Kim Denyse Juaton Hao Lin

EDUCATION

College / University

University of the Philippines Diliman

Highest Degree

Bachelor of Science

Major Subjects

Molecular and Cellular Biology

Philippines

Lab Experience

Molecular biology and cloning, Cell culture and cell-based assays, Imaging and microscopy, Transfection and transduction, Immunocytochemistry, Flow cytometry, Zebrafish rearing and microinjection, Basic bioinformatics, GraphPad

Projects / Research

2024 - 2025: Characterized novel PI3K and KRAS mutants from Filipino colorectal cancer patient samples through cancer hallmark assays in HCT116 and Caco-2 cell lines
2021 - 2025: Tested bioactivity of drugs for different disease indications using high-throughput assays and high-content imaging
2023 - 2024: Evaluated expression and perform overexpression and siRNA knockdown of e-cigarette associated lncRNAs in the context of lung cancer
2023: Developed fluorescent reporter systems and characterized asynthetic fission in zebrafish larvae
2021 - 2023: Characterized novel PI3K mutants from Filipino colorectal cancer patient samples through cancer hallmark assays in HCT116 and NIH3T3 cell lines

Scholarships / Awards

2025 – 2026:

Stipend by the International Max Planck Research School

SCIENTIFIC INTERESTS AND GOALS

My interest in the eye started at home as I watched my father struggle with Stargardt disease, a progressive form of inherited macular degeneration caused by dysfunctional ABCA4 proteins in retinal pigment epithelium cells. These childhood experiences sparked an early inkling towards neuroscience, which grew into a fascination with the molecular and structural mechanisms of how higher-order brain functions like vision and perception emerge from the crosstalk among neural synapses, such as between the retina and the visual cortex, and how this circuitry can break down in diseases, such as perturbations in the visual cycle leading to blindness. Although visual neuroscience has advanced tremendously, therapeutic options, especially in the Philippines, remain scarce. With treating blindness as my foremost motivation, I endeavor to learn more about the intricacies of the brain’s inner workings, which underlies my interest in neuroscience, molecular biology, and regeneration.