Lina R. Nih, Ph.D.

Education

Dr. Lina R. Nih, earned her Master’s in Vascular Biology and in Neurobiology before obtaining her doctoral degree in Neuroscience at the University Paris V, France. During her Ph.D., she was awarded a research training grant by the Foundation of the Future (Fondation de l’Avenir) and the French National Institute of Health (INSERM) to develop the first dual pro-angiogenic cell therapy for stroke using two distinct vascular stem cells. She then completed a postdoctoral training at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) with a joint appointment at the David School of Medicine, Neurology Department, and the Cellular and Biomolecular Engineering Department. She joined the UCLA faculty as a principal investigator at the Lundquist Institute for Biomedical Innovation in 2020, and joined the UNLV Department of Brain Health in fall of 2024.

Science

Her past and current work has pioneered the development of therapeutic biomaterials, drug delivery systems, and hydrogel-assisted stem cell therapies for brain tissue revascularization and regeneration. Her multidisciplinary research program introduces a fresh perspective to the fields of neuroscience and regenerative medicine, approaching brain repair from a novel angle and challenging existing paradigms. These groundbreaking discoveries have the potential to reshape our understanding of tissue regeneration and open up new avenues for therapeutic approaches.

NIH (National Institute of Health)

She was awarded a five-year, $2.9M R01 grant from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) at the NIH. She serves as a reviewer for the NIH center for Scientific Review of:

• Bioengineering, Biodata, and Biomodeling Technologies (BBBT), Division of Basic and Integrative Biological Sciences (DBIB), Special emphasis panel: Biomaterials, tissue engineering, and drug delivery
• Bioengineering, Biodata, and Biomodeling Technologies (BBBT), Biomaterials and Bio-interfaces (BMBI)
• National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), SBIR/STTR
• Neurotechnology, Devices, Applications and Treatment Review Branch (NV).
• Bioengineering, Biodata, and Biomodeling Technologies (BBBT), Biomaterials, Nanoscience, and gene and drug delivery