By Jill Pease
Zhoumeng Lin, Ph.D., DABT, C.P.H., ERT, an associate professor in the UF College of Public Health and Health Professions Department of Environmental and Global Health, has been named a Fellow of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences, or ATS, following a rigorous peer-review certification process.
According to the academy’s website, fellows “must have an exemplary record of professional accomplishment as well as extensive evidence of recognition by peers of competency and sound scientific judgment in toxicology as reflected by appointment or election to councils, committees, etc.”
The milestone acknowledges Lin’s significant contributions to research, teaching, service and leadership in the field of toxicology.
Lin’s research focuses on the development and application of computational technologies, including physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK), quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR), machine learning and artificial intelligence models related to nanomedicine, animal-derived food safety assessment and environmental chemical risk assessment to support decision-making in human, animal and environmental health.
He has published more than 115 peer-reviewed publications, earning numerous Best Paper of the Year Awards from the Society of Toxicology’s Biological Modeling, Risk Assessment, and Nanoscience and Advanced Materials specialty sections. He is the co-editor and co-author of the new book “Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence in Toxicology and Environmental Health” published by Elsevier.
Lin has appeared on Stanford University’s World’s Top 2% Scientists list every year since 2021 and was named a Top Scholar (2024) and Highly Ranked Scholar (2025) by ScholarGPS, an analytics platform that calculates scientists’ individual impact. In 2022, he received the JOINN Biomere Outstanding Young Toxicologist Award presented by the American Association of Chinese in Toxicology of the Society of Toxicology.
Lin currently leads a study funded by the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering of the National Institutes of Health aimed at offering drug researchers insight into how well a new nanoparticle-based cancer therapy will work in humans, even before a drug enters animal testing. In addition to benefiting patients with cancer, the work is expected to reduce or eliminate animal experimentation for new nanomedicines that are determined to have low delivery efficiency. Launched in 2021, the study has so far produced 10 publications describing progress toward developing a new nano drug database and an AI-assisted PBPK model, and has received a renewal grant to fund another four years of research.
He also serves as a co-investigator on a study led by Jared Brown, Ph.D., of the University of Colorado. Funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the study is designed to determine the role of silica nanoparticles in the development of chronic kidney disease among Guatemalan sugarcane workers, who are exposed to the tiny particles through ash and dust created during the harvesting process.
In addition, he and Fiona Maunsell, Ph.D., DACVIM (LA), a clinical associate professor in the UF College of Veterinary Medicine, serve as co-regional directors and co-principal investigators at the Southeastern Regional Center of the national Food Animal Residue Avoidance Databank, or FARAD, program at UF. Lin and colleagues develop PBPK and machine learning models to help provide evidence-based recommendations regarding safe withdrawal intervals of drugs and chemicals in food-producing animals.
Lin has provided extensive service to the profession through leadership roles in the Society of Toxicology, an organization with 8,000 members across 60 countries. He has served as president of the Biological Modeling Specialty Section, vice president-elect of the Computational Toxicology Specialty Section, and president-elect of the Southeastern Society of Toxicology.