Biography

Dr. Kevin Lin feels that blood vessels are the most important and vast structures in the body He has been fascinated with blood vessels ever since he was in college. Blood vessels are the major highways in the body that carry nutrients, oxygen, and necessary metabolites and signal to all parts of the body.

During his undergraduate studies at the University of Wisconsin, he helped carry out angiogenesis-based experiments during a time when angiogenesis was considered a novel area of interest. His love for blood vessels moved into the brain in graduate school under the mentorship of the late Dr. Tony J-F Lee at Southern Illinois University in Springfield, IL. During this time, his interest for neurovascular pharmacology grew and after obtaining his PhD, he began his postdoctoral training under Dr. Miguel A. Perez-Pinzon at the University of Miami. It was there, Dr. Lin became really vested into brain injury and the neurovascular unit using intra-vital two-photon microscopy. After his postdoctoral training, he spent a short time at the University of Miami as a junior faculty member, subsequently spending 8 years rising to the rank of Associate Professor of Neurology at LSU Health in Shreveport, LA.

During this scientific journey, Dr. Lin unexpectedly enjoyed training and providing mentorship to pre/post-doctoral fellows and junior faculty. He has mentored 3 AHA CDAs, 3 AHA postdoctoral, and 2 AHA predoctoral fellows during his time as faculty thus far. When Dr. Lin is not writing grants and papers, he enjoys cooking, hosting, and tinkering with anything that has wheels and an engine.

Education

Bachelor's Degree (BS)
Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
Doctorate Degree (PhD)
Pharmacology, Southern Illinois University School of Medicine, Springfield, IL
Postdoctoral Training
Neurology, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL

Areas of Interest

Research Interests

My expertise is in the field of neurovascular coupling and the blood-brain barrier in the field of ischemia/stroke, and Alzheimer’s disease. We are currently heavily vested in protein arginine methyltransferases in the central nervous system. I have dedicated over 20 years to investigate the cerebral vasculature with the focus on stroke, brain ischemia, and fatty acid metabolism to examine the connections between the heart and brain.
Recently, we have uncovered various roles of protein arginine methyltransferases in the brain. These can have direct consequences affecting mitochondrial function, inflammation regulation, and functional/behavioral deficits. With my expertise in neurovascular coupling and protein arginine methyltransferases in the brain, I am confident that we will uncover other novel aspects of these enzymes (i.e. arginine methylators, lipid mediators), which are still largely unknown and may extend beyond pathologies related to cancer with direct implications in brain injury, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Publications

Acosta CH, Clemons GA, Citadin CT, Carr WC, Sayuri Berto Udo M, Tesic V, Sanicola HW, Freelin AH, Toms JB, Jordan JD, Guthikonda B, Rodgers KM, Wu CYC, Lee RHC, Lin HW. PRMT7 can prevent neurovascular uncoupling, blood-brain barrier permeability, and mitochondrial dysfunction in repetitive and mild traumatic brain injury. Exp Neurology. 2023; Aug; 366:114445.

Clemons GA, Couto e Silva A, Acosta CH, Sayuri Berto Udo M, Tesic V, Rodgers KM, Wu CYC, Citadin CT, Lee RHC, Neumann JT, Allani S, Prentice H, Zhang Q, Lin HW. Protein Arginine Methyltransferase 4 Modulates Nitric Oxide Synthase Uncoupling and Cerebral Blood Flow in Alzheimer’s Disease. J Cell Physiology. 2022; Aug 29.

Couto e Silva A, Wu CYC, Clemons GA, Acosta CH, Chen CT, Possoit HE, Citadin CT, Lee RHC, Brown, JI, Frankel A, Lin HW. Protein arginine methyltransferase 8 modulates mitochondrial bioenergetics and neuroinflammation after hypoxic stress. Journal of Neurochemistry. 2021; Jul 3.

Lee RHC, Couto e Silva A, Possoit HE, Lerner FM, Chen PY, Azizbayeva R, Citadin CT, Wu CYC, Neumann JT, Lin HW. Palmitic Acid Methyl Ester is a Novel Neuroprotective Agent Against Cardiac Arrest. Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2019; 147:6-14.

Lin HW, Liu CZ, Cao D, Chen PY, Chen MF, Lin SZ, Mozayan M, Chen AF, Premkumar LS, Torry DS, Lee TJ. Endogenous methyl palmitate modulates nicotinic receptor-mediated transmission in the superior cervical ganglion. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2008;105(49):19525-19530.