sklee@ibs.re.kr
Dr. Lee is a research fellow at the Center for Cognition and Sociality. He earned his B.S. in biology in 2005 and his Ph.D. in molecular and cellular biology in 2011 from KAIST. He then did postdoctoral work at KAIST until 2012. In 2013 he joined the Center for Cognition and Sociality as a non-tenure track research fellow. In 2018 he became a tenure-track research fellow and a principal investigator.
https://sites.google.com/view/sklee/
Undergraduate:
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Korea
B.S., Department of Biological Sciences, Feb 2005
Graduate:
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, Korea
Ph.D. Department of Biological Sciences, Feb 2011
Thesis advisor: Dr. Won Do Heo
Dissertation Title: Development of a new method for visualizing molecular interactions in living cells
2009 | ‘Bioengineering Award’ of the 6th Bio Microscopic Photograph exhibition |
2011 | Best Presentation Award (Oral) – Brain Korea 21 Department Symposium, KAIST |
2014 |
6th ‘Bioneer Young Investigator Award’ – Korea Society for Molecular and Cellular Biology (KSMCB), Korea |
2015 | Award in ‘Art in Science’ – IBS Research Conference |
2016 | Best Young Scientist Member – IASSF |
2020 |
A person of merit in the development of biological sciences – Ministry of Science and ICT, Korea |
Postdoctoral Researcher | 2011/03 – 2012/11 | KAIST |
Postdoctoral Researcher | 2012/12 – 2013/04 | Center for Cognition and Sociality, IBS |
Non-Tenure Track Research Fellow | 2013/05 – 2017/12 | Center for Cognition and Sociality, IBS |
Tenure-Track Research Fellow | 2018/01 – 2020/05 | Center for Cognition and Sociality, IBS |
Research Fellow | 2020/06 – Present | Center for Cognition and Sociality, IBS |
Communication at multiple levels of biological systems, from molecules to organisms, is an essential process for sharing infor¬mation among members of society. At the molecular level of the brain, communication in a particular set of molecules is impor¬tant not only to determine specific function of individual cells, but also to create harmonious and complex multicellular func¬tions such as brain circuit activity that can ultimately change organism behavior. Therefore, understanding the nature of mo¬lecular communication and its impact on higher levels of com¬munication is a fundamental step for explaining how the brain works as a whole. To achieve this, we have designed a series of synthetic molecules that employs naturally occurring or engi¬neered protein domains and combine them in various ways to visualize or manipulate molecular and cellular communication in living systems. For example, by using Cryptochrome2, a blue light photoreceptor from plant, we have developed optogenetic tools that are able to modulate specific molecular communica¬tion in a highly spatiotemporal manner upon light illumination and control various brain functions including memory forma¬tion and empathy-like behavior. In addition, by utilizing fluo¬rescence protein modules, we have developed biosensors that can provide valuable information about how organism behavior can change individual molecular function by visualizing specif-ic protein activity on the micron scale in the brain of behaving animals. Currently, we are focusing on the development of syn¬thetic molecules to regulate intercellular communications in the brain. These technologies are able to precisely modulate physi¬cal connections in the brain and will be useful to directly assess structure-function relationship of the brain connectome. We expect that applying these synthetic modules to the brain will reveal the basic principles of communication at different levels of the brain.
1. Kim, N.Y.*, Lee, S.*,#, Kim, N., Park, H., Heo, W.D.# Optogenetic control of mRNA localization and translation in live cells. Nature Cell Biology 22, 341 (2020).
2. Kim, S., Kyung, T., Chung, J.-H., Kim, N., Keum, S., Lee, J., Park, H., Kim, H.M., Lee, S.#, Shin, H.-S.#, Heo, W.D.# Non-invasive optical control of endogenous Ca2+ channels in awake mice. Nature Communications 11:210 (2020).
3. Kim, J.*, Lee, S.*, Jung, K., Oh, W. C., Kim, N., Son, S., Jo, Y., Kwon, H.-B., Heo, W. D. Intensiometric biosensors visualize the activity of multiple small GTPases in vivo. Nature Communications 10:211 (2019)
4. Kyung, T.*, Lee, S.*, Kim, J. E., Cho, T., Park, H., Jeong, Y.-M., Kim, D., Shin, A., Kim, S., Baek, J., Kim, J., Kim, N. Y., Woo, D., Chae, S., Kim, C.-H., Shin, H.-S., Han, Y.-M, Kim, D., and Heo, W. D. Optogenetic control of endogenous Ca2+ channels in vivo. Nature Biotechnology 33, 1092 (2015).
5. Lee, S.*, Park, H.*, Kyung, T., Kim, N. Y., Kim, S., Kim, J., and Heo, W. D. Reversible protein inactivation by optogenetic trapping in cells. Nature Methods 11, 633 (2014).
Postdoctoral Researcher
shkim314@ibs.re.kr
Researcher
yhkook@ibs.re.kr
Student
duq4081@naver.com
Student
cyj3132@naver.com