Dr. Zhen Lin graduated with a medical degree from the Peking University School of Medicine in 2000. He did his graduate work in Dr. Erik Flemington’s laboratory where he helped characterize some of the virus-altered microRNAs. He received his Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the Tulane University in 2005. He continued his post-doctoral studies in the laboratory of Dr. Erik Flemington, Department of Pathology. In 2007, Dr. Lin was appointed as Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology at Tulane School of Medicine. In 2018, Dr. Lin was appointed as the Technical Director of the Molecular Pathology Laboratory. In 2020, Dr. Lin was promoted to Associate Professor of Pathology. He’s currently the program member of the Tulane Cancer Center.
Research Support
NIH/NCI R01CA261258 04/01/21 - 03/31/26
Human papillomavirus in HIV associated lung cancers
Agency: National Institutes of Health
Role: PI
NIH/NIAID DAA3-19-65602-1 11/22/19 - 03/31/22
Characterization of the molecular mechanism for development of Epstein-Barr virus-associated nasopharyngeal carcinoma
Agency: National Institutes of Health/CRDF Global
Role: PI
NIH/NIGMS P20GM121288 08/15/17 - 03/31/21
Center for translational viral oncology (CTVO)
Project 3 - Human papillomavirus in HIV associated lung cancers
Agency: National Institutes of Health
Role: PI (Project 3)
Carol Lavin Bernick Foundation Faculty Grant 07/01/20 - 06/30/22
A novel viral circular RNA in human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated cancers
Role: PI
Clinical Service
2018-Present Technical Director of Molecular Pathology Laboratory and School of Medicine COVID-19 Lab, Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana
2019 Inspector for the College of American Pathologists (CAP) Laboratory Accreditation Program, University of Maryland School of Medicine – Translational Genomics Laboratory, Baltimore, Maryland
2019 Inspector the College of American Pathologists (CAP) Laboratory Accreditation Program, Toronto General Hospital – Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory, Toronto, Canada
Grant Reviewer:
Pennsylvania Department of Health Research on Cancer Diagnostics or Therapeutics with Commercialization Potential-Therapeutics for Universities (2012)
Pennsylvania Department of Health Pennsylvania Formula Grant Review-12-13 Cycle B (2013)
Pennsylvania Department of Health Pennsylvania Formula Grant Review-12-13 Cycle C (2013)
Pennsylvania Department of Health Pennsylvania Formula Grant Review-14-15 Cycle B (2014)
Florida Department of Health James and Esther King Biomedical Research Program Grant Review (2015)
Florida Department of Health Bankhead-Coley Cancer Research Program Grant Review (2015)
Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS) of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Scientific Grant Review (2016)
Florida Department of Health James and Esther King Biomedical Research Program Grant Review (2016)
Florida Department of Health James and Esther King Biomedical Research Program Grant Review (2017)
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Special Emphasis Panel – ZAI1 LR-M (M1) 1 (February 2019)
National Institutes of Health (NIH) HIV Coinfections and HIV Associated Cancers Study Section – HCAC (July 2019)
National Institutes of Health (NIH) HIV Coinfections and HIV Associated Cancers Study Section – HCAC (November 2019)
Pennsylvania Department of Health Pennsylvania Formula Grant Review-20-21 Cycle A (July 2020)
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Special Emphasis Panel – U19 grant review (November 2020)
Florida Department of Health Biomedical Research Programs Bankhead-Coley 20-21 (January 2021)
National Institutes of Health (NIH) HIV Coinfections and HIV Associated Cancers Study Section – HCAC (March 2021)
National Institutes of Health (NIH) HIV Coinfections and HIV Associated Cancers Study Section – HCAC (July 2021)
Editorial Boards
2019-present Associate Editor, PLoS Pathogens (Impact Factor: 6.823)
2018-2019 Guest Editor, PLoS Pathogens (Impact Factor: 6.823)
2018-present Associate Editor, Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy (Elsevier, Impact Factor: 6.529)
2020-present Review Editor, Frontiers in Genome Editing
2020-present Reviewer Board Member, Viruses-Basel (Impact Factor: 5.048)
Dr. Lin’s research mainly focuses on non-coding RNA during host-pathogen interaction. His lab utilizes genome-wide molecular, biochemical, and bioinformatics-based approaches to identify and characterize factors and cell signaling pathways that are regulated by viral and cellular RNAs during the course of human herpesvirus and papillomavirus infection and associated pathogenesis.
Total Citations as of August 2021: Google Scholar, > 2,627 citations, h-index: 25
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=jFGkkLgAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
Published 62 peer-reviewed articles including 19 senior/first author articles
Selected Peer-Reviewed Journals since 2019
Asuka Nanbo, Wakako Furuyama, Zhen Lin. RNA virus-encoded miRNAs: Current insights and future challenges. Frontiers in Microbiology. 2021. In press.
Tian D, Lin Z, Kriner EM, Esneault DJ, Tran J, DeVoto JC, Okami N, Greenberg R, Yanofsky S, Ratnayaka S, Tran N, Livaccari M, Lampp M, Wang N, Tim S, Norton P, Scott J, Hu TY, Garry R, Hamm L, Delafontaine P, Yin XM. Ct Values Do not Predict SARS-CoV-2 Transmissibility in College Students. J Mol Diagn. 2021 Jun 5:S1525-1578(21)00163-X. doi: 10.1016/j.jmoldx.2021.05.012.
