Biography

My graduate training was in the solid state physics, working in KAIST University in South Korea and in University of Nijmegen in Netherlands.  I investigated phase transition of small molecules at surface compared them to bulk transition. I observed liquid crystal order-disorder transition at different surface under influence of electric or magnetic field.  After Ph.D I was trained in protein crystallography as a postdoctoral fellow in the Dept of Biochemistry at the UT Southwestern Medical Center  with Dr. Johann Deisenhofer, a Nobel laureate.  After transition to medical science I have focused on biophysical and crystallographic studies of proteins involved in neurodegeneration.  In particular, I have focused on studies of polyglutamine expansion proteins. Started my laboratory, I continue to work on understanding of Pathogenic mechanism of polyQ diseases by using Structural studies of PolyQ expansion proteins, Bioinformatics analysis of polyglutamine proteins as major focus of my laboratory. 

Education

Graduate School
Unlisted - International Colle (2001), Engineering

Research Interest

  • Huntingtons disease
  • Neurodegeneration
  • PolyQ expansion deceases
  • Protein structure