11:10-12:00, Rm 103

Most Citation Paper Award - EMMHaeyoung Suh-KimAjou University School of MedicineAwardsDr. Haeyoung Suh-Kim studied Microbiology at Seoul National University and CellBiology at Balyor College of Medicine. Dr. Suh-Kim received the Ph.D. degree with thethesis work on molecular cloning and characterization of voltage-gated Ca 2+ channels in theDr. Lutz Birnbaumer’s laboratory. As a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Ming-Jer Tsai’slaboratory, Dr. Suh-Kim also studied the transcriptional regulation of insulin receptor geneand obtained strong knowledge on molecular biology of transcription factors. After movingto Ajou University, Dr. Suh-Kim studied transcription factors responsible for regulation ofneuronal differentiation and discovered an interesting fact that Ngn1, a proneural bHLHtranscription factor known to induce differentiation of neural stem cells, has a potential toconvert mesodermal lineage cells to neuronal cells. Dr. Suh-Kim proved that neurallyinducedbone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) with Ngn1 have highertherapeutic effects in the rat stroke model. The work was based on the paper published inExp. Mol. Med. 2008, for which Dr. Suh-Kim received the Most Citation Paper Awardtoday. Dr. Suh-Kim’s laboratory currently is investigating a potential application of theNgn1-modified MSCs to improve the brain functions of chronic stroke patients.Meanwhile, Dr. Suh-Kim keeps an active interest in the role of proneural bHLHtranscription factors particularly in specifying dorsal telencephalic cortical neurons as wellas the unknown functions of Ngn1 in chromatin remodeling to allow neurogenictranscription factors to better access their target genes. Dr. Suh-Kim’s laboratory also hasbeen interested in genetic modification of MSCs and their potential application in treatingthe brain tumors. Based on the strong background in neuroscience, developmental biology,and neuroanatomy, Dr. Suh-Kim’s laboratory is one of the pathfinders in the field of stemcell biology to improve the therapeutic potential of MSCs for the treatment of chronicstroke and brain tumors.2011년도 생화학분자생물학회 연례국제학술대회29