Collin D. Link

Raised in eastern Iowa, Collin completed his undergraduate education at St. Ambrose University. Co-advised by Drs. Amy C. Blair and Brenda J. Peters, he investigated the in vivo effects of hormetic stimuli, e.g., heat shock and calorie restriction, in relation to learning. After completing a National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates at the University of Georgia (UGA) in the laboratory of Dr. Zachary A. Lewis, Collin returned to the Lewis Laboratory as a postbaccalaureate researcher. Mentored by Dr. Lewis, he led investigations on chromatin- and epigenetics-related research projects, with an emphasis on the biology of nucleosome remodeling. Concomitantly, he contributed to collaborative endeavors with Drs. Richard B. Meagher (UGA) and Xiaorong Lin (UGA) to advance antifungal drug effectiveness via targeted lipid nanoparticles (i.e., DectiSomes).

As an M.D.-Ph.D. student in the National Institutes of Health–funded Medical Scientist Training Program at Yale School of Medicine, Collin seeks to probe the manifold ways in which three-dimensional genome structure and chromatin architecture—intricately spatiotemporally partitioned at both local and global scales—contribute to disease susceptibility, onset, progression, and therapeutic response, particularly in cancer. Mentored by Dr. Mandar D. Muzumdar and closely collaborating with Dr. Steven Wang, Collin aims to employ a variety of high-resolution technologies to mechanistically interrogate fundamental regulators of these epigenomic processes, thereby generating insights of both basic and translational relevance.

Outside the research laboratory and classroom, Collin is an avid digital photographer, and he enjoys recreational basketball.