Majority of neuropsychiatric disorders have multifactorial etiologies including poly-genes, polymorphisms of the genes, and environments; only delineation of these etiologies can enable accurate diagnoses and design of effective treatment. Since 2007, Dr. Lin’s Laboratory of Psychiatric Neurogenomics has been exploring the influence of genes on brain function and how they contribute to environment-conditioned etiology of neurological or psychiatric disorders. This exploration may reveal clues to help early diagnosis of related conditions as well as develop medications that prevent or treat these disorders.

Specifically, Dr. Lin’s group aims to delineate the regulatory cascades for human genetic variants implicated in the pathophysiology of dopamine-related brain disorders. Dysregulation of dopamine transmission contributes to several environment-related brain disorders. These include drug addiction, depression, schizophrenia, and Parkinson’s disease. The molecular pathways stemming from environment to neurochemical dysregulation in vulnerable individuals are candidate targets for medication. Dr. Lin’s research has three areas of focus: identifying the genetic risk factors in dopamine neurons, devising new genetic approaches to understanding the interaction between the environment and dopamine, and developing therapeutic strategies based on related genetic pathways.

The ultimate goal is to facilitate the development of mechanism-based precision medicine.