Principal Investigator
Min-Ho Nam is a neuroscientist who studies pathological mechanism of neurological disorders including Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease from the astrocyte-centered perspective. As a physician (Korean Medical Doctor)-scientist, he also studies the neurobiological mechanism of acupuncture treatment on Parkinson's disease. He completed his PhD under supervision of Dr. C. Justin Lee at KIST and earned his PhD from Kyung Hee University, Korea (joint with KIST) in 2017. Since 2020, he joined KIST as a senior researcher as well as the lab head of Nam lab.
Post-Doc
Young-Jung Kim received his undergraduate degree in pharmacy from Sungkyunkwan University, Korea, in 2017 and obtained a pharmacist license. He continued his adventure in the neuroscience of drug addiction and psychopharmacology. He received his PhD in investigating the biomolecular mechanisms and regulating targets of cocaine-induced reward behaviors in animals from the Sungkyunkwan University working under the supervision of Dr. Choon-Gon Jang in 2022. He worked as a postdoctoral researcher and lecturer at Sungkyunkwan University from 2022 to 2024. After two years of research experience, he joined the laboratory of Dr. Min-Ho Nam at KIST as a postdoctoral researcher.
PhD Candidate
He received his master degree from Dongguk University and studied plant genetics. He worked as a research intern in a neuroscience lab at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Currently, he is studying neuroscience in Nam lab at KIST as a PhD student.
PhD candidate
He received his Master of science degree from Ajou University, He has been investigating the role of a sugar transporter which is present in the brain through molecular biological approaches. In NAM lab, he is investigating the glia-neuronal metabolic interaction, particularly through glucose and fructose metabolism using various approaches including molecular biology, electrophysiology, imaging, etc.
PhD student
She received B.S. degree of applied chemistry from Dongduk women’s University. She has previously worked as a research intern for 2 semesters in Nam lab. Now she is working as a graduate student researcher, and simultaneously, she is in the Master’s course in Biotechnology major at Yonsei University. She is studying the molecular mechanism of neurodegeneration diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson’s disease through reactive astrocytes.
PhD student
In-Yeop obtained a master's degree from Kyung Hee University. He developed a fluorescent biosensor capable of measuring the activity of GPCR. Additionally, as an intern researcher at KIST, he participated in the development of a screening platform for GPCR-targeted drugs using FRET technology. Currently, in the Nam lab, he's working on developing chemogenetic tools which can induce GPCR signaling.
PhD student
She obtained her bachelor's degree in pharmacy from Primeasia University in Bangladesh and her master's degrees, one from the same university and another from Kyung Hee University. After three years of PhD course under the supervision of Dr. Hyewon Rhim at KIST, she moved to the Nam lab in 2024 autumn.
MS student
Heesu majors in biomedical science and engineering at Konkuk University. After completing internships at a vaccine development company and a biomedical research company, she discovered her passion for research and decided to pursue it further. With a keen interest in neuroscience, specifically neurodegenerative diseases and neuroinflammation, she joined Nam Lab as a research intern in March 2023. Her ultimate goal is to make significant contributions to the development of treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. As such, she is eager to participate in studies that clarify the pathogenesis of these conditions.
Visiting Graduate Student (Integrated MS-PhD course)
After earning his B.S. degree in molecular biology from Dankook University, he is pursuing a PhD in neuroscience at Korea University while also conducting research at KIST's virus facility under the guidance of Dr. Seung Eun Lee. Currently, he is involved in collaborative research projects with Nam Lab, focusing on the development of viral promoters in the brain.
