Matthew Lincoln

Matthew R Lincoln is a neurologist and geneticist who studies the molecular mechanisms that drive multiple sclerosis (MS). He completed his Ph.D. in genetics with George Ebers at the University of Oxford, where he showed that MS risk is driven in part by complex epistatic interactions among alleles of the HLA class II system. In postdoctoral research with Chris Cotsapas at Yale, he showed that specific genetic factors are shared among MS and other autoimmune diseases. Joint analysis of these shared effects identified shared causal variants and downstream disease mechanisms.

Dr. Lincoln’s current research attempts to unravel the detailed molecular mechanisms through which genetic and environmental risk factors produce multiple sclerosis. While many genetic factors are known to increase risk, we have a relatively poor understanding of how these actually cause MS. Environmental factors can show us the context in which genetic factors operate. By analyzing genetic and environmental factors together, we aim to identify molecular and epigenetic mechanisms that cause disease and that can be targeted by therapeutics.

Dr. Lincoln completed his clinical training in neurology at the University of Toronto and subspecialty training in neuroimmunology at the Yale School of Medicine. He is a neurologist at the BARLO Centre at St. Michael's Hospital and an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto. His work is supported by a Career Transition Fellowship from the National MS Society.