Members | Neural Circuit Lab @ SNU

*Congratulations Drs. Dong-Jun Koo, Sieun Jung, and Minyoo Kim! – Feb 11, 202*6

Sung-Yon Kim Professor
sungyonkim@snu.ac.kr

Sung-Yon’s lab investigates neural mechanisms for behaviors that maintain homeostasis. Having been trained in the labs that pioneered optogenetics and CLARITY, he has been dedicating himself to developing and integrating cutting-edge neuroscience tools for the study of homeostasis-maintaining behavior. This is motivated by his vision that, thanks to the recent advancement of neurotechniques, we may finally be able to find mechanistic explanations for how it all begins (sensory transduction), how it all ends (behavioral/physiological output) and everything in between, at least for well-conserved behaviors fundamental to animals’ survival and health. More about Sung-Yon

Hee-Yun Lee Postdoctoral Scholar
vanilachoco@snu.ac.kr

Hee-Yun earned my B.S. in Biological Sciences from Ajou University and received my Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the Interdisciplinary Program in Neuroscience at Seoul National University under the supervision of Professor Se-Young Choi. His research interests center on elucidating the intricate mechanisms of neural circuits through electrophysiological analysis using the patch-clamp technique. During his doctoral studies, Hee-Yun explored how the glia interact with neurons under pathological condition. He aims to investigate the fundamental circuit mechanisms underlying social behavior and the gut-brain axis at K-Lab.

Minyoo Kim Postdoctoral Scholar
minyookim2@gmail.com

Minyoo graduated from Korea University with a B.S. in life sciences. He is interested in neural circuits underlying homeostasis and sleep. He co-led a project on a neural circuit mechanism for mechanosensory feedback control of ingestion, and this work was published in Nature in 2020. He also published two review papers, one on neural signaling of gut mechanosensation in ingestive and digestive processes (in Nat Rev Neurosci in 2022). and another one on homeostatic and hedonic appetites (in EMM 2022). His achievement was both internationally and domestically recognized by the awards below. Outside the lab, he enjoys playing piano and likes to play soccer and basketball.
2020 Travel Awardee, Janelia Conference (on interoception)
2021 Outstanding student award from Seoul National University BK21 Group
2021 Young Investigator Research Award, ICKSMCB, KSMCB
2021 Genolution Excellent Poster Award, ICKSMCB, KSMCB
2022 Best Oral Presentation Award, KSBNS
2023 Outstanding Poster Presentation Award, KSBNS
2024 Next-generation Cultivation Program Fellow, NRF

Myungsun Lee PhD student
mysun94@snu.ac.kr

Myungsun joined K-Lab as an undergraduate intern. After graduating from Seoul National University with a B.S. in biological sciences, he is now pursuing PhD here. He co-led a project studying the neural circuits underlying thermoregulatory behavior, and this was published in Neuron in Jan 2022, and he received an outstanding poster award twice at the 24th and 27th annual meeting of KSBNS and the IMBG Young Scientist Award for his excellent presentation of this work. He enjoys playing the guitar outside the lab.

Seong-Rae Kim PhD student
kimsri21@gmail.com

Seongrae graduated from Yonsei University after majoring in biochemistry and cognitive sciences and is now a PhD student in the Kim lab as a chemistry major. He is highly interested in the various fields of neuroscience, including emotions. He likes watching movies and listening to music in his free time. He published a review paper on the function of excitatory and inhibitory neurons in the BNST in Mol. Cells in 2021. For his excellent presentation on his ongoing work on social behavior, he won the IMBG Young Scientist Award in 2022 and the Excellent Presentation Award from the International Brain Initiative Conference in 2023. He visited UCLA to accelerate his study on social preference behavior in 2023.

Myungmo An PhD student
rmr1111@snu.ac.kr

Myungmo graduated from Seoul National Universitywith B.S. in Biology and Brain-Mind-Behavior program. He worked for a year at Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience and started his PhD in K-Lab. He was one of the first members of the K-lab. He is very social and humorous. His work on the characterization of lateral septum Sst+ neurons was published as a cover article in Experimental Neurobiology in 2022.

Ben H. Ahn PhD student
sso03198@gmail.com

Ben joined the K-Lab after graduating from Yonsei University, majoring in biochemistry. He is filled with the hopes of understanding how exactly changes in neural circuitry and changes in behavior reciprocally affect each other. As a multi-talented person, he likes to pick up a new sport and enjoys soccer, cycling, badminton, and skiing among many sports. He published a review paper in Experimental and Molecular Medicine in 2022 on homeostatic and hedonic appetites. He also invented “Automated apparatus for stereotactic surgical device”(KR102525496, USUS20220287791A1), and this was licensed to Doric in 2023.
2019 Excellence Award from EP&S Education
2021 Excellence Award from the COVID-19 Student Paper Competition

Hyeongjun Cho PhD student
Soseon Fellow, BK21 Fellow
whguwns2@gmail.com

Hyeongjun graduated from SNU, majoring in Chemistry, and started PhD work in the K-Lab. Wondering who we are, he’s been attracted to neurobiology and joined the K-lab to study neuroscience. He’s also interested in understanding ourselves from an evolutionary point of view. He enjoys listening to music and watching Netflix. In addition to focusing on a neuroscience project, he participated in collaborative work with other labs at SNU, which earned him a co-authored paper published in ACS Nano in Nov 2020 and another one in Science Advances in Nov 2022.

