Biography
I am a fourth year doctoral candidate in Dr. Hee Jung Chung's lab.
Research Interests
Epilepsy, Neuronal Excitability, Drug development
Research Description
Currently studying the effects of genetic and pharmacological inhibition of STriatal Enriched protein tyrosine Phosphatase (STEP) and its effect on kainate-induced seizure propensity and hippocampal network excitability. It is my hope that this work will contribute to the search for more effective, novel chemicals that act as an antiepileptic drug for patients with Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.
Education
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2015
- B.S. Individual Plans of Study in Neuroscience
Grants
National Science Foundation (NRT-UtB): Training the Next Generation of Researchers in Engineering and Deciphering of Miniature Brain Machinery (MBM)
Awards and Honors
C. Ladd Prosser Award - for the research contribution of a Graduate Student that stands out as “the best scientific achievement” with “the broadest significance” for the discipline of neuroscience.
Courses Taught
TA: Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience (MCB/NEUR 461)
TA: Society and the Brain (MCB 170)
Additional Campus Affiliations
Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology
School of Molecular and Cellular Biology
External Links
Highlighted Publications
Walters JM, Kim EC, Zhang J, Jeong HG, Bajaj A, Baculis BC, Tracy GC, Ibrahim B, Christian-Hinman CA, Llano DA, Huesmann GR, Chung HJ. Pharmacological inhibition of STriatal-Enriched protein tyrosine Phosphatase by TC-2153 reduces hippocampal excitability and seizure propensity. Epilepsia. 2022 Feb 21. doi: 10.1111/epi.17192. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35188269.
Kim EC, Zhang J, Pang W, Wang S, Lee KY, Cavaretta JP, Walters J, Procko E, Tsai NP, Chung HJ. Reduced axonal surface expression and phosphoinositide sensitivity in K(v)7 channels disrupts their function to inhibit neuronal excitability in Kcnq2 epileptic encephalopathy. Neurobiol Dis. 2018 Oct;118:76-93. doi: 10.1016/j.nbd.2018.07.004.