Lin He (;) is a Chinese-American molecular biologist. She is an associate professor of cell and developmental biology at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, where she leads a lab focusing on identifying non-coding

RNA Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. RNA and deoxyribonucleic acid ( DNA) are nucleic acids. Along with lipids, proteins, and carbohydra ...

which may play a role in

tumorigenesis Carcinogenesis, also called oncogenesis or tumorigenesis, is the formation of a cancer, whereby normal cells are transformed into cancer cells. The process is characterized by changes at the cellular, genetic, and epigenetic levels and abno ...

and tumor maintenance.

Biography

Lin He was born in January 1974. She grew up in

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, with her

ancestral home An ancestral home is the place of origin of one's extended family, particularly the home owned and preserved by the same family for several generations. The term can refer to an individual house or estate, or to a broader geographic area such as a ...

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...

Province. She was admitted to the Department of Biology of

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbreviation, abbr. THU) is a National university, national Public university, public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, Minis ...

in 1992 and graduated 1997. She earned a Ph.D. from

Stanford Medical School Stanford University School of Medicine is the medical school of Stanford University and is located in Stanford, California. It traces its roots to the Medical Department of the University of the Pacific, founded in San Francisco in 1858. This ...

in 2003, working with Gregory S. Barsh. She was a postdoctoral fellow at

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) is a private, non-profit institution with research programs focusing on cancer, neuroscience, plant biology, genomics, and quantitative biology. It is one of 68 institutions supported by the Cancer Centers ...

from 2003 to 2007 with Greg Hannon before joining the faculty at the

in 2008. Lin He's research focuses on the role that non-coding

microRNAs MicroRNA (miRNA) are small, single-stranded, non-coding RNA molecules containing 21 to 23 nucleotides. Found in plants, animals and some viruses, miRNAs are involved in RNA silencing and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. miR ...

play in the development and maintenance of tumors. Specifically, she has found that miR-34, a specific microRNA family, plays an essential role in blocking tumor cells from replicating in lung cancers, among others. Her current research is focused on understanding the mechanism that miR-34 plays in tumor suppression. Her lab is also studying the miR-17/92 family. Differential expression of this microRNA cluster has been observed in

B-cell lymphomas Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enla ...

, suggesting that miR-17/92 members are potential human oncogenes. Her work has appeared in ''

Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...

'', ''

Nature Genetics ''Nature Genetics'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Nature Portfolio. It was established in 1992. It covers research in genetics. The chief editor is Tiago Faial. The journal encompasses genetic and functional genomic studi ...

'', ''

Cell Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life Cell may also refer to: Locations * Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery w ...

''and ''

Science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

''.

Awards

Lin He received the prestigious

MacArthur Fellowship The MacArthur Fellows Program, also known as the MacArthur Fellowship and commonly but unofficially known as the "Genius Grant", is a prize awarded annually by the MacArthur Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation typically to ...

in 2009, was selected as a HHMI faculty scholar in 2016 and appointed as a Biohub investigator in 2022.

References

External links

* profile at UC Berkeley {{DEFAULTSORT:He, Lin 1974 births Living people American molecular biologists Chinese emigrants to the United States MacArthur Fellows Stanford University School of Medicine alumni Tsinghua University alumni University of California, Berkeley College of Letters and Science faculty American women biologists Chinese women biologists Women molecular biologists 21st-century American women scientists Chinese molecular biologists Biologists from Beijing Educators from Beijing