Center for Synaptic Brain Dysfunctions

Educational Background

• 1982.03 - 1986.02

  B.S., Dept. of Pharmacology, Busan National University

• 1986.03 - 1988.02

  M.S., Dept. of Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology(KAIST)

• 1991.09 - 1994.12

  Ph.D., Dept. of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Michigan State University Professional Career

• 1988.03 - 1991.08

  Research Associate, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology(KRIBB)

• 1995.01 - 1997.02

  Postdoc, Dept. of Neurobiology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School

• 1997.03 - 2000.02

  Assistant Professor, Dept. of Pharmacology, Busan National University

• 2000.03 - present

  Assistant, Associate & Full Professor, Dept. of Biological Sciences, KAIST

• 2003.07 - 2012.05

  Director, National Creative Research Initiative Center for Synaptogenesis

• 2012.07 - present

  Director, IBS Center for Synaptic Brain Dysfunctions

Honors and Awards

• 2018

  ASAN Award in Medicine, ASAN Foundation

• 2014

  KAISTian of the Year, KAIST

• 2013

  POSCO Chung-Am Award, POSCO

• 2012

  Life Science Award, Korean Society for Molecular Cell Biology

• 2012

  Inchon Award, Dong-A Ilbo

• 2011

  Chair Professor, KAIST

• 2011

  Best Research Award, KAIST

• 2010

  Member, Korean Academy of Science and Technology

• 2005

  BPS Award, Korean BioPharmacal Society

• 2004

  Young Investigator Award, Korean Ministry of Science and Technology

• 2003

  Academic Award, KAIST

• 1991

  Korean Government Overseas Scholarship, Mininstry of Education

Editorial board

• 2022 - present

  Current Opinion in Neurobiology (co-editor-in-chief)

• 2020 - present

  Advanced Science

• 2020 - present

  Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience

• 2019 - present

  PLoS Biology

• 2018 - present

  Frontiers in Synaptic Neuroscience

• 2017 - present

  Scientific Reports

• 2016 - present

  Matters

• 2016 - present

  Neuroscience Research

• 2007 - present

  Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience

• 2012 - 2022

  eLife

• 2012 - 2014

  Experimental Neurobiology

• 2012 - 2014

  Molecules and Cells

• 2009 - 2011

  NeuroSignals

• 2006 - 2009

  Journal of Biochemistry

Invited Presentations (selected)