Becnel D, Abdelghani R, Nanbo A, Avilala J, Kahn J, Li L, Lin Z*. Pathogenic Role of Epstein-Barr Virus in Lung Cancers. Viruses. 2021 May. 13(5), 877 (*Corresponding author, impact factor 5.048)
Avilala J, Becnel D, Abdelghani R, Nanbo A, Kahn J, Li L, Lin Z*. Role of virally encoded circular RNAs in the pathogenicity of human oncogenic viruses. Frontiers in Microbiology. 2021 April;12(668). doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.657036. (*Corresponding author, impact factor 5.640)
Del Valle L, Dai L, Lin HY, Lin Z, Chen J, Post SR, Qin Z. Role of EIF4G1 network in non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) cell survival and disease progression. J Cell Mol Med. 2021 Feb 4. doi: 10.1111/jcmm.16307. (impact factor 5.310)
Ning B, Yu T, Zhang S, Huang Z, Tian D, Lin Z, Niu A, Golden N, Hensley K, Threeton B, Lyon CJ, Yin XM, Roy CJ, Saba NS, Rappaport J, Wei Q, Hu TY. A smartphone-read ultrasensitive and quantitative saliva test for COVID-19. Science Advances. 2021 Jan 8; 7(2):eabe3703. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.abe3703. (impact factor 14.136)
Chen J*, Goyal N*, Dai L*, Lin Z*, Del Valle L, Zabaleta J, Liu J, Post S, Foroozesh M, Qin Z. Developing new ceramide analogs and identifying novel sphingolipid controlled genes against a virus-associated lymphoma. Blood. 2020 Nov:136(19):2175-2187. doi: 10.1182/blood.2020005569. (*Co-first author, impact factor 22.113).
Zhao M, Nanbo A, Becnel D, Qin Z, Morris GF, Li L, Lin Z*. Ubiquitin Modification of the Epstein-Barr Virus Immediate Early Transactivator Zta. J
Virol. 2020 Oct:JVI.01298-20. doi: 10.1128/JVI.01298-20. PMID: 32847852. (*Corresponding author, impact factor 5.103)
Thompson JW Jr, Mikolajewski AJ, Kissinger P, McCrossen P, Smither A, Chamarthi GD, Lin Z, Tian D. An Epidemiologic Study of COVID-19 Patients in a State Psychiatric Hospital: High Penetrance With Early CDC Guidelines. Psychiatr Serv. 2020 Oct 6:appips202000270. doi: 10.1176/appi.ps.202000270. PMID: 33019856.
Huang Z, Tian D, Liu Y, Lin Z, Lyon CJ, Lai W, Fusco D, Drouin A, Yin X, Hu T, Ning B. Ultra-sensitive and high-throughput CRISPR-powered COVID-19 diagnosis. Biosens Bioelectron. 2020 Sep 15;164:112316. doi: 10.1016/j.bios.2020.112316. (impact factor 10.618)
Chen J, Lin Z, Barrett L, Dai L, Qin Z. Identification of new therapeutic targets and natural compounds against diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG). Bioorg Chem. 2020 Jun;99:103847. doi: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2020.103847.
Dai L*, Chen J*, Lin Z*, Wang Z, Mu S, Qin Z. Targeting Sphingosine Kinase by ABC294640 against Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG). J Cancer. 2020 May 22;11(16):4683-4691. (*Co-first author, impact factor 4.207).
Zhang Y, Nguyen A, Chun M, Lin Z, Ross J, Sun L. Ninety Days in: A comprehensive Review of the Ongoing COVID-19 Outbreak. Health Sci J. 2020; Vol.14. No. 2:706
Zhang Y, Yuan F, Liu L, Chen Z, Ma X, Lin Z*, Zou J*. The Role of the miR-21/SPRY2 Axis in Modulating Proangiogenic Factors, Epithelial Phenotypes, and Wound Healing in Corneal Epithelial Cells. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2019 Sep 3;60(12):3854-3862. (*Corresponding author, impact factor 4.799).
Kheir F, Zhao M, Strong MJ, Yu Y, Nanbo A, Flemington EK, Morris GF, Reiss K, Li L, Lin Z*. Detection of Epstein-Barr Virus Infection in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer. Cancers (Basel). 2019;11(6). (*Corresponding author, impact factor 6.639).
Lei J, Sun L, Li P, Zhu C, Lin Z, Mackey V, Coy D, He Q. The Wound Dressings and Their Applications in Wound Healing and Management. Health Sci J. 2019; Vol.13 (4), 1-8
Nakhoul H, Lin Z, Wang X, Roberts C, Dong Y, Flemington E. High-Throughput Sequence Analysis of Peripheral T-Cell Lymphomas Indicates Subtype-Specific Viral Gene Expression Patterns and Immune Cell Microenvironments. mSphere. 2019 Jul 10;4(4).
Zhao M, Nanbo A, Sun L, Lin Z*. Extracellular Vesicles in Epstein-Barr Virus' Life Cycle and Pathogenesis. Microorganisms. 2019 Feb 11;7(2). (*Corresponding author, impact factor 4.128).
He JQ, Sun L, He J, Zhu C, Li P, Lei J, He Q, Mackey V, Lin Z, Cheng P, Coy D. The Pathogenesis and Therapeutics of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma. Health Sci J. 2019; Vol.13. No. 2:642
