O Speaker: Dr. Hong Nam Kim

O Affiliation: Brain Science Institute, 

                  Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST)

O Date: Sep. 11, 2024

O Start Time: 4:00 PM

O Title: Brain-on-a-Chip Technology for Modeling Human Brain Diseases

O Abstract:

For decades, animal models have been the gold standard in biology and pharmaceutical industries. However, their low translational rate to humans and the emergence of unexpected side-effects not observed in animals have raised concerns about the traditional animal-based testing system. This issue is particularly evident in brain tissue research, as seen in the development for Alzheimer’s disease drugs, where translating findings from animal models to humans have proven challenging. As an alternative, brain-on-a-chip technology has emerged. The brain-on-a-chip is a miniaturized model of the human brain that is prepared by coculturing human brain-originated cells on a transparent chip. By carefully modulating the microenvironmetal factors, the pathopphysiology of human brain diseases can be recapitulated. In this presentation, the examples of modeling human brain diseases using brain-on-a-chip, including brain tumor, particulate matter-induced neurodegeneration, hyperglycemia-mediated Alzheimer’s diseases, and brain aging are presented with a particular focus on the cell-cell interactions. It is believed that the brain-on-a-chip can serve as a human-relevant model for studying human brain diseases more effectively.

* The seminar will be held offline and online[https://kaist.zoom.us/j/88058197857] simultaneously.

* Closed Caption interpretation service (English) available online (service provided by Zoom)