Biography
Dr. Alexander Y. Lin is a plastic surgeon who specializes in craniofacial and maxillofacial surgery (operations on the skull, face and jaw), as well as plastic surgery for pediatric conditions. He is director of surgical innovations for UCSF's plastic surgery division. He is also co-director of the UCSF Craniofacial Center and co-director of the UCSF Center for Advanced 3D+ Technologies, serving as the Oakland site director for both.
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.
After earning his bachelor's and master's degrees at Stanford University, Lin earned his medical degree at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed a residency in general surgery and plastic and reconstructive surgery at UCSF, which included a two-year research fellowship in vascular immunobiology at Massachusetts General Hospital. He completed a fellowship in craniofacial, maxillofacial and pediatric plastic surgery at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. He also earned a master of business administration degree, with a focus on innovation, from Washington University in St. Louis.
Prior to joining UCSF, Lin served as chief of plastic surgery at St. Louis University School of Medicine. There, he held the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Endowed Chair in Craniofacial, Maxillofacial and Pediatric Plastic Surgery and co-founded and co-directed the 3D Printing Center of Excellence at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital, where he also directed the St. Louis Cleft-Craniofacial Center.
Nationally, Lin provides leadership in three key roles, serving on the American Society of Maxillofacial Surgeons' executive board, as vice chair of the craniomaxillofacial section of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons' exam committee, and as chair of the clinical study section of the Plastic Surgery Foundation (which supports impactful research through its grants program).
Education
Institution | Degree | Dept or School | End Date |
---|---|---|---|
Olin Business School, Washington University | MBA | Master of Business Administration | 12/2020 |
Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh (CHP), University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) | Fellowship: Craniofacial, Maxillofacial, and Pediatric Plastic Surgery | 06/2010 | |
University of California San Francisco (UCSF) | Residency: General Surgery and Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery | 06/2009 | |
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), Harvard Medical School | Research Fellowship: Vascular Immunobiology | 06/2007 | |
University of California San Francisco (UCSF) | Internship: General Surgery and Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery | 06/2003 | |
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine | MD | Medical School: M.D. with Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) honors | 05/2002 |
Stanford University | MS | Graduate: Master of Science, M.S. in Statistics | 06/1996 |
Stanford University | BA | Undergraduate: Bachelor of Arts, A.B. in Psychology with Distinction | 06/1996 |
Grants and Funding
- Transforming Cleft Speech Assessment and Care through Online Crowdsourcing. | 2020 Translational and Innovation Research Grant - Plastic Surgery Foundation (PSF) | 2020-06-01 - 2021-07-31 | Role:
- Primary Closure versus Delayed Primary Closure: Analysis of Wound Healing Complications in Acute Traumatic Wounds. | Saint Louis University internal grant GME Housestaff Grant award. (Caitlin Francoisse MD) | 2019-07-01 - 2020-06-30 | Role:
- Innovative Cleft Speech Assessment with Online Crowdsourcing. | AOA Carolyn L. Kuckein Student Research Fellowship Grant 2019. (Anne Sescleifer) | 2019-07-01 - 2020-06-30 | Role:
- Perceptual Factors in Female Anatomy Through Novel Crowdsourcing Analysis. | Aesthetic Surgery Education and Research Foundation Grant (ASERF). | 2019-07-01 - 2020-06-30 | Role:
- Pediatric Innovation Center | Saint Louis University internal grant Big Ideas Innovation Grant. | 2018-04-01 - 2019-12-31 | Role:
