Microbiology Learning Spaces: The Gene Michaels room gets a fresh look.

Students at work in the Gene Michaels room

Learning may start in the classroom, but it doesn’t end there. The Gene Michaels room honors past Microbiology faculty member Dr. Gene Michaels who took exceptional interest in undergraduate instruction. The room was recently renovated and relocated to offer students a place for collaboration and study.  As you can see, students are taking full advantage of this space on the third floor of the BioSciences Building.

Lin Lab

There are at least 1.5 million fungal species on earth, but only a few fungi can cause systemic infections in humans and animals. Nonetheless, these few pathogenic fungi pose serious threat to public health. We primarily focus on two major fungal pathogens: Cryptococcus neoformans (top left image) and Aspergillus fumigatus (bottom left image). C. neoformans is the causative agent for cryptococcal meningitis, the most common fungal infection of the central nervous system (CNS) and the third most frequent neurological complication in AIDS patients. Cryptococcal meningitis causes hundreds of thousands of deaths annually and is responsible for 15% of deaths in AIDS patients. Aspergillus fumigatus can cause various diseases, varying from an allergic response, aspergillomas, to severe invasive aspergillosis in neutropenic patients. Lin lab members are interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms employed by these fungi that govern their virulence. In particular, we investigate the impact of fungal life cyle and morphological differentiation on pathogenicity.

crypto-Aspergillus.jpgLin Lab 2017 at UGA.jpg

Lin Lab Alumni

Bing Zhai (former graduate student, currently a postdoc at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York City)

Yunfang Meng (visiting MD/PhD student from Shanghai ChangZheng Hospital, currently a physician at Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University)

Rachana Gyawali (former graduate student, currently a postdoc at Duke Medical Center, North Carolina)

Linqi Wang (former postdoctoral fellow, currently a professor at Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Xinping Xu (former postdoctoral fellow, currently a professor at the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University)

Xiuyun Tian (former postdoctoral fellow, currently a staff scientist at Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Nadia Chacko (former postdoctoral fellow, currently a research scientist at UC riverside)

Lab site:
Molecular Mycology (MoMy) at MBL
Fungal Biology at UGA

Xiaorong Lin

Gene E. Michaels Distinguished Professor in Medical Mycology
Director of Graduate Studies - Recruitment
Adjunct faculty of Plant Biology, Infectious Diseases

Research in Lin lab focuses on medical mycology: We study the molecular mechanisms of fungal pathogenesis and microbial communication and development. We also investigate targeted drug delivery and antifungal vaccine development. The long-term goal of our research is to seek better approaches for the management of fungal diseases and to advance our knowledge about fundamental eukaryotic microbiology. Please click "RESEARCH" below to learn more about our research projects.

Positions: Highly motivated and qualified individuals with strong interests in genetics, fungal immunology, and fungal biology & pathogenesis are encouraged to send your request about potential positions in Lin lab to Xiaorong.Lin@uga.edu (postdoctoral fellow, graduate student, or undergraduate researcher positions). Prior experience in fungal biology is not required.

Potential Graduate Students: For individuals interested in becoming a graduate student in Lin lab, please apply for graduate admission through either the Integrated Life Sciences/ILS umbrella program (https://ils.uga.edu/) or the Integrated Plant Sciences/IPS umbrella program (https://ips.uga.edu/).

Education:
  • Ph.D., Fungal Genetics and Molecular Biology (Plant Biology department), University of Georgia (2003)
  • M.S., Chemical Engineering, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (1999)
  • B.S., Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology (1996)

Service:

  • Associate Editor: PLoS Genetics; PLoS Pathogens; mBio
  • Director (2015-2019): MBL summer course on Molecular Mycology: Current Approaches to Fungal Pathogenesis
  • Member (2019-2026): Fungal Genetics Policy Steering Committee

Honors:

  • American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow
  • American Academy of Microbiology (AAM) Fellow
  • BWF Investigator in Pathogenesis of Infectious Disease, Burroughs Wellcome Fund
  • ICAAC Young Investigator Award, American Society of Microbiology (ASM)
Research Areas:
Microbe-Host Interactions
Molecular Microbiology
Microbial Physiology
Bioinformatics and -omics/Computational Biology
Research Interests:

Research in Lin laboratory focuses on medical mycology: We study the molecular mechanisms of fungal pathogenesis and microbial communication and development. We also investigate targeted drug delivery and antifungal vaccine development. The long-term goal of our research is to seek better approaches for the management of fungal diseases and to advance our knowledge about fundamental eukaryotic microbiology.  

