Researcher blogs

Written by Marlene Schülein, PhD student at Karolinska Institutet and participant of the course “Career Skills for Scientists” during the autumn term 2025.

Lina Marcela Diaz-Gallo studies the genetics of autoimmune diseases and is a team leader in Associate Professors Padyukov’s group at the Center for Molecular Medicine (CMM), Karolinska Institutet. A firm believer in the benefits of collaboration, Lina thrives in working together with other researchers.

Her journey started in her home country Colombia, where she studied applied biology. Her interest in conservation biology was hindered by the political situation, leading her to perform her final project working on bone regeneration instead. 

After completing her degree, she got involved in research in rheumatology while working at a biobank. Unfortunately, the lab she worked in was not a healthy environment, something that Lina was not aware of at first. “It was my first time living away from home and starting a real job. And when you’re in a new environment, you don’t really know what’s right or wrong, you assume that this is how it works and that you have to work like hell. When the lab moved, I was in charge of relocating the whole biobank. It was crazy.”

Dream big and go abroad

While it was an exhausting period of her life, her time at this job also left a long-lasting impression on Lina. She fell in love with biomedicine and the idea that understanding the mechanisms of diseases can improve healthcare and help people. “My boss used to say that you have to see the soul behind the DNA. Every sample in the biobank represents a real person” 

He encouraged Lina to dream big and gave her contacts to help her pursue a Master’s degree and PhD abroad. She moved to Spain on a credit scholarship, taking on debt that would eventually need to be repaid, to pursue her MSc in immunology and genetics. Afterwards, her original contact in Spain ended up becoming her PhD supervisor. 

From Spain to Karolinska Institutet

While her supervisor was good at ensuring his students got publications, he was not a good boss for Lina, and they frequently got into arguments. When she asked to go abroad, he did not trust her with his standing collaborators and sent her to work in Sweden instead. This first contact with Karolinska Institutet turned out to be an excellent opportunity for Lina, and she ended up staying for a whole year instead of the initially planned 6 months. After finishing her PhD in Spain, she briefly returned to KI on a stipend for a month. At the same time, her supervisor, Associate Professor Padyukov, who remains her mentor to this day, secured funding to support her in obtaining a postdoctoral contract. She was fortunate enough to receive support from many group leaders in her division over the years and now holds a permanent research position at KI. 

“I’ve been very lucky throughout my career here. I have not been successful in obtaining large grants, but I’m skilled at what I do. They pay my salary, and I pay them back with my skills”

Understanding the world to help people

In her role as team leader, there is no such thing as a typical day. How her workdays shape out depends on which current aim she is working towards. The only thing that adds a regular schedule is having to drop off and pick up her three kids (aged 10, 6 and 2), but even that is not the same every day, as she shares this task with her husband. This flexibility is a huge advantage for her family, but adds the problem that she can never be entirely off. Even when she’s not at work, it’s hard not to think and work on ongoing projects. 

When asked about her favourite part of working in academic research, Lina doesn’t have to think long. “Dreaming. Dreaming of how our skills and our understanding of the world can help people. It gives me so much joy to come together with people to work together or teach them.” 

However, academic work is not without its downsides. For Lina, the worst part is the pride and politics one encounters. “It takes a village to do science, and we’re working in a system that rewards individuals instead of groups”. Being Colombian, she also struggled with Swedish winters and the highly individualistic culture. If not for meeting her husband, she doubts she would have stayed in Sweden. She also emphasises the importance of having a community outside of work throughout her career, both when she first moved to Spain and during her time in Sweden. 

Find your niche

Lina’s advice for PhD students is to find your niche, to figure out what you’re passionate about and skilled at. And most importantly, to make sure you have a life outside the lab to balance your work. “Life is like weaving a tapestry. You can only do one simple knot at a time, but you will see the results in the end,” she finishes with a quote from her husband’s late grandfather.