- Funding for the Kids' Inpatient Database (KID) developed by the healthcare cost and utilization project. | Saint Louis University internal grant Spark Microgrant. (Dr. Osazuwa-Peters, Dr. Hinyard, Dr. Ward, Dr. Lin, Dr. Bray, Dr. Pannu, Dr. Buchanan and Dr. GropleR) | 2019-06-30 - 2019-08-31 | Role:
- 3D-Printing Techniques with MRI: can surgical planning be done without radiation to children? | Saint Louis University internal grant for Medical Student Summer Research Training Program. (Chu Hyun “June” Kim) | 2018-06-01 - 2018-07-31 | Role:
- Preliminary Translational Testing of a Cryogel Scaffold to Promote Bone Regeneration for the Treatment of Cleft-Craniofacial Defects. | Saint Louis University internal grant Health Sciences Grand Opportunity Review Committee. (Scott Sell PhD, Principal Investigator) | 2017-03-01 - 2018-03-31 | Role:
- Crowdsourcing for cleft lip-palate outcomes. | Saint Louis University internal grant for Medical Student Summer Research Training Program. (Anne Sescleifer) | 2017-06-01 - 2017-07-31 | Role:
- Volumetric assessment of BMP-2 cleft airways. | Saint Louis University internal grant for Medical Student Summer Research Training Program. (Dave Ho) | 2016-06-01 - 2016-07-31 | Role:
- BMP-2 alveolar bone reconstruction in the growing facial skeleton. | 2013 National Endowment for Plastic Surgery Grant – Plastic Surgery Foundation (PSF) | 2013-08-01 - 2015-09-30 | Role:
- Dental development in BMP-2 treated clefts. | Saint Louis University internal grant for Medical Student Summer Research Training Program. (Larry Rudolf) | 2015-06-01 - 2015-07-31 | Role:
- Sleep apnea and orthodontics in children with clefts. | Saint Louis University internal grant for Medical Student Summer Research Training Program. (Justine McGauley and Hannah Polus) | 2014-06-01 - 2014-07-31 | Role:
- Head shape outcomes in deformational plagiocephaly. | Saint Louis University internal grant for Medical Student Summer Research Training Program. (Emma Kulig) Award | 2013-06-01 - 2013-07-31 | Role:
- Speech outcomes in cleft palate surgery. | Saint Louis University internal grant for Medical Student Summer Research Training Program. (Thomas Gildea) | 2012-06-01 - 2012-07-31 | Role:
- PTSD, Injury, and Pain from Intimate Partner Violence: Psychophysiological Assessment. | | - | Role: Collaborator
- Genes that Influence Mandibular Size. | | - | Role: Collaborator
- Plagiocephaly: Analyses and Outcomes. | | - | Role:
- Squamosal Craniosynostosis. | | - | Role:
- Effects of Medications on Surgical Results. | | - | Role:
- Crowdsourcing to Assess Speech Outcomes in Cleft Palate Surgery. | | - | Role:
- Growth and Airway Outcomes of Cleft Patients. | | - | Role:
- Cleft Lip-Nose-Palate Outcomes Analyzed by Crowdsourcing. | | - | Role:
- Infection Rates for Delayed versus Primary Closure of Wounds. | | - | Role:
- Speech Outcomes in Cleft Palate Surgery. | | - | Role:
- Craniosynostosis Outcomes. | | - | Role:
- BMP-2 Alveolar Bone Reconstruction in the Growing Facial Skeleton. | | - | Role:
- Defining the Ideal Vulva: A Population Analysis. | | - | Role:
- 3D-Printed Customized Titanium Plates in Le Fort I Maxillary Advancement. | | - | Role:
Publications
- ChatGPT for improving postoperative instructions in multiple fields of plastic surgery.| | PubMed
- Surgical Management in Isolated Squamosal Craniosynostosis: A Systematic Review.| | PubMed
- The Role of Postoperative Nasal Stents in Cleft Rhinoplasty: A Systematic Review.| | PubMed
- Seeing Cleft Lip from a New Angle: Crowdsourcing to Determine whether Scar Severity or Lip Angle Matters More to the General Public.| | PubMed
- Defining Ideal External Female Genital Anatomy via Crowdsourcing Analysis.| | PubMed
- Three-dimensional printing in medicine: a systematic review of pediatric applications.| | PubMed
- Plastic Surgery Innovation with 3D Printing for Craniomaxillofacial Operations.| | PubMed
- Preparing for the Plastic Surgery In-Service Exam: Evidence-Based Essentials for the Plastic Surgery Resident.| | PubMed
- Tissue Engineering Scaffolds Fabricated in Dissolvable 3D-Printed Molds for Patient-Specific Craniofacial Bone Regeneration.| | PubMed
- Systematic Review: Online Crowdsourcing to Assess Perceptual Speech Outcomes.| | PubMed