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Dr. Park Ki Duk and Dr. Keiko Yamamoto Are KIST’s “Persons of the Month” (2017.09.26)
- Date : 2017-10-31
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Dr. Park Ki Duk and Dr. Keiko Yamamoto Are KIST’s “Persons of the Month”
- Outstanding contributions to next-generation electronics
On September 26, Dr. Park Ki Duk from the Convergence Research Center for Diagnosis, Treatment and Care System of Dementia and Dr. Keiko Yamamoto from the Center for Functional Connectomics received KIST’s Person of the Month Award in recognition of their excellent research.
Dr. Park’s team developed a new candidate anti-dementia drug featuring a new treatment mechanism. The newly synthesized drug alleviates GABA* overproduction in the brains of Alzheimer patients. By doing so, it may dramatically reduce GABA-induced memory loss and other cognitive disorders. The new drug has been transferred to MEGA Bio for commercialization on the global market.
* GABA: A neurotransmitter found in the central nervous systems of mammals
Using a new optogenetic protein, Dr. Yamamoto successfully explained the intracellular mechanism behind long-term synaptic inhibition and the operational periods of the cerebellum, which regulates fluctuations in neural signal efficiency. Her work was published in “Nature Communications.”
KIST’s Person of the Month Award recognizes and rewards overachievers who contribute to the institute in creative, innovative ways. Winners are selected by the Reward Deliberation Committee.