Associate professor, School of Life Science at Tsinghua University, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Joint Center for Life Science at Tsinghua University and Peking University

Research Area: Cell Biology; Membrane-less organelles; Phase separation; Intrinsically Disordered Proteins

Award Citation: The AYSF Committee acknowledges her breakthrough findings of phase separation in various cellular functions and diseases, as well as the role of phase separation in orchestrating chromatin structure and cell fate determination, and would like to support her efforts in elucidating the fundamental mechanisms of phase separation and related therapeutic strategies.

Bio: Yi Lin is an associate professor in the School of Life Science at Tsinghua University. She received her PhD in Biological Sciences from Marquette University in 2014 and later worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. She joined Tsinghua University in 2020. Her research focuses on the mechanisms of biomacromolecular phase separation and its relevance to neurodegenerative diseases. She is aimed to decipher the molecular mechanisms underlying phase separation and the formation of membrane-less organelles, understand physiological implications of specific phase separation events in the nervous system, and to develop interventions to regulate abnormal phase transitions for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. A series of her published work have resolved the dynamic regulatory mechanisms of phase separation in various cellular processes, such as circadian rhythm and neuronal differentiation.

Personal Web: http://linyi-lab.life.tsinghua.edu.cn