Dear sir or madam:

 

At the present time, Linhui is completing his Ph.D. thesis at the Dalian University of Technology in China. However, he was a visiting scholar in my laboratory from November 2010 to October 2012. As early as 2007, Linhui and I had communicated by email as he sought reference strains of Staphylococcus aureus for his project and advice on experimental protocols. Then, in 2009 he approached me about coming to my laboratory to work for two years as part of his doctoral thesis program. He applied for support from the China Scholarship Council, which sponsors overseas studies for Chinese postgraduates. He received a sponsorship award, and when he arrived here he was partially supported by one of my NIH grants. Linhui’s dissertation research in China was focused on the development of bi-specific egg yolk antibodies that target the capsular polysaccharides of S. aureus, with the ultimate goal of using these antibodies for the treatment of bovine mastitis. Linhui worked very independently in his laboratory, since there were no other ongoing projects on S. aureus. I did not communicate with Linhui’s thesis advisor about the project until I visited the laboratory in Dalian, China, in 2010. Linhui had two years of research experience when he joined my laboratory, but most of the methodologies that we use in my lab were new to him. He was very enthusiastic and hard working, and he jumped right into the project, eager to learn everything he could. Linhui’s primary project was to evaluate novel S. aureus bioconjugate vaccines for efficacy in animal models of staphylococcal infections. For these experiments, he was heavily involved in animal work, including mouse models of bacteremia, surgical wound infection, catheter-induced endocarditis, gastrointestinal colonization, and pneumonia. In fact, he established the pneumonia model in our lab for the first time. In addition, he performed in vitro experiments involving flow cytometry, molecular biology (transductions and PCR), as well as toxin neutralization assays, ELISAs, and opsonophagocytic killing assays. Linhui read extensively about the methodologies, and he did not hesitate to seek help from other investigators. He is now quite the expert in all facets of animal work, and his surgical skills are exemplary. Our vaccine studies were performed in collaboration with investigators in a small company in Switzerland call GlycoVaxyn AG, who prepared the recombinant glycoprotein vaccines that we use for immunization. The director of that institute is the first author of the publication that we have submitted for publication. Accordingly, Linhui is second author on the manuscript, which describes how the bioconjugate vaccine is prepared and how it shows protective efficacy against staphylococcal bacteremia and lethal pneumonia. While he was a visiting scholar here, Linhui gave an oral presentation on our vaccine studies at the annual meeting of NIH-funded investigators that belong to the Network on Antimicrobial Resistance in S. aureus. In addition, he presented a one-hour research seminar here at the Channing in 2012. He worked incredibly hard on these presentations, and I was very proud of his performance, since both talks were well organized and lucid. Linhui also presented a poster at the 2011 regional research meeting in Rhode Island sponsored by the New England Regional Center for Excellence. Linhui always showed great interest in all of the different research projects ongoing in the laboratory. He showed remarkable progress in maturing as a scientific investigator during his two-year tenure in my lab. He expanded his knowledge base in immunology and bacterial pathogenesis, and he often sent me new articles of interest that were just published. He was not shy about asking questions and seeking outside help. We shared many scientific discussions in my office and during lab meetings. Linhui was not only an important member of my own laboratory, but a valuable member of the Channing Laboratory as well. He trained several other investigators in the lab in techniques that he was familiar with or developed. He mentored a summer college student in 2012. Linhui supervised that project and worked with the student on his oral presentation. When a new postdoctoral fellow arrived in the lab in the fall of 2012, he trained with Linhui. I have supervised ~30 trainees over the years, but most of them have been Ph.D. postdoctoral research fellows. Despite not having completed his predoctoral studies, Linhui was better than some of my former postdocs. He is bright and hard working, and he became increasingly independent during his stay in the lab. He put much effort into planning his experiments, and he thought carefully about his results and their interpretation. On a personal level, Linhui is a very nice person and a good friend to his coworkers. He is honest and humble, and he accepted constructive criticisms well. There were never any issues with discipline. Linhui has a solid foundation in the English language. He understands English perfectly, I think, and his speaking skills are quite good. His oral communications are easy to understand. Linhui’s grammar is not so perfect, and he still lacks good scientific writing skills, but I am confident that these skills will improve with time. I was sad to see Linhui leave my lab, and I would certainly be happy to have him return here. I believe that Linhui will be an outstanding scientist. He is bright, personable, ambitious, and highly motivated. I give him my highest and most enthusiastic recommendation