Oklahoma Center for Microbiome Research
Past Project Leaders
Dr. Daniel Lin
Project: Microbiome response to dietary carotenoids.
Dr. Dingbo (Daniel) Lin is a nutritional biochemist with a primary focus on metabolism
and the microbiome. His PhD training was in stress biochemistry and physiology. He
trained as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Dolores Takemoto where he
investigated the junctional gap regulation of the eye in rodent models. He joined
the Human Nutrition Department at Kansas State University before moving to OSU-STW.
His research focuses on the health benefits of bioactive dietary carotenoids (e.g.,
xanthophylls) and the metabolic enzyme beta-carotene oxygenase 2 (BCO2); he seeks
to determine their impact on gut microbiome homeostasis, host immune cell metabolism,
and chronic inflammation during the development of obesity and type 2 diabetes. Dr.
Lin is mentored by Dr. Stephen Clarke, an epigenetics and nutritional metabolism expert,
and Dr. Janeen Salak-Johnson, an expert in stress physiology, immunology, and microbiomes
using whole animal systems. Dr. Lin is transitioning his career to focus more on the
role of the microbiota in mediating the health benefits of dietary carotenoids and
their microbial metabolism. He used the Anaerobic Microbiology Core to study carotenoid-anaerobic
microbial interactions in microbes and host cells. Dr. Lin shared his expertise in
nutritional metabolism and the impact of nutrition on the host immune system.
Past OCMR Mentors
Dr. Clarke mentored Dr. Dingbo Lin, former OCMR RPL for his Project, which studies the metabolism and impact of dietary carotenoids on the gut microbiome and host immune cell activation. Dr. Clarke is Associate Dean for Research in the OSU College of Education and Human Sciences. He is a member of the Board of Human Sciences of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities and the Association of Nutrition Departments and Programs. After finishing his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, TX. Since joining OSU, Clarke has served OSU as Department Head of Nutritional Sciences, Head of OSU Faculty Council, Chair of the Healthcare and Wellness Committee, and member of the OSU Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Council. In addition to serving as an external program reviewer for Nutrition and Dietetic programs, he has served as a Faculty Teaching Fellow, participated as a panelist for the OSU Academic Leadership Academy, and has presented faculty development workshops for the Institute of Teaching and Learning Excellence. He has over 80 publications. Dr. Clarke’s research at the crossover point of nutrition and biochemistry made him an excellent Mentor for Dr. Lin. He mentored Dr. Lin on project planning, nutritional biochemistry, and data analysis. He also assists with publication, grant writing, and interdisciplinary collaborations.
Dr. Johnson-Salak mentored Dr. Dingbo Lin, former OCMR RPL. She is the Temple Grandin Endowed Chair in Animal Behavior and Well-being in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences. She trained as an interdisciplinary scientist in both the animal and human sciences. She was a recipient of an NIH postdoctoral training fellowship in psychoneuroimmunology at the University of Minnesota. Working with rodents and pigs, she gained skills and expertise in brain physiology, immunity, virology, drug addiction, and neurophysiological aspects of pain. Dr. Salak-Johnson brings a diversity of expertise in the basic sciences, especially areas of stress immunophysiology, behavior, neuroendocrinology, and well-being. She has over 50 publications. Her diverse background and her great understanding of animal physiology and microbiome function that developed from her work assessing prenatal stress on gut-immune interactions and microbiome homeostasis on enteric health greatly benefited Dr. Lin’s studies of dietary carotenoid metabolism and its impacts on host physiology. She has successfully mentored over 38 graduate students and 6 early career faculty members. Dr. Johnson-Salak provides mentorship in project planning, animal experiments, and data analysis in addition to grant development and dissemination.
Dr. Clinton Jones is a Professor of Veterinary Pathobiology. He served as Mentor for Dr. Paul Kirchberger, the RPL of Project 2. He completed his PhD at the University of Kansas in May 1984. Then he did a postdoc at the Linus Pauling Institute of Science and Medicine (Palo Alto, CA) Laboratory of Viral Carcinogenesis. He has published over 180 articles and authored 7 book chapters. Dr. Jones has an NIH NINDS R01 grant (Stress-Mediated Regulation of HSV-1 Reactivation from Latency) and two USDA NIFA grants (Regulation of bovine herpesvirus 1 reactivation from latency by progesterone and corticosteroids and Maintenance of bovine herpesvirus 1 latency by viral and cellular factors) which compliments his main focus on the latency of a- herpesvirinae subfamily members, Bovine Herpes Virus 1 (BHV-1) and Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 (HSV-1). He made significant contributions to understanding the latency-reactivation cycle of BHV-1 and HSV-1 and their similarities during the latency-reactivation cycle. He discovered that latent gene products inhibit apoptosis and identified cellular transcription factors in sensory neurons of trigeminal ganglia induced by the synthetic corticosteroid dexamethasone during BHV-1 and HSV-1 reactivation from latency. Dr. Jones’ long-standing focus on viral pathogens made him an ideal Mentor for Dr. Kirchberger.