THE KANG LAB

Research Focus

(1) Disease models: Parkinson's Disease (PD); Dementia; Gut-Brain Axis; Circadian Rhythm & Stroke

(2) Wet-Lab: Transgenic mouse & human tissue based single-cell transcriptomics, Epigenetics (WGBS, CHIP-, ATAC), Identification of biomarker.

(3) Dry-Lab: Genomic data analysis with AI/ML, Integrated big data analysis, development of XAI for Genomics. Epigenomics 

A smiling man wearing glasses and a white lab coat with a name tag, sitting in front of a computer in a medical or research lab.

Sung-Ung Kang, Dr. Med. Sc.

TITLE
Assistant Professor of Neurology

EDUCATION
BS, MS - SungKyunKwan University, Korea
Dr. Med. Sc. - Medical University of Vienna, Austria

RESEARCH FOCUS
Neurodegenerative Diseases; Parkinson's Disease (PD); Alzheimer's Disease (AD); Gut-Brain Axis; Single-Cell Genomics; Epigenomics; Big Data; Deep Learning; Molecular Circadian Rhythms; Transgenic Animals; Identification of Cell-Type Specific Diagnostic Markers

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RESEARCH TEAM

  • Smiling woman in a laboratory or medical setting with shelves and equipment in the background.

    JiYang Song, PhD

    POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW

  • A young man with curly brown hair and light skin standing in a laboratory, wearing a plaid shirt over a green t-shirt, with shelves of lab supplies in the background.

    Fatih Akruti, MS

    SR RESEARCH SPECIALIST

  • A woman in a lab coat standing in a laboratory with shelves of scientific equipment behind her.

    Jinhee Park, PhD

    POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW

  • A female scientist in a laboratory, wearing a white lab coat with a Johns Hopkins lanyard around her neck.

    Heejin Jo, M.D.(KMD), PhD

    POSTDOCTORAL FELLOW

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

  • Mun H, Shin CH, Fei Q, Giraldo AEL, Choi KM, Lee JW, Kim K, Min KW, Shi L, Bedford MT, Kim DC, Chun YL, Ryu S, Kim D, Chang JH, Westrope RT, Shay M, Nguyen E, Hur JK, Agyenda A, Kim NC, Kang SU*, Lee W*, Yoon JH*. SARS-CoV-2 RNA-binding protein suppresses extracellular miRNA release. RNA Biol. 2025 Dec;22(1):1-17. doi: 10.1080/15476286.2025.2527494. Epub 2025 Jul 7.PMID: 40590376

  • Gu Kang B*, Kang SU*, Jin Kim J, Kwon JS, Gagné JP, Yun Lee S, Kim S, Lee KS, Ha S, Seop Jeong J, Lee YI, Zhu H, Kim D, Poirier GG, Chul Kang H, Dawson VL, Dawson TM. Proteome-wide microarray-based screening of PAR-binding proteins. Nucleic Acids Res. 2025 Apr 10;53(7). doi: 10.1093/nar/gkaf300. PubMed PMID: 40239998; PMCID: PMC12000866.

  • Min KW, Jo MH, Song M, Lee JW, Shim MJ, Kim K, Park HB, Ha S, Mun H, Polash A, Hafner M, Cho JH, Kim D, Jeong JH, Ko S, Hohng S, Kang SU*, Yoon JH*. Mature microRNA-binding protein QKI promotes microRNA-mediated gene silencing. RNA Biol. 2024 Jan;21(1):1-15. doi: 10.1080/15476286.2024.2314846. Epub 2024 Feb 19. PMID: 38372062; PMCID: PMC10878027.

  • Kang SU*, Park J*, Ha S*, Kim D*, Pletnikova O, Redding-Ochoa J, Troncoso JC, Peng Q, Van Emburgh BO, Trivedi J, Brahmachari S, Nezami B, Dawson VL, Dawson TM. Dissecting the molecular landscape of Parkinson's disease and Parkinson's disease dementia using highly efficient snRNA-seq (HIF-snRNA-seq). bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2025 Mar 7:2025.03.01.640894. doi: 10.1101/2025.03.01.640894. PMID: 40093124

  • Akkentli F, Jang IK, Choi Y, Min Y, Park J, Jo H, Kim L, Mendpara A, Bains B, Yoo D, Xu J, Na CH, Kang SU. Quantitative proteomic analysis using a mouse model of Lewy body dementia induced by α-synuclein preformed fibrils injection. Front Dement. 2024 Oct 28;3:1477986. doi: 10.3389/frdem.2024.1477986. PMID: 39529733

  • Yazar V, Dawson VL, Dawson TM*, Kang SU*. DNA Methylation Signature of Aging: Potential Impact on the Pathogenesis of Parkinson's Disease. J Parkinsons Dis. 2023;13(2):145-164. doi: 10.3233/JPD-223517. Review. PMID: 36710687; PMCID: PMC10041453.

  • Sharma A, Moon E, Kim G, Kang SU. Perspectives of Circadian-Based Music Therapy for the Pathogenesis and Symptomatic Treatment of Neurodegenerative Disorders. Front Integr Neurosci. 2022 Jan 26;15:769142. doi: 10.3389/fnint.2021.769142. PMID: 35153687

  • Yazar V*, Kang SU*, Ha S, Dawson VL, Dawson TM. Integrative genome-wide analysis of dopaminergic neuron-specific PARIS expression in Drosophila dissects recognition of multiple PPAR-γ associated gene regulation. Sci Rep. 2021;2;11(1):21500. PMID: 34728675; PMCID: PMC8563805

  • Sharma A, Lee S, Kim H, Yoon H, Ha S, Kang SU. Molecular Crosstalk Between Circadian Rhythmicity and the Development of Neurodegenerative Disorders. Front Neurosci. 2020 Aug 6;14:844. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2020.00844. PMID: 32848588

  • Agarwal A, Park S, Ha S, Kwon JS, Khan MR, Kang BG, Dawson TM, Dawson VL, Andrabi SA, Kang SU. Quantitative mass spectrometric analysis of the mouse cerebral cortex after ischemic stroke. PLoS One. 2020 Apr 21;15(4):e0231978. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0231978. PMID: 32315348

  • Lee Y*, Stevens DA*, Kang SU*, Jiang H, Lee YI, Ko HS, Scarffe LA, Umanah GE, Kang H, Ham S, Kam TI, Allen K, Brahmachari S, Kim JW, Neifert S, Yun SP, Fiesel FC, Springer W, Dawson VL, Shin JH, Dawson TM. PINK1 Primes Parkin-Mediated Ubiquitination of PARIS in Dopaminergic Neuronal Survival. Cell Rep. 2017 Jan 24;18(4):918-932. PMID: 28122242; PMCID: PMC5312976.

  • Jiang H*, Kang SU*, Zhang S, Karuppagounder S, Xu J, Lee YK, Kang BG, Lee Y, Zhang J, Pletnikova O, Troncoso JC, Pirooznia S, Andrabi SA, Dawson VL, Dawson TM. Adult Conditional Knockout of PGC-1α Leads to Loss of Dopamine Neurons. eNeuro. 2016 Jul-Aug;3(4) PMID: 27622213; PMCID: PMC5011687.