University of California San Francisco

Innovations & Research

The Learning Innovation Network Lab (LIN Lab)

Areas of Focus

Lin's mission in medicine – guiding his practice, research and innovations – is to improve the lives of children and their families. In patient care, he focuses on what, he believes, makes us human: our faces, speech (palate) and hands. Specifically, he provides care for patients with cleft lip, cleft nose and cleft palate or other conditions of facial structures. He also performs surgery to correct problems with the bones of the skull and face (due to disorders such as craniosynostosis), the jaw (which can cause poor teeth alignment and breathing problems), and the orbit (eye socket).

In his translational research, Lin focuses on 3D printing and advanced visualization technologies to allow the use of sterile models and improve surgery by facilitating smaller incisions – serving to make procedures faster and more accurate. He has funded grants to develop artificial intelligence applications for detecting speech problems earlier in children's development, which can enable kids to receive speech therapy or corrective surgery sooner. He also studies how to merge scaffolding (implantable materials that support tissue growth) with biologic tissues for complex reconstruction surgeries.

Our Research
LinLab ABLE
Blood loss during surgery is a guesstimate by the surgical and anesthesia teams. Underestimate of blood loss can lead to delayed transfusions causing death or heart attack on the table. Overestimate of blood loss leads to unnecessary transfusions with associated ...  Read More
LinLab CleftScreen
CleftScreen is a mobile app-based AI tool designed to address the critical need for timely speech evaluation in children with cleft lip - palate, a common birth difference affecting 1 in 600 live births in the USA. A cleft palate ...  Read More
FaceShift: Noninvasive 3D Incremental Molding System
FaceShift is a groundbreaking platform for noninvasive craniofacial correction, combining 3D scanning, AI-driven design, and 3D printing to create personalized, biocompatible silicone molds. Like orthodontic aligners, these magnetically retained molds gently reshape soft tissue and cartilage in infants over time ...  Read More
SoundWell: The Vocal Speach Biopsy for the Early Detection of Disease
We are now leveraging our AI speech analysis to detect other health conditions, such as neurological (Alzheimer’s, stroke), psychiatric (depression, anxiety), respiratory (infection, asthma), cardiac (congestive heart failure exacerbation), and primary speech problems. Early detection leads to prompt evaluation-treatment for ...  Read More