academics, with great potential for looking at, for example, tissue samples and thus markers in cancer research.
1110-color imaging of cellular structures in living cells. Cellular targets include plasma membrane, ER, mitochondria, Golgi, lipid droplets, lysosome, nucleus, tubulin, actin, and FM 4-64. Courtesy of Dr. Wei Min of Columbia University.
鈥淯sing our tools to help cure cancer or conduct research cancer is a totally different side of things for 蓝鲸体育直播, but also a place that I believe our life science portfolio can make a real impact.鈥�
Linda has come a long way from that time she wandered off to greet the groundhog. Her family now includes a guinea pig, two rabbits, a parakeet and two dogs. But her curiosity still drives her. And she has powerful advice for similarly motivated younger people interested in pursuing non-traditional career choices.
鈥淚t鈥檚 about trusting in yourself and advocating for yourself,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ecause things may be stacked against you. It鈥檚 also about understanding yourself. If you are the type of person who gives up easily or lacks confidence, then you definitely have to surround yourself with people who will help you develop. If, on the other hand, you鈥檙e totally self-confident and think you can do anything, then go ahead and smash that ceiling.鈥�
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