Two New Faculty Members Join Sanders-Brown Center on Aging

LEXINGTON, Ky. (April 1, 2014) — The University of Kentucky Sanders-Brown Center on Aging recently welcomed two new faculty members: Anika Hartz, Ph.D., and Ai-Ling Lin, Ph.D.

“These talented individuals will contribute significantly to our knowledge of age-related disorders,” said Linda Van Eldik, director of the Sanders-Brown Center for Aging. "We are delighted to have them as part of our team."

Hartz, an associate professor with a dual appointment in the College of Medicine, comes to Sanders-Brown from the University of Minnesota.  Joining her on the UK faculty is her husband, Bjoern Bauer, an associate professor in the UK College of Pharmacy.  Hartz holds a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Summa Cum Laude, from the University of Heidelberg (Germany). Her research interests focus on the study of the blood-brain barrier in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Hartz has published dozens of articles in peer-reviewed journals and has received numerous professional awards, including an NIH Fellows Award for Research Excellence, an NIH Visiting Fellow Award, and the McKnight Land-Grant Professorship from the University of Minnesota in recognition of significant potential for academic distinction.

Lin, an assistant professor, also holds an appointment in the Department of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences in the UK College of Medicine. Her research focuses on the development and application of neuroimaging techniques to identify biomarkers and assess treatment efficacy for aging and age-related disorders.

Lin was previously a research assistant professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. She holds a B.S. in Radiological Sciences from the National Yang-Ming University (Taiwan) and a Ph.D. in Radiological Sciences from the University of Texas Health Science Center.

Lin has numerous peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and poster awards to her credit, and directs or co-directs grants from such prestigious institutions as the U.S. Department of Defense, the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging, and the American Federation for Aging Research.  She was a finalist for the Niels Lassen Award at the BRAIN 2013 Meeting in Shanghai and a CTSA Mentored Research Career Development (KL2) Scholar, University of Texas Health Science Center in 2012.