Soyun Kim, Ph.D.

Assistant Project Scientist
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
Office: 1421 Biological Sciences III

About Me

Projects

Publications

Research Interests

Fun!

I graduated from the University of British Columbia, Canada with a B.Sc. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Honors program. I received my Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Southern California and studied molecular bases of classical eyeblink conditioning. I then transitioned to studying human memory for my postdoctoral training at UCSD. Currently, I am a member of the editorial board for Bio-Protocol. I also serve as a reviewer for Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience and as a Review Editor for Frontiers in Neuroscience and Frontiers in Neurology.

Lab Research Projects

I contribute to the following research areas in the Translational Neuroscience Laboratory.

1. Urgolites, Z.J., Kim, S., Hopkins, R.O., & Squire, L.R. (2016) Map reading, navigating from maps, and the medial temporal lobe. PNAS, 113, 14289-93.

2. Kim, S., Dede, A.J.O., Hopkins, R.O., & Squire, L.R. (2015) Memory, scene construction, and the human hippocampus. PNAS, 112, 4767-72.

3. Kim, S., Borst, G., Thompson, W., Hopkins, R.O., Kosslyn, S.M., & Squire, L.R. (2013) Sparing of spatial mental imagery in patients with hippocampal lesions. Learning & Memory, 20, 657-663.
–This work was featured in the cover art of the following issue.

4. Kim, S.*, Sapiurka, M.*, Clark, R. E., & Squire, L. R. (2013). Contrasting effects on path integration after hippocampal damage in humans and rats. PNAS, 110, 4732-4737.
*Equal contribution
– This work was featured in the In This Issue section of the issue.

5. Kim, S., Jeneson, A., van der Horst, A. S., Frascino, J. C., Hopkins, R. O., & Squire, L. R. (2011). Memory, visual discrimination performance, and the human hippocampus. J Neurosci, 31, 2624-2629.

6. Kim, S., Wang, M., Lee, A. S., & Thompson, R. F. (2011). Impaired eyeblink conditioning in 78 kDa-glucose regulated protein (GRP78)/immunoglobulin binding protein (BiP) conditional knockout mice. Behav Neurosci, 125, 404-411.

7. Kim, S., & Thompson, R. F. (2011). c-Fos, Arc, and stargazin expression in rat eyeblink conditioning. Behav Neurosci, 125, 117-123.

8. Pakaprot, N., Kim, S., & Thompson, R. F. (2009). The role of the cerebellar interpositus nucleus in short and long term memory for trace eyeblink conditioning. Behav Neurosci, 123, 54-61.

9. Squire, L.R.,Kim, S., Frascino, J.C., Annese, J., Bennett, J., Insausti, R., and Amaral, D.G. (2020) Neuropsychological and neuropathological observations of a long-studied case of memory impairment. PNAS, 117, 29883-93

-Sensory decline in aging and dementia
-Multisensory integration and cognition
-Multisensory stimulation in dementia
– Neuroimaging biomarkers of preclinical Alzheimer’s disease.

In my free time, I enjoy travelling, going to the beach and concerts, and Zumba dancing. I also love teaching my little son many fascinating facts about our amazing brain.

What the lab means to me…

“In Yassa lab, we value openness and opportunities for collaboration in conducting interdisciplinary research in several topics of interest around aging and dementia.”