Regeneration -- science fiction or reality: Voot Yin at TEDxDirigo Generate

Since joining the MDIBL community in 2011, Dr. Voot Yin has led a research program to improve wound healing and regenerative capacity in humans. An enthusiastic champion of the regenerative capacities of the zebrafish (a vertebrate that can regenerate nearly all of its limbs and organs, including portions of its heart), Dr. Yin studies the common aquarium fish to learn about the potential for organ and limb regrowth in humans.
As an immigrant to the United States from Cambodia, Dr. Yin learned the value of working diligently and resourcefully from an early age. He received his B.S. from Bates College — nearly majoring in English before discovering the investigative challenge of gene studies in an elective molecular biology class. Dr. Yin initially became interested in the ability of certain organisms to regenerate naturally, as a Ph.D student at the University of Utah. His interests led him to conduct his postdoctoral training at Duke University Medical Center, further examining the genetic circuits that enable certain animals to robustly regenerate tissues on command.
Dr. Yin has received honors and distinctions for his work, recently garnering the prestigious National Scientist Development Grant from the American Heart Association and serving as the "Evolution and Regeneration" panel chair at the Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology.
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