We are interested in the molecular and cellular mechanisms by which brain cells maintain homeostasis in response to risk factors of neurodegenerative diseases or psychiatric disorders.
Our goal is to identify key molecules and pathways mediating cellular and behavioral adaptations and understand how such mechanisms are altered in pathogenic conditions. Through this, we hope to identify novel disease mechanisms, therapeutic targets and/or biomarkers.
Our specific research interests are:
- What molecular and cellular mechanisms are involved in the regulation of nutrient transporters in the blood-brain barrier?
- What molecular and cellular mechanisms are involved in the regulation of immune cell recruitment and infiltration in the blood-brain barrier?
- How do actin regulators mediate homeostatic control of β-amyloid and tau aggregates?
- What brain cell type-specific compensatory mechanisms work to respond to hypoxic brain injury?
- What molecular and cellular pathways mediate comorbidities in neurological and psychiatric disorders?
For our studies, we employ a wide array of approaches. We use various biochemical and transgenic techniques including translational ribosome affinity purification (TRAP)/RNAseq, cell-type-specific Mito-Tag, proteomics, and RNAscope in order to study molecular alterations in specific brain cells. We also use cell-type-specific molecular deletion or over-expression, as well as chemogenetic techniques in order to evaluate our working hypotheses in physiological and behavioral contexts.
Our lab is located in the Department of Neurosurgery at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Rutgers University.
We’re looking for motivated graduate students and postdoc candidates with a passion for neuroscience research to join our lab!
For inquiries about the open positions in our lab, please email Dr. Kim.
News
July 7, 2023
A big welcome to our new Research Associate, Yu Young Jeong! We’re happy to have you join the lab team!
May 1, 2023
We want to welcome to the lab our new Postdoc, Clara Berdasco! We’re very excited to have you!
April 24, 2023
We would like to welcome our new Research Assistant Joseph Lepore, a Masters Student at Rutgers University, to the team! We’re happy to have you!
June 15, 2022
Congratulations to Tho Lai, one of our research assistants, who will be working in industrial research after he receives his Master’s degree in Public health this year. He has recently been hired as a research scientist for oncology translational research department at Bristol Myers Squibb pharmaceutical company. We wish you all the best!
May 17, 2022
Congratulations to Sindhura Nemani, one of our research assistants, who has recently accepted her offer to Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine. We are very happy to see you achieve your goal!
March 15, 2021
Congrats to Junghee, our postdoc, on accepting a position to begin as a Senior Scientist at Encoded Therapeutics, where she’ll work on gene therapies for rare diseases. We’re so proud of you!
March 3, 2021
Big welcome to our new lab member, Tho Lai, a masters student at Rutgers. We’re excited to have you join our team!
February 26, 2021
Congrats to Michelle, one of our research assistants, who has accepted an offer to join University of Iowa’s MSTP, beginning as an MD/PhD student this fall.
January 25, 2021
Congrats to Pedro, one of our former research assistants, who has accepted an offer to join Mayo Clinic’s MSTP, beginning as an MD/PhD student this coming summer.
September 24, 2021
Congratulations to our team for our new publication on stress vulnerability and resilience! Now available in bioRxiv:
The Kim Lab 