Neurosurgery, otolaryngology faculty welcome new hires

The Medical Center is proud to announce the following additions to its faculty and leadership staff.

Vernon Wen-Hau Lin, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Vernon Wen-Hau Lin, Professor of Medicine in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Cleveland Clinic Learner College of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, has joined the University of Mississippi Medical Center faculty as a Professor of Neurosurgery, Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

After receiving his B.S. in Biochemistry in 1981 and his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1983 at the University of California, Davis, Lin earned his M.D. in 1989 at U.C. Davis. He had an NIH Research Fellowship in the Pulmonary Division of the School of Medicine at U.C. Davis from 1985-86 and a medical internship from 1989-90 and a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residency from 1990-93 at MetroHealth Medical Center, a Case Western Reserve University Medical School Affiliated Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio. He also received his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from U.C. Davis in 1997.

Lin joined the Stanford University faculty in 1995 as a clinical instructor in the Department of Functional Restoration. In 1999 he moved to the University of California, Irvine faculty as an assistant professor in residence in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and became an associate professor in residence there in 2001, while serving as the Chief of Spinal Cord Injury Healthcare Group at the VA Long Beach Healthcare System. In 2008, Lin joined the Lerner College of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, as Chairman of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and was promoted to Professor of Medicine in 2013. He has concurrently served as a staff physician in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Louis Stoke VA Healthcare System in Cleveland, and staff physician in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Neurological Institute, Cleveland Clinic, since 2008.

An active member of a host of professional organizations, including the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, the American Paraplegia Society and the American Spinal Injury Association, Lin is the recipient of the Excellence Award from the American Paraplegia Society, and the 2015 recipient of the Certificate of Appreciation from the United States Army Medical Research and Material Command for support to the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program’s Spinal Cord Injury Program.

A reviewer for a number of scientific journals, Lin is the author or coauthor of 45 articles in peer-reviewed professional publications, six book chapters and 95 published abstracts or invited presentations. He has been the Editor-in-Chief for two editions of “Spinal Cord Medicine – Principles and Practice” by Demos Medical Publishing, and was the founder and organizer of a very successful review course since 1998, “Spinal Cord Medicine: An Intensive Review”. He has been awarded more than $18 million in research grants for 25 projects involving spinal cord injury and paralysis. His current research interests are Functional Magnetic Stimulation for patients with spinal cord injury and neurological diseases, spinal cord injury repair and recovery, healthcare provider shortage in the US, and access to health care for the elderly and people with disabilities.

While serving as the Chief of the Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation in the Department of Neurosurgery at UMMC, Lin is tasked to work closely with Methodist Rehabilitation Center, an UMMC affiliate, to fully develop in-patient and out-patient rehabilitation system of care to meet the growing needs in Mississippi and nearby regions. In collaboration with the Methodist Rehabilitation Center, VA, community faculty members, and other academic partners within UMMC, a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Residency Program and a few relevant sub-specialty disciplines will be developed in the near-future, such as Traumatic Brain Injury, and Spinal Cord Injury.   

Caroline Murray, M.S.

Caroline Murray, a pediatric speech language pathologist with Laskin Therapy Group of Ridgeland, has joined the Medical Center faculty as an instructor in otolaryngology and communicative sciences.

After receiving her B.S. in communication sciences and disorders in 2014 and her M.S. in communication sciences and disorders in 2016 from Kansas State University, Murray joined Laskin Therapy Group. She also has been affiliated with the Medical Center since November 2016, working pro re nata in the adult acute care setting.

An active member of the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association and the Mississippi Speech-Language and Hearing Association, Murray is also certified in first aid, CPR and blood-borne pathogen training.