Director
Kyoung Jin Lee
Director, Center for Cell Dynamics (supported by NRF of Korea)
Professor, Department of Physics, Korea University
5-1 Anam-dong, Sungbuk-gu Seoul, Korea 136-713
(82) 2-3290-3104 (office)
(82) 2-3290-3534 (fax)
email: kyoung@korea.ac.kr
Education:
PhD., Physics, University of Texas at Austin, May 1994
Advisor: Harry L. Swinney
Thesis: Nonequilibrium Chemical Patterns and Their Bifurcations
B.S., Physics & Mathematics, Northeastern University, 1997
Academic Positions:
1994-1995: Princeton University, Research Associate (Advisor: Raymond E. Goldstein)
1996-: Korea University
Assistant Professor of Physics (1996-1999)
Associate Professor of Physics (2000-2004)
Professor of Physics (2005-)
Professor of Graduate Program, “Biomicro Systems” (2003-)
2007 (Mar.-Aug.): Princeton University, Visiting Professor (Department of Molecular Biology)
2008-: Stony Brook University, Adjunct Professor (Department of Physiology and Biophysics)
2013 (Aug) - 2014 (July): Cambridge University, Overseas fellow (DAMTP, Churchill College)
Research Interest: Collective (waves and patterns) dynamics in populations of cells and their biological implications
Broadly speaking, I am interested in biophysical problems in which nonlinear, nonequilibrium, many-body system approach (i.e., patterns and waves) plays an important role. They are ubiquitous in nature: by all means, "living creatures" are composed of many interacting cells that are inherently nonlinear and often self-organizing to make various dynamic structures and forms. My laboratory is exploring several different issues ranging from "neural learning and memory" to "density waves in populations of tumor cells."
Current topics of interest:
Cur
- The biological master clock, suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN)
- Calcium waves in network of astroglia and their interactions with neurons
- Synchronized neural bursts – learning & memory
- Cardiac reentries (spiral waves) and their instabilities
- Single cell motility & density waves in populations of cells
- Active role of cellular senescence as for tissue restructuring
- Morphogenesis