Dr Andrew Lin

School of Biosciences

Senior Lecturer, School Director of One University

Profile photo of Andrew Lin
Profile picture of Profile photo of Andrew Lin
andrew.lin@sheffield.ac.uk
+44 114 222 3643
B2 222a, Alfred Denny Building

Full contact details

Dr Andrew Lin
School of Biosciences
B2 222a
Alfred Denny Building
Western Bank
Sheffield
S10 2TN
Profile

Brief career history:

  • 2023 - present: Senior Lecturer, University of Sheffield
  • 2019 - 2022: Lecturer, University of Sheffield
  • 2015 - 2019: Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow, University of Sheffield
  • 2009 - 2015: Postdoctoral fellow, University of Oxford
  • 2004 - 2009: PhD, University of Cambridge
  • 2000 - 2004: AB Biology, Harvard University
Research interests

We study how the brain represents sensory information to allow it to store unique memories, using the olfactory system of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model system.

Olfactory sensory coding and memory

How does the brain recognise sensory stimuli? How does it form distinct memories for different stimuli, even very similar ones? And how does it wire itself up to process information in the best way to achieve these remarkable feats? Our research addresses these fundamental questions using the olfactory system of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Flies have a much simpler nervous system than humans but are still capable of complex behaviours such as associative memory. This simplicity, combined with the power of fly genetics, makes Drosophila an excellent model system for tackling basic questions about neural circuit function.

Flies can form distinct associative memories for different odours, even very similar ones, and this stimulus-specificity depends on ‘sparse coding’, in which Kenyon cells, the neurons that encode olfactory associative memories, respond sparsely to odours, i.e. only a few neurons in the population respond to each odour. This sparse coding in turn depends on a delicate balance of excitation and inhibition onto Kenyon cells. We are studying how this balance is created and maintained. By improving our understanding of how the brain balances excitation and inhibition, this work may shed light on neurological disorders, like epilepsy, where this balance goes wrong.

Some methods we use:

  • In vivo two-photon imaging
  • Patch-clamp electrophysiology
  • Individual-fly behavioural experiments
  • Genetic manipulation of identified neurons
  • Transcriptional profiling
  • Computational modelling
Publications

Show: Featured publications All publications

Journal articles

  • Greenin‐Whitehead K, Rozenfeld E, Moreno‐Sanchez A, Tan MW, Kullu K, Ausborn J, Parnas M & Lin AC (2025) . The Journal of Physiology.
  • Parnas M, Manoim JE & Lin AC (2024) . Learning & Memory, 31(5).
  • Manneschi L, Lin AC & Vasilaki E (2023) . IEEE Trans Neural Netw Learn Syst, 34(2), 824-838.
  • Abdelrahman NY, Vasilaki E & Lin AC (2021) . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(49).
  • Mittal AM, Gupta D, Singh A, Lin AC & Gupta N (2020) . Nature Communications, 11(1), ---.
  • Amin H, Apostolopoulou AA, Suárez-Grimalt R, Vrontou E & Lin AC (2020) . eLife, 9, ---.
  • Apostolopoulou AA & Lin AC (2020) . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(28), 16606-16615.

