Department of Orthopaedic Surgery

Hang Lin, PhD

  • Associate Professor

Education & Training

  • Postdoctoral Associate, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA
  • Fellow, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD
  • PhD, Cell Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, P.R.CHINA
  • BS, Biochemistry, Nanjing University, Nanjing, P.R.CHINA

Representative Publications

  1. Wang N, Lu Y, Rothrauff BB, Zheng A, Lamb A, Yan Y, Lipa KE, Lei G, Lin H. Mechanotransduction pathways in articular chondrocytes and the emerging role of estrogen receptor-α. Bone Res. 2023 Mar 3;11(1):13.
  2. Makarcyzk MJ, Sophie Hines, Yagi H, Li ZA, Aguglia AM, Zbikowski J, Padget AM, Gao Q, Bunnell BA, Goodman SB, Lin H. Using Microphysiological System for the Development of Treatments for Joint Inflammation and Associated Cartilage Loss—A Pilot Study. Biomolecules. 2023, 13(2), 384.
  3. Zhang X, Xiang S, Zhang Y, Liu S, Lei G, Hines S, Wang N, Lin H. In vitro Study to Identify Ligand-independent Function of Estrogen Receptor-α in Suppressing DNA Damage-induced Chondrocyte Senescence. Faseb J. 2023;37:e22746.
  4. Li ZA, Sant S, Cho SK, Goodman SB, Bunnell BA, Tuan RS, Gold MS, Lin H. Synovial joint-on-a-chip for modeling arthritis: progress, pitfalls, and potential. Trends Biotechnol. 2022 Aug 19:S0167-7799(22)00193-7.
  5. Xiang S, Lin Z, Makarcyzk MJ, Riewruja K, Zhang Y, Zhang X, Li Z, Clark KL, Li E, Liu S, Hao T, Fritch MR, Alexander PG, Lin H. Differences in the intrinsic chondrogenic potential ofhuman mesenchymal stromal cells and iPSC-derived multipotent cells. Clinical and Translational Medicine. 2022;12:e1112.
  6. Li Z, Lin Z, Liu S, Yagi H, Zhang X, Yocum LA, Romero-Lopez M, Rhee C, Makarcyzk MJ, Yu I, Li EN, Fritch MR, Gao Q, Goh KB, O’Donnell B, Hao T, Alexander PG, Mahadik B, Fisher JP, Goodman SB, Bunnell BA, Tuan RS, Lin H. Human Mesenchymal Stem Cell-derived Miniature Joint System for Disease Modeling and Drug Testing. Advanced Science. 2022. 9(21):e2105909.
  7. Lin Z, Zhang X, Fritch, MR, Li Z, Kuang B, Alexander PG, Hao T, Cao G, Tan S, Bruce KK, Lin H. Engineering Pre-Vascularized Bone-like Tissue from Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells through Simulating Endochondral Ossification. Biomaterials. 2022, 283:121451.
  8. Wang N, Zhang X, Rothrauff BB, Fritch MR, Chang A, He Y, Yeung M, Liu S, Lipa KE, Lei G, Alexander PG, Lin H. Novel Role of Estrogen Receptor-α on Regulating Chondrocyte Phenotype and Response to Mechanical Loading. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage. 2022, 30(2):302-314.
  9. Xie M, Fritch M, He Y, Fu H, HongY , and Lin H. Dynamic Loading Enhances Chondrogenesis of Human Chondrocytes within a Biodegradable Resilient Hydrogel. Biomaterials Science. 2021; 9(14):5011-5024.
  10. Shen H, He Y, Wang N, Fritch MR, Li X, Lin H (corresponding author), Tuan RS. Rejuvenation of Aged Human Articular Chondrocytes for High-quality Cartilage Regeneration. FASEB J. 2021;35(3):e21410.

    Pubmed link

Research Interests

The goal of Lin Lab is to apply the latest biological knowledge and state-of-art technology in orthopaedic research and translate the research findings into effective treatments for joint diseases. Focusing on translational research, there are three integrated projects in Lin Lab: investigating the association between aging and osteoarthritis (OA); establishing an in vitro microphysiological OA model for OA pathogenesis study and drug development; testing the stem cell-based therapy for the repair of cartilage injury.

Research Grants

Title: Investigating the Role of Estrogen Receptor- in the Pathogenesis of Osteoarthritis
Grant number: CURE
Granting organization: Pennsylvania Department of Health
Period of Support: 06/01/2021-05/31/2025
Role: PI

Title: Forskolin-enhanced microfracture to regenerate hyaline cartilage in chondral defect.
Grant number: R21AR083025
Granting organization: NIH
Period of Support: 09/01/2023-08/31/2025
Role: PI

Title: Joint Pain on a Chip: Mechanistic Analysis Therapeutic Targets and an Empirical Strategy for Personalized Pain Management.
Grant number: UG3/UH3TR003090
Granting organization: NIH
Period of Support: 09/01/2019-08/31/2024
Role: MPI

Title: Tissue Chip Modeling of Acute and Chronic Pain in Osteoarthritis
Grant number: W81XWH2010902
Granting organization: DoD
Period of Support: 10/01/2020-09/30/2024
Role: PI