Lynda Chin

Lynda Chin is an American medical doctor. She is a board-certified dermatologist who sits as department chair and professor of genomic medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center,^[1] as well as scientific director of the MD Anderson Institute for Applied Cancer Science.^[2] In late 2012 she was elected as a member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies.^[3]

Early life and education

When she was 15, Chin and her family migrated from China to the United States.^[4] She then attended Franklin D. Roosevelt High School where 1984, she was valedictorian of her class. In 1988, Chin graduated from Brown University, receiving magna cum laude honors for her B.S in neuroscience. She earned her medical degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1993. Afterward, she began her postgraduate clinical and scientific training at New York–Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. From 1994-1997, Chin completed her research fellowship from Albert Einstein College of Medicine where she was also chief resident of dermatology.^[5]

Career

Dana-Farber Cancer Institute

Chin has been a member of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's Department of Medical Oncology since 1999.^[6]

Educator and researcher

She was a professor of Dermatology at the Harvard Medical School.^[6]

Chin was a Senior Associate Member of the Broad Institute, where she became the principal researcher of the Genome Data Analysis Center in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA).^[6] Chin was then elected scientific director of the Belfer Institute for Applied Cancer Science at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Chin was a co-leader of the Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Center’s Melanoma Program and the Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant for skin research.^[6]

AVEO Pharmaceuticals and Metamark Genetics

In 2002, Chin co-founded a cancer biotechnology company called AVEO Pharmaceuticals. 5 years later, Chin founded Metamark Genetics, a cancer diagnostic company dedicated to the development of prognostic and predictive cancer tests.^[6]

University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Chin joined the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in 2011 as chair of first-ever Department of Genomic Medicine and scientific director of the Institute for Applied Cancer Science. She assists the scientific steering committee of the International Cancer Genome Consortium.^[6]

In 2012, Chin was involved in controversial grant award by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). A Houston Chronicle investigation suggests that CPRIT her application for the approximately $18 million grant had been handled in a hasty manner designed to circumvent its own scientific reviewers. ^[7]

Personal life

Chin met her husband, Ronald A. DePinho, as a medical student at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City. Chin and her husband have three children together, Alexis, Carolyn, and Joseph. ^[8] Chin has been alleged to have misappropriated public funding for decorating and furnishing her own office.^[9]. She has also been alleged to have signed contracts that are outside of her jurisdiction and authority.^[10]

References