Michael Lin

Associate Professor of Neurobiology, of Bioengineering and, by courtesy, of Chemical and Systems Biology

Bio

Our lab applies biochemical and engineering principles to the development of protein-based tools for imaging and control of biochemical processes. Topics of investigation include fluorescent proteins structure and biophysics, fluorescent protein-based biosensors, neuronal activity sensors, spatiotemporal analysis of protein translation pathways, chemical control of protein translation, and light-responsive proteins.

Academic Appointments

Associate Professor, Neurobiology
Associate Professor, Bioengineering
Associate Professor (By courtesy), Chemical and Systems Biology
Member, Bio-X
Member, Cardiovascular Institute
Member, Maternal & Child Health Research Institute (MCHRI)
Faculty Fellow, Sarafan ChEM-H
Member, Stanford Cancer Institute
Member, Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute

Honors & Awards

Burroughs Wellcome Career Award for Medical Scientists, Burroughs Wellcome Foundation (2007-2013)
Damon Runyon-Rachleff Cancer Innovation Award, Damon Runyon Foundation (2012-2014)
Pioneer Award, NIH (2013-2018)
Roger Tsien Award for Excellence in Chemical Biology, World Molecular Imaging Society (2019)

Professional Education

BA, Harvard University, Biochemical Sciences (1994)
PhD, Harvard Medical School, Biological & Biomedical Sciences, Lab of Michael E. Greenberg (2002)
MD, UCLA, Medicine (2004)
Postdoctoral Fellowship, UCSD, Lab of Roger Y. Tsien (2009)

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

Our lab applies biochemical and engineering principles to the development of protein-based tools for investigating biology in living animals. Topics of investigation include fluorescent protein-based voltage indicators, synthetic light-controllable proteins, bioluminescent reporters, and applications to studying animal models of disease.

2023-24 Courses

Protein Engineering
BIOE 231, BIOE 331 (Spr)

Independent Studies
- Bioengineering Problems and Experimental Investigation
  BIOE 191 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum)
- Directed Investigation
  BIOE 392 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum)
- Directed Reading in Neurosciences
  NEPR 299 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum)
- Directed Reading in Pediatrics
  PEDS 299 (Aut, Sum)
- Directed Study
  BIOE 391 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum)
- Early Clinical Experience
  PEDS 280 (Aut, Sum)
- Graduate Research
  NEPR 399 (Aut, Win, Spr, Sum)
- Graduate Research
  PEDS 399 (Aut, Sum)
- Medical Scholars Research
  PEDS 370 (Aut, Sum)
- Out-of-Department Graduate Research
  BIO 300X (Spr)
- Practical Training
  BIOE 299B (Sum)
- Undergraduate Directed Reading/Research
  PEDS 199 (Aut, Sum)

Prior Year Courses

2022-23 Courses

Protein Engineering
BIOE 231, BIOE 331 (Win)

2021-22 Courses

Protein Engineering
BIOE 231, BIOE 331 (Win)

2020-21 Courses

Protein Engineering
BIOE 231, BIOE 331 (Win)

Stanford Advisees

Med Scholar Project Advisor
David Wang
Doctoral Dissertation Reader (AC)
Yuxi Ke, Marija Pavlovic
Postdoctoral Faculty Sponsor
Sungmoo Lee, Mikkel Madsen, Daesun Song, Xinzhi Zou
Doctoral Dissertation Advisor (AC)
Julisia Chau, Alex Hao, Pengli Wang, Yan Wu
Master's Program Advisor
Hunter Hendrix
Doctoral (Program)
Andy Chen, Chan Yu Kuo, Shuyu Shi, Jiaqi Wu, Aurora Xu

Graduate and Fellowship Programs

Neurosciences (Phd Program)

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