All publications

Journal articles

  • Greenin‐Whitehead K, Rozenfeld E, Moreno‐Sanchez A, Tan MW, Kullu K, Ausborn J, Parnas M & Lin AC (2025) . The Journal of Physiology.
  • Cazalé-Debat L, Scheunemann L, Day M, Fernandez-d.V. Alquicira T, Dimtsi A, Zhang Y, Blackburn LA, Ballardini C, Greenin-Whitehead K, Reynolds E , Lin AC et al (2024) . Nature, 634(8034), 635-643.
  • Parnas M, Manoim JE & Lin AC (2024) . Learning & Memory, 31(5).
  • Bergmann K & Lin AC (2024) . J Physiol, 602(9), 1877-1878.
  • Lin AC & Prieto-Godino L (2023) . Current Biology, 33(15), R822-R825.
  • Manneschi L, Lin AC & Vasilaki E (2023) . IEEE Trans Neural Netw Learn Syst, 34(2), 824-838.
  • Abdelrahman NY, Vasilaki E & Lin AC (2021) . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(49).
  • Manneschi L, Ellis MOA, Gigante G, Lin AC, Giudice PD & Vasilaki E (2020) Exploiting Multiple Timescales in Hierarchical Echo State Networks.. Frontiers Appl. Math. Stat., 6, 616658-616658.
  • Mittal AM, Gupta D, Singh A, Lin AC & Gupta N (2020) . Nature Communications, 11(1), ---.
  • Amin H, Apostolopoulou AA, Suárez-Grimalt R, Vrontou E & Lin AC (2020) . eLife, 9, ---.
  • Apostolopoulou AA & Lin AC (2020) . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 117(28), 16606-16615.
  • Green DJ & Lin AC (2020) . Elife, 9.
  • Amin H & Lin A (2019) . Current Opinion in Insect Science, 36, 9-17.
  • Bielopolski N, Amin H, Apostolopoulou AA, Rozenfeld E, Lerner H, Huetteroth W, Lin AC & Parnas M (2019) . eLife, 8.
  • Bielopolski N, Amin H, Apostolopoulou AA, Rozenfeld E, Lerner H, Huetteroth W, Lin AC & Parnas M (2019) . eLife, 8.
  • Pavlou HJ, Lin AC, Neville MC, Nojima T, Diao F, Chen BE, White BH & Goodwin SF (2016) . eLife, 5(-), ---.
  • Lin AC, Bygrave AM, de Calignon A, Lee T & Miesenboeck G (2014) . Nature Neuroscience , 17(4), 559-568.
  • Rezával C, Nojima T, Neville MC, Lin AC & Goodwin SF (2014) . Current Biology, 24(7), 725-730.
  • Perisse E, Yin Y, Lin AC, Lin S, Huetteroth W & Waddell S (2013) . NEURON, 79(5), 945-956.
  • Parnas M, Lin AC, Huetteroth W & Miesenböck G (2013) . Neuron, 79(5), 932-944.
  • Lin AC, Tan CL, Lin C-L, Strochlic L, Huang Y-S, Richter JD & Holt CE (2009) . Neural Development, 4.
  • Merianda TT, Lin AC, Lam JSY, Vuppalanchi D, Willis DE, Karin N, Holt CE & Twiss JL (2009) . Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience, 40(2), 128-142.
  • Lin AC & Holt CE (2008) . Current Opinion in Neurobiology, 18(1), 60-68.
  • Lin AC & Holt CE (2008) . Nature Cell Biology, 10(2), 115-118.
  • Lin AC & Holt CE (2007) . The EMBO Journal, 26(16), 3729-3736.
  • Leung K-M, van Horck FPG, Lin AC, Allison R, Standart N & Holt CE (2006) . Nature Neuroscience, 9(10), 1247-1256.
  • Lin AC, Nightingale RW & Tarbell TD (2001) . Solar Physics, 198(2), 385-398.

Book chapters

  • Lin AC & Holt CE (2009) , Encyclopedia of Neuroscience (pp. 1019-1027). Elsevier
  • Lin AC & Holt CE (2009) , Encyclopedia of Neuroscience Volumes 1 11 (pp. V10-V10-1027).

Preprints

  • Cazale Debat L, Scheunemann L, Day M, Fernandez d V Alquicira T, Dimtsi A, Zhang Y, Blackburn LA, Ballardini CHM, Greenin Whitehead K, Reynolds E , Lin AC et al (2024) , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
  • Abdelrahman NY, Vasilaki E & Lin AC (2021) , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
  • Manneschi L, Ellis MOA, Gigante G, Lin AC, Del Giudice P & Vasilaki E (2021) , arXiv.
  • Amin H, Suárez-Grimalt R, Vrontou E & Lin AC (2020) , Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
  • Manneschi L, Lin AC & Vasilaki E (2019) , arXiv.
  • Manneschi L, Lin AC & Vasilaki E (2019) , arXiv.
  • Chen C-C, Huang Y-C, Ortega A, Suárez-Grimalt R, Tedre E, Baz E-S, Wu Y, Lin AC & Liu S () , bioRxiv.
Grants
  • BBSRC
  • Wellcome Trust
Teaching activities
  • BMS11004 Introduction to Neuroscience
  • BMS248 Neural Circuits, Behaviour and Memory
  • Level 3 Practical and Dissertation Modules
Professional activities and memberships
  • Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA)
  • BBSRC Pool of Experts
Opportunities

We advertise PhD opportunities (Funded or Self-Funded) on FindAPhD.com

For further information and details of other projects on offer, please see the department PhD Opportunities page.

Links