Junkoo Park PhD student
Woosan Fellow
semi9@snu.ac.kr

Junkoo obtained his bachelor’s degree in Applied Biology & Chemistry and Brain-Mind-Behavior at SNU and is pursuing PhD with Sung-Yon. He thinks he can find the answer to Socrates’s famous question “Know thyself” in the brain and started studying neuroscience. Furthermore, he believes that neuroscience can help many people suffering from neurological and psychiatric disorders. He was attracted to K-lab for the ongoing research on how motivation leads to certain behaviors. Junkoo enjoys listening to music and recommending good pieces to others, such as those by Hyuk-Oh. He aspires to be a great and humorous neuroscientist. He is the winner of the excellent presentation award from the Brain-Mind-Behavior Program and Excellent Poster Award from the 2024 SNU Bio Symposium.

Gilju Han PhD student
BK21 Fellow
giljuhan@gmail.com

Gilju obtained her B.S. in Biotechnology and Brain and Cognitive Sciences from Korea University and joined the K-Lab as a PhD student. She was the president of the undergrad neuroscience society (named NewLearn). She is interested in neural circuits governing various behaviors. She likes hanging out with friends and watching movies and videos.

Jin-Seong Kim M.S. student
jinseongkim97@gmail.com

Jin-Seong graduated from Sungkyunkwan University with a life science major, and joined K-Lab. He is broadly interested in neural circuits for perception, behavior, and memory. Currently, he is working with Seong-Rae to dissect neural circuits underlying social cognition and social behavior. Outside the lab, he likes watching movies, traveling, and walking around.

Anna Kondaurova M.S. student
annkali36@gmail.com

Hi, my name is Anna Kondaurova. Originally from a small beautiful city in Russia, I came to Korea for higher education and graduated in Psychology and Medical Biology Science from the Catholic University of Korea. Since childhood, I have been interested in how the world around us works. As the nervous system and brain make us feel world around as it is, how does its shape our sensations, feelings, and responses to enormous stimuli? Guided by these questions, I joined K-lab as an intern. Beyond academics, I like spending time with my family, singing and enjoining music.

MyungSun Nam PhD student
myungsun@snu.ac.kr

MyungSun Nam graduated from the Department of Biological Sciences at SNU and began her PhD in K-Lab. During her undergrads, Myung-Sun founded and served as the first president of the Brain and Cognitive Science Community (BCSC), an academic organization for undergraduate students. MyungSun is interested in how emotions are generated and why individuals differ in emotional sensitivity and regulation. MyungSun aims to explain the mechanisms of emotions at the neural circuit level—starting her first step at K-lab, investigating the process of value evaluation in innate behavior. In her free time, she enjoys a cappella.

Abby KwonFulbright Fellow

Abby graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in linguistics and a minor in biology. She joined the K-lab through receiving a Fulbright research scholarship. Abby is interested in the neural circuits underlying behavior and how these mechanisms can inform treatments for various diseases. In her free time, she likes to watch sports, play pickleball, and explore nice cafes.

Seulki Lee Undergrad student

Hello! My name is Seulki Lee, and I am currently studying Chemistry at Seoul National University. Driven by curiosity about the brain—especially how it governs the traits that define us as human—I joined this neuroscience lab to explore the neural circuits underlying complex behaviors. Ultimately, I hope to contribute to developing appropriate approaches to mental disorders by understanding the neural basis of human behavior, emotion, and cognition.

Hyunjong Noh Undergrad student

Hello, my name is Hyunjong Noh. I graduated from the Department of Biomedicine at the Catholic University of Korea and have recently joined the lab as an intern. My research interests focus on the relationship between obesity and eating behavior, as well as the link between stress and eating habits. In my free time, I enjoy working out, photography, and exploring fashion.

Jennie Yu Undergrad student

Hello there! My name is Jennie, and I am an undergraduate student in the Department of Chemistry at SNU. I am interested in the Gut-brain axis, as well as the effects of different languages on the brain. I enjoy taekwondo and literature reading in my spare time, and I am also a fan of musicals and rock bands.

Celine Kim Undergrad student

I major in plant science and double major in chemistry. I’m very interested in the unique social&learning behaviors of animals because it is an aspect that is not discussed in plants. In my free time, I like to read and sing in the choir.

Staff

Jisim Jung Lab Manager / Staff Head
jsjung@snu.ac.kr

Jisim is the lab manager of the K-lab. Jisim is the lab manager of the K-lab. She somehow, almost magically, keeps everything (and everyone) running smoothly.

Seahee Kim Assistant Lab Manager / Research Technician

I am Kim Sea-hee, a graduate of the Department of Clinical Medicine, and I currently work as an assistant researcher supporting studies in the Neural Circuit Lab. I am particularly interested in research related to clinical trials of novel therapeutics. Outside of the lab, I enjoy walking and listening to music.

Alumni