# Debbie Lindell

Debbie Lindell is the Dresner Chair in life sciences and medicine at Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. She is known for her work on the interactions between viruses and their hosts in marine environments.

## Education and career

Lindell was born in Australia and grew up loving the ocean. Lindell earned her B.A. from Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She then worked as a technician on a project involving coral reef and fish and decided she wanted to pursue research in marine science. She went on to earn an M.S. and a Ph.D. from Hebrew University of Jerusalem, followed by postdoctoral research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

## Research

Lindell's early research was on the succession of phytoplankton in the Gulf of Aqaba and gene expression by the cyanobacterium Synechococcus. Her subsequent work examined the transfer of genes between phytoplankton and marine viruses, and the evolution of host-virus interactions as evident from the analysis of gene expression in bacteria infected by a virus. Her research also investigates the genetic factors leading to long-term coexistence of phytoplankton and viruses. In response to the COVID-19 disease, Lindell was part of a team who filed a patent for a reusable mask that is designed to prevent infection by viruses. As of 2022, Lindell has an h-index of 31 with over 6300 citations to her published works.

## Selected publications

* Rocap, Gabrielle; Larimer, Frank W.; Lamerdin, Jane; Malfatti, Stephanie; Chain, Patrick; Ahlgren, Nathan A.; Arellano, Andrae; Coleman, Maureen; Hauser, Loren; Hess, Wolfgang R.; Johnson, Zackary I.; Land, Miriam; Lindell, Debbie; Post, Anton F.; Regala, Warren; Shah, Manesh; Shaw, Stephanie L.; Steglich, Claudia; Sullivan, Matthew B.; Ting, Claire S.; Tolonen, Andrew; Webb, Eric A.; Zinser, Erik R.; Chisholm, Sallie W. (August 2003). "Genome divergence in two Prochlorococcus ecotypes reflects oceanic niche differentiation". Nature. 424 (6952): 1042–1047. Bibcode:2003Natur.424.1042R. doi:10.1038/nature01947. PMID 12917642. S2CID 4344597.
* Lindell, Debbie; Sullivan, Matthew B.; Johnson, Zackary I.; Tolonen, Andrew C.; Rohwer, Forest; Chisholm, Sallie W. (15 July 2004). "Transfer of photosynthesis genes to and from Prochlorococcus viruses". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 101 (30): 11013–11018. Bibcode:2004PNAS..10111013L. doi:10.1073/pnas.0401526101. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 503735. PMID 15256601.
* Lindell, Debbie; Jaffe, Jacob D.; Johnson, Zackary I.; Church, George M.; Chisholm, Sallie W. (November 2005). "Photosynthesis genes in marine viruses yield proteins during host infection". Nature. 438 (7064): 86–89. Bibcode:2005Natur.438...86L. doi:10.1038/nature04111. PMID 16222247. S2CID 4347406.
* Lindell, Debbie; Post, Anton F. (September 1995). "Ultraphytoplankton succession is triggered by deep winter mixing in the Gulf of Aqaba (Eilat), Red Sea". Limnology and Oceanography. 40 (6): 1130–1141. Bibcode:1995LimOc..40.1130L. doi:10.4319/lo.1995.40.6.1130. ISSN 0024-3590.
* Lindell, Debbie; Jaffe, Jacob D.; Coleman, Maureen L.; Futschik, Matthias E.; Axmann, Ilka M.; Rector, Trent; Kettler, Gregory; Sullivan, Matthew B.; Steen, Robert; Hess, Wolfgang R.; Church, George M.; Chisholm, Sallie W. (September 2007). "Genome-wide expression dynamics of a marine virus and host reveal features of co-evolution". Nature. 449 (7158): 83–86. Bibcode:2007Natur.449...83L. doi:10.1038/nature06130. PMID 17805294. S2CID 4412265.

## Awards and honors

In 2009 Lindell received the Krill Prize for scientific excellence from the Wolf Foundation.