Research Scientist I
Sooyeon Jo is an electrophysiologist, molecular, and cell biologist. She received PhD from Gwangju Institute Science and Technology (GIST) in South Korea. She was interested in modulation of ion channels by cytosolic regulatory proteins which was characterized by molecular biological, cell biological, and biochemical methods. Since she was enthusiastic in ion channel pharmacology and drug development, she switched her career to electrophysiology for her postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School (HMS). She has verified the binding mechanism of clinically used voltage-gated sodium channel blockers using the manual patch clamp and participated in development of analgesics by low throughput screening. In Stanley Center, she uses the SyncroPatch system (the automated patch clamp) to screen compounds that can modulate T-type Cav channels (Cav3) and to characterize the genetic variants of ion channels and receptors from neuropsychiatric disorders.