School of Medicine
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Yunkyeong Lee
Postdoctoral Scholar, Endocrinology and Metabolism
BioYun is a postdoctoral research scholar in the Translational Genomics of Diabetes Laboratory under the mentorship of Dr. Anna Gloyn. Since joining the lab in August 2022, she has been investigating type 2 diabetes (T2D) susceptible genes and their molecular mechanisms in pancreatic β-cell dysfunction and the development of T2D. Her primary focus is on how T2D effector transcripts alter autophagy/mitophagy pathways in human pancreatic β-cells, contributing to β-cell failure, mitochondrial dysfunction, and T2D pathology. She also investigated the impact of genetic mutations underlying neonatal diabetes using CRISPR HDR knockin genome editing in human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) models and their derivatives.
During her PhD, she explored the role of an epigenetic regulator and its molecular machinery in the pathogenesis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD), now termed metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). In parallel, she studied the interplay between endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-mediated unfolded protein response (UPR) signalling and autophagy, and examined how these processes are modulated by bioactive plant extracts in various cellular contexts.
She is particularly interested in exploring inter-organ communication, such as pancreas-liver-heart crosstalk, and how these interactions influence systemic metabolism and contribute to the onset and progression of T2D, along with its complications. Her long-term research goal is to advance our understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms driving T2D and to identify novel therapeutic targets and strategies.
