Lina Cui, Ph.D.

Lina Cui, Ph.D., obtained her B.Sc. in chemistry from Nankai University (China) in 2003. She continued her study in the University of Alberta (Canada) and obtained her Ph.D. degree in Organic Chemistry and Glycobiology in 2009 under the direction of Prof. David R. Bundle, the founding Director of the Alberta Glycomics Centre. Following graduate school, Dr. Cui spent two years (2009-2010) as a postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Jean M.J. Fréchet at UC Berkeley. Her postdoctoral training continued at Stanford University School of Medicine (2011-2014), where she worked with Prof. Jianghong Rao in the Molecular Imaging Program at Stanford (MIPS) directed by Prof. Sanjiv Sam Gambhir. In 2015, Dr. Cui joined the faculty of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology as a tenure-track Assistant Professor at the University of New Mexico and UNM Comprehensive Cancer Center. In August 2018, she was recruited to the University of Florida and was appointed as a tenure-track assistant professor in the College of Pharmacy. In 2022, she was promoted with tenure to associate professor. Visit www.linacui.org for more details.

The Cui lab explores the biochemical activities of glycan processing enzymes and develops therapeutic and diagnostic molecules or tools for various types of cancer and age-related diseases (e.g. diabetes, neurodegeneration, etc). The interdisciplinary program integrates organic chemistry, molecular and cellular biology, and molecular imaging. Our current research explores the biochemistry of heparanase, a key enzyme involved in the remodeling of extracellular matrix. We are developing molecular probes to study the precise modes of heparanase activity using molecular imaging, as well as diagnostic tools and drug molecules targeting heparanase and related enzymes. Our lab also develops molecular tools to detect senescence and DNA damage, and we have applied these molecules in various collaborative projects to explore the progression of diabetes, neurodegeneration and other age-related diseases.