Apply Now 
Dr. Yongsoo Park
Senior Scientist Joint Assistant Professor
Dr. Yongsoo Park
Senior Scientist Joint Assistant Professor
Educational Qualifications
PhD in Molecular Neurobiology
BS in Life Science
Entity
Qatar Biomedical Research Institute
College of Health and Life Sciences
Divison
Neurological Disorders Research Center
Biography
Dr. Park’s research is focused on biomarkers and treatment for neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders including autism spectrum disorder (ASD). He received his PhD in investigating exocytosis and plasticity of vesicle fusion using electrophysiology and live cell imaging at the POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology), South Korea, after which he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Germany, being mentored by Prof. Reinhard Jahn, a world-renowned scientist with his pioneering research into fusion and neurotransmitter release. Dr. Park was appointed Assistant Professor at the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at the Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey, and in 2019, he moved to Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU) as a Scientist at QBRI and is co-affiliated at the College of Health & Life Sciences, HBKU as an Assistant Professor, working on the development of biomarkers and treatment for ASD, Alzheimer's disease, and Parkinson’s disease.
PhD in Molecular Neurobiology
POSTECH (Pohang University of Science and Technology), South Korea
2009
BS in Life Science
Handong Global University, South Korea
2001
- Modeling neurological disorders using human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC)‐derived neurons and synthetic biology
- Extracellular vesicle biomarkers for autism spectrum disorder (ASD)
- Molecular mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases and development of therapeutics
- MicroRNA exocytosis by vesicle fusion (exosome-independent) in neurons and neuroendocrine cells
Scientist
Qatar Biomedical Research Institute (QBRI), Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU)
2019 – Present
Joint Assistant Professor
College of Health & Life Sciences, Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU)
2019 – Present
Assistant Professor
Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Koç University, Istanbul, Turkey
2017 – 2019
Assistant Professor
Izmir International Biomedicine and Genome Institute, Turkey
2015 – 2017
Postdoctoral researcher
Max-Planck-Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany
2009 – 2015
Shin KC, Ali G, Ali Moussa HY, Gupta V, de la Fuente A, Kim HG, Stanton LW, Park Y#. Deletion of TRPC6, an autism risk gene, induces hyperexcitability in cortical neurons derived from human pluripotent stem cells. Mol Neurobiol. 2023 Dec;60(12):7297-7308.
Ali Moussa HY, Shin KC, Ponraj J, Kim SJ, Ryu JK, Mansour S, Park Y#. Requirement of cholesterol for calcium-dependent vesicle fusion by strengthening synaptotagmin-1-induced membrane bending. Adv Sci. 2023 May;10(15):e2206823. Highlighted as a Frontispiece.
Ali Moussa HY, Park Y#. Electrostatic regulation of the cis- and trans-membrane interactions of synaptotagmin-1. Sci Rep. 2022 Dec 27;12(1):22407.
Park Y, Seo JB, Fraind A, Pérez-Lara A, Yavuz H, Han K, Jung SR, Kattan I, Walla PJ, Choi MY, Cafiso DS, Koh DS, Jahn R. Synaptotagmin-1 binds to PIP2-containing membrane but not to SNAREs at physiological ionic strength. Nature Struct Mol Biol. 2015 Oct;22(10):815-823.
Park Y, Hernandez J. M, van den Bogaart G, Ahmed S, Holt M, Riedel D, and Jahn R. Controlling synaptotagmin activity by electrostatic screening. Nature Struct Mol Biol. 2012 Oct;19(10):991-997.
Complete Publication Listing(s): NCBI
- 2023; Member, International Advisory Board of the International Symposium on Chromaffin Cell Biology (ISCCB).
- 2022; Best faculty/researcher poster award, second place, the 1st HBKU Research Day.
- 2017; Science Academy’s Young Scientist Awards Program (BAGEP), Bilim Akademisi, Turkey.
- 2016 – 2020; Member, EMBO Young Investigator Programme (YIP) as an EMBO Installation Grantee.
- 2010 – 2012; Research fellowship for post-doctoral researcher, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.