1. 54. ISN-ASN 2025 Biennial Meeting: International Society for Neurochemistry (ISN)-Asian Society for Neurochemistry (ASN) Meeting, New York, USA, Aug 19-22, 2025 (Plenary lecture).
2. 53. 27th Annual Meeting of the Korean Society for Brain and Neural Sciences (KSBNS), Oct 15-18, 2024 (ISN lecture).
3. 52. 41st Blankenese Conference on Synaptopathies: Molecular mechanisms of brain disease, Hamburg, Germany, June 22-25, 2024.
4. 51. Cold Spring Harbor Asia (CSHA) Symposium on “Autism & Neurodevelopment Disorders ? from Genetic Discoveries to Interventions", Suzhou, China, June 17-21, 2024.
5. 50. CINP World Congress session on “Understanding the Mechanisms of Social Stress and Autism-linked Social Deficits”, Tokyo, Japan, May 23-26, 2024.
6. 49. International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) World Congress, Granada, Spain, Sep 9-13, 2023 (Plenary lecture).
7. 48. ISN-ESN Meeting, Porto, Portugal, August 8-11, 2023.
8. 47. The 46th Annual Meeting of the Japan Neuroscience Society, Sendai, Japan, August 1-4, 2023.
9. 46. The 16th Annual Meeting of Chinese Neuroscience Society & The 2nd CJK International Meeting, Zhuhai, China, July 27-30, 2023.
10. 45. Symposium on “Exploring new therapeutic targets for brain disorders”, Milan, Italy, June 9, 2023.
11. 44. Excitatory Synapses and Brain Function Gordon Research Conference, Les Diablerets Conference Center, Switzerland, June 4-9, 2023.
12. 43. Conference on “The Role of Adhesion Complexes, Cell Recognition, and Neural Activity during Circuit Assembly”, HHMI-Janelia Research Campus in Ashburn, USA, May 21-24, 2023
13. 42. SFARI's SynGO Consortium Annual Meeting, New York, USA, Oct 12-13, 2022.
14. 41. CINP World Congress session on “Synaptopathy mechanisms in psychiatric disorders”, Taipei, Taiwan, June. 9-12, 2022.
15. 40. Molecular Psychiatry Association (MPA) meeting, Hawaii, USA, Mar 6-8, 2022.
16. 39. CINP World Congress session on “Synaptopathy mechanisms in psychiatric disorders”, Taipei, Taiwan, Feb. 25-28, 2021.
17. 38. 16th meeting of the Asian-Pacific Society for Neurochemistry (APSN). Session on “Regulation of NMDA Receptor Functions in Health and Disease”, Singapore, Dec 14-16, 2020.
18. 37. KNPA Annual Meeting 2020 (plenary lecture), Korea Neuropsychiatric Association, Korea, Jul. 9-10, 2020.
19. 36. The Peking University Autism Forum 2019, Oct. 26-27, 2019, Beijing, China.
20. 35. The Royal Society – IBS – KAST Bilateral International Meeting, May 29-30, 2019, Chicheley Hall, UK.
21. 34. The 2019 SynGO meeting on “The synapse – from basic mechanisms to synaptopathies”, February 21-22, 2019, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore.
22. 33. International Symposium on “Drug Discovery: Bridge from Academia to Pharma Industry", October 22, 2018, Univ of Tokyo, Japan.
23. 32. The 35th International Forum on Frontiers of Neuroscience. September 17, 2018, Institute of Neuroscience, Shanghai, China.
24. 31. Cold Spring Harbor Asia Symposium on “Atuism & Neurodevelopment disorders — from Genetic Discoveries to Interventions"., September 19-21, 2018, Suzhou, China.
25. 30. Workshop on "Synapse formation, specification, and elimination: from molecules to circuits”, September 24-27, 2017, Baeza, Spain.
26. 29. Symposium on “Synaptic Development, Signalling and Neuro-disorders”, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, June 23-24, 2017. Hong Kong.
27. 28. The 90th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Pharmacological Society, March 15-17, 2017, Nagasaki, Japan.
28. 27. Symposium on "Synaptic actin dysregulation, a convergent mechanism of mental disorders”, Society for Neuroscience, November 12-16, 2016, San Diego, USA.
29. 26. The 47th NIPS International Symposium entitled “Decoding Synapses”, National Institute for Physiological Sciences (NIPS), October 26-28, 2016, Okazaki, Japan.
30. 25. The 10th FENS Forum of Neuroscience, Copenhagen, July 2-6, 2016, Copenhagen, Denmark.
31. 24. Gordon Research Conference on “Cell Biology of the Neuron”, June 26-July 1, 2016, Waterville Valley Resort in New Hampshire.
32. 23. 94th General session and exhibition of the International Association for Dental Research, Distinguished Lecture, June 22-24, 2016, Seoul, Korea.
33. 22. The 4th International Symposium on Neurotransmission and Synaptic Plasticity, April 20-22, 2016, Nanchang, China.
34. 21. Asia Pacific Regional IMFAR Shanghai 2015, November 6-8, 2015, Shanghai, China.
35. 20. 25th Neuropharmacology Conference 2015, October 15-16, 2015, Chicago, USA.
36. 19. The 25th ISN-APSN Joint Biennial Meeting, August 23-27, 2015, Cairns, Australia.
37. 18. The 38th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Neuroscience Society, July 28-31, 2015, Kobe, Japan.
38. 17. The 37th Annual Meeting of the Molecular Biology Society of Japan,November 25-27, 2014, Yokohama, Japan.
39. 16. 4th LIN Symposium on “Synaptic Function and Synaptic Pathology in Disease”, August 25-28, 2014, Tangermünde, Germany.
40. 15. Cold Spring Harbor Asia Conference on “Neural Circuit Basis of Behavior and its Disorders”, May 12-16, 2014, Suzhou, China.
41. 14. Royal Society Satellite Meeting on 'Long-term potentiation: enhancing neuroscience for 40 years', December 4-5, 2013, London, UK.
42. 13. FENS Conference on 'The Neurobiology of Synapses and their Dysfunction, October 13-17, 2013, Stresa, Italy.
43. 12. The 86th Annual Meeting of the Japanese Biochemical Society, September 11-13, 2013, Yokohama, Japan.
44. 11. The International Union of Physiological Sciences (IUPS), July 21-26, 2013, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
45. 10. The 2013 International Society of Neurochemistry, April 25-28, 2013 , Riviera Maya, Mexico.
46. 09. Synapse Symposium in Academia Sinica, December 3-4, 2012, Taipei, Taiwan.
47. 08. The 35th annual meeting of the Japan Neuroscience society, September 18~21, 2012, Nagoya, Japan.
48. 07. Gordon Research Conference on ‘Molecular & Cellular Neurobiology’, June 17-22, 2012, Hong Kong.
49. 06. The 89th Annual Meeting of the Physiological Society of Japan, March 29-31, 2012, Matumoto, Nagano, Japan.
50. 05. The Japanse Neuroscience Society Meeting symposium on 'Emerging synapse organizers in hippocampal neural circuits', September 14-17, 2011, Yokohama, Japan.
51. 04. ISN Satellite Symposium on 'The Synapse: from Physiology to Pathology', September 4-7, 2011, Varenna, Italy.
52. 03. Gordon Research Conference on ‘Excitatory Synapses and Brain Function', June 26-July 1, 2011, New London, NH, USA.
53. 02. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Symposium on ‘Synapses: From Molecules to Circuits and Behavior’, April 12-16, 2011, Cold Spring Harbor, NY, USA.
54. 01. The 88th Annual Meeting of the Physiological Society of Japan and the 116th Annual meeting of the Japanese Association of Anatomists, March 28-30, 2011, Yokohama, Japan.