We primarily focus on Cryptococcus neoformans, a causative agent for cryptococcal meningitis. This disease is the most common fungal infection of the central nervous system (CNS) and the third most frequent neurological complication in AIDS patients. Cryptococcal meningitis claims hundreds of thousands of lives annually and is responsible for ~19% of deaths in AIDS patients. Human infection is acquired by inhalation of airborne cryptococcal cells from environment and asymptomatic carriage of this fungus is common in the human population. Infection is typically cleared or the fungus can stay dormant (latency). When the host immunity is compromised (due to HIV infection or organ transplant), dormant fungal cells can be reactivated and disseminate hematogenously to cause systemic infection, with a propensity to the CNS. (1) We are interested in cryptococcal life cycle and how it contributes to the progression of cryptococcal disease. (2) We are also interested in the molecular mechanisms underlying cryptococcal morphogenesis as morphotype is tightly linked to cryptococcal virulence. For instance, the filamentous form is attenuated in virulence and it promotes host protective immune-responses.  Investigating the signal transduction pathways that promote cryptococcal filamentation program may provide insights into novel means to mitigate cryptococcal pathogenesis. We are exploring the possibility of using the filamentous strains or antigens presented in cryptococcal filaments as vaccines (whole cell, recombinant protein or nucleic acid vaccines). (3) We are interested in discovery new mechanisms underlying cryptococcal adaptation to host physiological conditions. (4) We are developing targeted antifungal drug delivery system (DectiSomes) to improve the efficacy of antifungal drugs. 

Student Awards

Graduate student Benjamin Chadwick won Paper of the Year Award. UGA Plant Biology. 2022

Graduate student Amber Matha won Outstanding Teaching Assistant award. UGA Center for Teaching and Learning. 2024

Graduate student Nhu Pham won the 2024 ARCS Foundation Scholarship (Achievement Rewards for College Scientists) https://arcsfoundation.org/  2024

Graduate student Ran Shi won Dr. Juergen Wiegel Award. UGA Microbiology. https://mib.uga.edu/wiegel-award 2024           

Lab Alumni

Amber Matha (former PhD student, currently a faculty at Wilson College)

Benjamin Chadwick (former PhD student, currently a postdoctoral fellow at University of Wisconsin-Madison)

Yumeng Fan (former PhD student, currently a postdoc at Chinese CDC)

Fanglin Zheng (former postdoctoral fellow, currently a professor at the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University)

Jianfeng Lin (former PhD student, currently a postdoc at UCLA medical school)

Kenton Hipsher (former MS student, currently a staff scientist at Zymergen)

Bing Zhai (former PhD student, currently a professor at Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Rachana Gyawali (former PhD student, currently a senior staff scientist at North Carolina State Lab of Public Health)

Linqi Wang (former postdoctoral fellow, currently a professor at Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Nadia Chacko (former postdoctoral fellow, currently a scientist at LifeMine Therapeutics)

Xiuyun Tian (former postdoctoral fellow, currently a staff scientist at Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences)

Xinping Xu (former postdoctoral fellow, currently a professor at the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University)

Yunfang Meng (former visiting MD/PhD student, currently a physician at Jianan Hospital)

Srijana Upadhyay (former research associate, currently a research associate at Texas A&M Vet school)

Labs (via personnel):
Xiaorong Lin
Labs:
Lin Lab
Of note:

 

C. neoformans and A. fumigatus

Lin lab, summer of 2018
Lin lab, summer of 2018
Lin Lab potluck Sept 2018
Lin lab potluck 09/2018
Linlab summer 2022
Lin Lab, summer of 2022
Lin Lab, Fungal Genetics Conference, March 2022
Lin Lab, Fungal Genetics Conference, March 2022
Ben's Paper of the Year Award (PBIO)
Ben's Paper of the Year Award (PBIO)-Jan 2023

Lin lab, Asilomar meeting 2024

Lin lab, Fungal Genetics Conference at Asilomar. 2024

Lin lab spring 2023
Lin Lab, Spring 2023

 

Lin lab, spring 2025

Courses Regularly Taught:
MIBO 8150
MIBO 4700/6700
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