Jenny Link

Dr. Jenny Link completed her dissertation research at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she studied genetic sex differences in common metabolic diseases such as diabetes and obesity. Her projects focused on genes that escaped X chromosome inactivation, and thus were expressed highly in mice and humans that have two X chromosomes.

After her Ph.D., Dr. Link received the inaugural UCLA Postdoc’s Longitudinal Investment in Faculty Training (UPLIFT) postdoctoral fellowship, which was funded by the NIH Institutional Research and Academic Career Development Awards (IRACDA) grant. Here, she was trained in evidence-based teaching practices for undergraduate STEM students and engaged in teaching-as-research projects at UCLA’s partner institution, California State University, Los Angeles.

At Whittier College, Dr. Link teaches introductory cell and molecular biology and upper division genetics, cell physiology, and epidemiology. Her research projects include studying effects of genetic editing in human cell lines and improving student-centered teaching practices in biology courses.

• Zhang P, Munier JJ, Wiese CB, Vergnes L, Link JC, Abbasi F, Ronquillo E, Scheker K, Muñoz A, Kuang Y-L, Theusch E, Liu M, Sanchez G, Oni-Orisan A, Iribarren C, McPhaul MJ, Nomura DK, Knowles JW, Krauss RM, Medina MW, Reue K. (2024) X chromosome dosage drives statin-induced dysglycemia and mitochondrial dysfunction. Nat Commun. 15(1), 5571. 
• Link JC, Wiese CB, Chen X, Avetisyan R, Ronquillo E, Ma F, Guo X, Yao J, Allison M, Chen YI, Rotter JI, El-Sayed Moustafa JS, Small KS, Iwase S, Pellegrini M, Vergnes L, Arnold AP, Reue K. (2020) X chromosome dosage of histone demethylase KDM5C determines sex differences in adiposity. J Clin Invest. 130, 5688-5702. 
• Pradas-Juni M, Hansmeier NR, Link JC, Schmidt E, Larsen BD, Klemm P, Meola N, Topel H, Loureiro R, Dhaouadi I, Kiefer CA, Schwarzer R, Khani S, Oliverio M, Awazawa M, Frommolt P, Heeren J, Scheja L, Heine M, Dieterich C, Büning H, Yang L, Cao H, Jesus DF, Kulkarni RN, Zevnik B, Tröder SE, Knippschild U, Edwards PA, Lee RG, Yamamoto M, Ulitsky I, Fernandez-Rebollo E, Vallim TQA, Kornfeld JW. (2020) A MAFG-lncRNA axis links systemic nutrient abundance to hepatic glucose metabolism. Nat Commun. 11(1), 644.
• Link JC, Reue K. The genetic basis for sex differences in obesity and lipid metabolism. (2017) Annu Rev Nutr. 37, 225-245.
• Link JC, Hasin-Brumshtein Y, Cantor RM, Chen X, Arnold AP, Lusis AJ, Reue K. (2017) Diet, gonadal sex, and sex chromosome complement influence white adipose tissue miRNA expression. BMC Genomics.18, 89.
• Arnold AP, Reue K, Eghbali M, Vilain E, Chen X, Ghahramani N, Itoh Y, Li J, Link JC, Ngun T, Williams-Burris SM. (2016) The importance of having two X chromosomes. Phil Trans. R. Soc. B 371, 20150113.
• Link JC, Chen X, Prien C, Borja MS, Hammerson B, Oda MN, Arnold AP, Reue K. Increased HDL cholesterol levels in mice with XX versus XY chromosomes. (2015) Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 35, 1778-86.
• Link JC, Chen X, Arnold AP, Reue K. Metabolic impact of sex chromosomes. (2013) Adipocyte 2, 74-9.
• Arnold AP, Chen X, Link JC, Itoh Y, Reue K. Cell-autonomous sex determination outside of the gonad. (2013) Dev Dyn 242, 371-9.
• Chen X, McClusky R, Chen J, Beaven SW, Tontonoz P, Arnold AP, Reue K. The number of X chromosomes causes sex differences in adiposity in mice. (2012) PLoS Genet 8, e1002709.
• Beigneux AP, Davies BS, Tat S, Chen J, Gin P, Voss CV, Weinstein MM, Bensadoun A, Pullinger CR, Fong LG, Young SG. Assessing the role of glycosylphosphatidylinositol-anchored high density lipoprotein-binding protein 1’s three-finger domain in binding lipoprotein lipase. (2011) J Biol Chem 286, 19735-43.