Congratulations to Yi-Chun Lin (Eve) on Successfully Defending Her PhD!

We are delighted to congratulate Yi-Chun Li (Eve) on the successful defense of her PhD! Her dissertation, titled Computational Studies of Ion Channels and Drug Discovery, offers impactful contributions at the intersection of biophysics, structural biology, and computational chemistry. 

In her research, Eve investigated ion current rectification using carbon nanotube models, uncovering how voltage-dependent free energy barriers shape directional ion flow in synthetic nanopores. She then turned her focus to the CatSper calcium channel—an essential component of sperm motility and male fertility—to identify novel inhibitor binding sites through computational modeling and virtual screening. Her work paves the way for developing non-hormonal male contraceptives.

In the final part of her thesis, Eve developed PDB Compare, an intuitive web-based platform for visualizing conformational differences between protein structures, helping researchers analyze structural transitions such as apo/holo, wildtype/mutant, or open/closed states.

Congratulations to Dr. Lin! Completing a PhD degree with a newborn takes tremendous courage and persistence. We are incredibly proud of her remarkable achievement and inspiring dedication to science and family!