Research Interests

My research area is primarily focus on the molecular mechanisms of bacteria in the pathogenesis, spread, and the host response. Including protein-protein interaction of bacterial toxins, cross-species transfer of pathogenic genes, controls of bacterial infection and intoxication, food safety and host immune defense. Bacterial gene expression system with focus on promoter function and reporter gene activity.

Current Research Projects

1. Clostridium botulinum neurotoxins
   [for more background information, click botulinumweb]

• Protein-protein interaction in the toxin complex
• Application in clinical treatment of neuromuscular disorders [interesting link: Botox]
• Gene regulation in C. botulinum
  

2. Avian botulism of California brown pelicans at Salton Sea [for more info, click Salton Sea]

• Investigation of the correlation of intestinal microflora and avian botulism

3. Antimicrobial activity of probiotic bacteria [see probiotic articles]

• Characterization of the antimicrobial substances
• Heat and acid tolerance of formulated probiotic bacteria
• DNA fingerprinting of probiotic bacteria

Curriculum Vitae

Education

Post-Doctoral and NIH-National Research Service Award fellow
Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School

Ph.D. University of Wisconsin - Madison

M.S. University of Minnesota, Twin City

B.S. National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

Professional Experience

2000-present
Assistant Professor of Microbiology
Department of Biological Sciences
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona

1998-2000
Scientist, Neurotoxin Research Program, Allergan, Inc. Irvine, CA.
Studied recombinant botulinum neurotoxin and its clinical use in treating neuromuscular disorders.

1995-1998
Scientist, Division of Immunology and Cancer Biology, Gilead Sciences (Formerly NeXstar Pharmaceuticals and Supragen Inc.), Lakewood, CO.
Studied bacterial superantigens and their role in autoimmune diseases.

1992-1994
NIH National Research Service Award Fellow, Channing Laboratory for Infectious Disease, Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.
Studied the regulation of late gene expression of Staphylococcal superantigens.

1988-1992
Research Assistant, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Studied the regulation of botulinum neurotoxin in Clostridium botulinum with the development of various genetic tools.

1985-1988
Research Assistant, University of Minnesota, Twin City.
Studied the synergistic growth and the ß-galactosidase activity in a mixed culture of Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus.

Professional Activities

InterAgency Botulism Research Coordinating Committee (IBRCC)
American Society for Microbiology

Publications

1. Lin, W.-J., D. A. Savaiano, and S. K. Harlander. 1988. A method for determining ß-galactosidase activity of yogurt cultures in skim milk. J. Dairy Sci. 72:351-359.
2. Martini, M. C., E. C. Lerebours, W.-J. Lin, S. K. Harlander, N. M. Berrada, J. M. Antoine, and D. A. Savaiano. 1991. The effect of lactic acid bacterial strains and species in fermented milk (yogurt) on in vivo lactose digestion. Amer. J. Clinic Nutrition, 45:1041-1046.
3. Premaratne, R. J., W.-J. Lin, and E. A. Johnson. 1991. Development of an improved chemically defined minimal medium for Listeria monocytogenes. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 57:3046-3048.
4. Lin, W.-J., and E. A. Johnson. 1991. Transposon Tn916 mutagenesis in Clostridium botulinum. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 57:2946-2950.
5. Lin, W.-J., and E. A. Johnson. 1995. Genome analysis of Clostridium botulinum type A by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Appl. Environ. Microbiol, 61:4441-4447.
6. Liu, C.-P., W.-J. Lin, M. Huang, J. W. Kappler, and P. Marrack. 1996. Development and function of T cells in TCR/CD3 zeta knockout mice expressing Fc?RI gamma. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94:616-621.
7. Johnson, E. A., W.-J. Lin, Y. T. Zhou, and M. Bradshaw. 1997. Characterization of neurotoxin mutants in Clostridium botulinum. type A. Clin. Infect. Dis. 25 (Suppl. 2):S168-S170.
8. Liu, C.-P., K. Jiang, C.-H. Wu, W.-H. Lee, and W.-J. Lin. 2000. Detection of glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) activated T cells with I-Ag7 tetramers. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. PNAS, 97(26):14596-14601.
9. Lin, W.-J., D. A. Norris, M. Troetsch, B. L. Kotzin, and B. Tomkinson. 2001. Oligoclonal expansion of intraepidermal T cells in psoriasis skin lesions. Journal of Investigative Dermatology, 117:1546-1553.
10. Zhang, L., W.-J. Lin, S. Li, K. R. Aoki. 2003. Complete DNA sequences of the botulinum neurotoxin complex of Clostridium botulinum type A Hall strain. Gene 315:21-32.

Things that I do at spare time (if any!)

Most likely I will be driving my kids to various activities and volunteering for school and community activities
Things that I enjoy but have no time to do............ gardening, music, reading novel, etc.