Courtesy of Dan Renzetti / Yale University

Haifan Lin was given the Francis Amory Prize in Reproductive Medicine and Physiology, one of the most prestigious awards in biology, at a ceremony in Luce Hall on Tuesday. 

Lin, a professor of cell biology and founding director of the Yale Stem Cell Center, was honored for his contributions to stem cell research. The prize, conferred by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, was first announced through a press release on the Academy’s website on Jan. 31.

“I feel extremely honored by the prize because it represents a seal of approval for my research by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, a distinguished learned society established by the Founding Fathers in 1780,” Lin told the News. “It encourages me to continue pushing the boundaries of scientific knowledge.” 

Roughly 150 people attended the ceremony, including members of the Academy, fellow faculty members at the School of Medicine and many of Lin’s current and former research group members and students. University President Peter Salovey gave opening and closing remarks, while David Oxtoby, president of the American Academy, gave an introduction highlighting Lin’s achievements. Nancy Brown, the dean of the School of Medicine, presented the prize to Lin. 

The speakers praised Lin’s contributions to the fields of stem cell biology, reproductive biology and  developmental biology. 

Lin extensively researched stem cell niche theory, which describes the microenvironment that sends signals to stem cells and allows them to self-renew. He also discovered Argonaute/Piwi genes, which play “indispensable roles” in stem cell self-renewal mechanisms and germline development, per Lin. 

“Your pioneering work, which includes the demonstration of stem cell asymmetric division, the proof of the stem cell niche theory, and the discoveries of the Argonaute/Piwi gene family and piRNAs, has illuminated the complex interplay of molecular signals that govern stem cell self-renewal and differentiation,” Brown said to Lin while giving him the award. “These discoveries have opened, as you have described, a ‘new world of genes’ and new avenues for therapeutic intervention in regenerative medicine.”

Lin joined the Yale faculty in 2006 and established the Yale Stem Cell Center, having founded and directed the Duke Stem Cell Research Program the year prior. Under his direction, the Yale Stem Cell Center has expanded from two member labs to 102 labs, making it among the largest stem cell research organizations in the world.

Beyond his research, Lin has also mentored researchers and graduate students who have gone on to establish their own labs. Katherine Uyhazi GRD ’12 MED ’13, Lin’s first MD/PhD student at Yale, started her lab at the University of Pennsylvania in 2021. In an email to the News, Uyhazi emphasized Lin’s ability to guide students through both scientific and personal questions.

“His mentorship also extends beyond science — he once gave a lab meeting on finding happiness in your career!” Uyhazi wrote. “‘Enjoy the process itself, not just the end goal,’ he said. This advice has stuck with me over the years and I now find myself passing on his words of wisdom to my own students.”

Daniel Cox, who was Lin’s first-ever graduate student at Duke University, now serves as director of the Neuroscience Institute at Georgia State University. Cox said that Lin’s research attracted him even before they both joined Duke.

“I actually reached out to him when he was still at the Carnegie Institute in his postdoc, and [Lin was] like, ‘how do you find me?’ But I had been following his work, even in his postdoctoral studies,” Cox said. “By the time I knew he was coming to Duke, I was so excited. Even as a junior faculty member, it was clear that he was going to be a mover and shaker and intellectual thought leader in the field.”

Oxtoby, the Academy president, emphasized how infrequently the Academy confers the Amory Prize. The Academy’s prize committee presented just two out of its eleven total prizes in 2024 as Lin received the Amory Prize and British-American philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah received the Don M. Randel Award for Humanistic Studies.

Originally known as the Francis Amory Septennial Prize, the Amory Prize was first awarded in 1940 to researchers who contribute “conspicuously meritorious work” to the “treatment and cure of diseases and derangement of the human sexual generative organs in general.” Since then, the Academy has broadened the scope of the award to include reproductive medicine and physiology more generally. 

Before Lin, the prize was most recently awarded in 2020 to Ruth Lehmann and Gertrud Schüpbach for their research in DNA repair, embryonic development, RNA regulation and stem cell research. 

Lin’s professional path has not been without challenges. As a Chinese-born academic who graduated from Fudan University in 1982, Lin said factors outside of the scientific process, such as geopolitics, have impacted him and other Chinese-American scientists.

“In the past few years, geopolitical tensions between the US and China have affected Chinese-American scientists, including myself, and STEM students from China,” Lin wrote. “McCarthyism-like sentiments among some right-wing politicians sparked fear, leading to a sharp decline in talent retention since 2018.” 

In March 2022, the University placed Lin on paid administrative leave and was restricted from conducting research amid a Department of Justice investigation. 

Lin received an outpouring of support from University faculty members, who wrote multiple letters defending Lin and expressing concern over the University’s response to the investigation, which they claimed lacked due process. Faculty members also suggested that Lin was unfairly targeted on the basis of his Chinese descent. 

The DOJ never publicly revealed its allegations and eventually dropped the investigation, and Lin was reinstated to his lab in April 2022.

“As we acknowledge the unique experiences that come with being an Asian American researcher, it’s crucial to highlight that the pursuit of scientific excellence transcends cultural or ethnic boundaries,” Lin wrote. “It’s my hope that by sharing my experiences, I can inspire young researchers from diverse backgrounds to pursue their passions in science, regardless of the obstacles they may face.”

Lin also expressed hope that recent developments, such as the September 2023 establishment of the Asian Faculty Association at Yale — which was founded to “promote and protect” Asian and Asian American faculty members — and the recognition of Yan Fuqing, School of Medicine class of 1909 and the first Asian graduate from the medical school, indicate growing support for Chinese- and Asian-American faculty. 

“Upon learning about my prize, the University’s leadership once again demonstrated their support by hosting a wonderful ceremony and celebration for me,” Lin wrote. “I have all reason to believe that Asian-American faculty will continue to thrive at Yale.”

The Academy elected 269 new members out of 1,200 nominees in 2023.

Update, April 1: This article has been updated to include more information about the DOJ investigation into Lin.

Update, April 3: The timeline presented in this story has been clarified.