Neurodevelopment and Degeneration Lab
Research
The continuous acquisition, processing and consolidation of information are quintessential brain activities of fundamental importance to our everyday experiences and survival. Neuronal synapses play critical roles in these activities by functioning as information conduits to systematically wire the estimated 100 billion neurons into functional neuronal networks in our brain. Synaptic malfunction or failure causing abnormal alterations and/or destruction of neuronal networks are critical processes involved in neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders. Focusing on synapses and the neuronal networks they support, our research aims to identify mechanisms contributing to neuronal network formation and dysfunction. In doing so, we hope to unravel the biological principles that govern the emergence of brain function during development and its decline during aging and neurodegeneration.
News
Nov 2022
We successfully organised the 2nd Pan-Asia Symposium on Genetics of Brain Disorders in collaboration with Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Institute of Mental Health, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine and Genome Institute of SIngapore.
https://gbds2022.com/
Sep 2022
Another exciting collaboration with Research Assistant Professor Cheong Jit Kong on how the long 5’ UTR of CK1alpha regulates its translation is now online.
https://academic.oup.com/narcancer/article/4/3/zcac027/6722383
July 2022
Our work using brain organoids to elucidate the role FEZ1 in human brain development is available online in bioRxiv.
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2022.07.11.499073v1
June 2022
Our review article on the importance of fasciculation and elongation protein zeta-1 in neural circuit establishment and neurological disorders is now online.
https://journals.lww.com/nrronline/Fulltext/2022/06000/The_importance_of_fasciculation_and_elongation.1.aspx
Apr 2022
The second SynGO paper in collaboration with PGC on the involvement of synaptic genes in schizophrenia is now available!
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-022-04434-5
Apr 2021
Our paper on the role of FEZ1 in axo-dendritic development has been featured on the homepage of eNeuro! It also made into the list of most read articles!
Mar 2021
Our paper on the role of FEZ1 in axo-dendritic development has been published in eNeuro!
https://www.eneuro.org/content/8/2/ENEURO.0193-20.2021
Feb 2021
Delighted to be able to contribute a section on HiBiT-LC3 to the autophagy guidelines with Research Assistant Professor Cheong Jit Kong!
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15548627.2020.1797280
Jan 2021
Our paper in collaboration with Prof Lim Kah Leong on the roles of FEZ1 in human motor neuron development and its involvement in causing movement disorder in Jacobsen syndrome has been published in Human Molecular Genetics!
https://academic.oup.com/hmg/article/30/1/5/6062380?login=true
Nov 2020
Our brain organoid platform has helped advance our understanding of how CD137+ cells invade the brain. Thanks to Prof Herbert Schwarz for the opportunity to contribute to his work!
https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2020.571964
Nov 2019
Our eLife paper identifying novel early Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers was featured!
http://nusmedicine.nus.edu.sg/medias/news-info/2183-nus-researchers-identify-new-alzheimer-s-biomarker
https://mothership.sg/2019/11/nus-biomarkers-alzheimers-disease/?fbclid=IwAR2qCPX-G67aXsQk-a1gpY2DskyC553WtUWKH6w1XD16AsKd4IVrmysWNog
https://www.biospectrumasia.com/news/54/14857/nus-researchers-identify-new-alzheimers-biomarker.html
June 2019
SynGO’s paper documenting the expert curated in-depth annotation and analyses of 1112 unique synaptic genes and their involvement in neuropsychiatric disorders has been published in Neuron (https://www.cell.com/neuron/fulltext/S0896-6273(19)30427-1)! Accompanying this is the media release from NUS Medicine (http://nusmedicine.nus.edu.sg/medias/news-info/2080-brain-researchers-worldwide-assemble-knowledge-of-synapses-online).
SynGO’s data can be accessed at https://www.syngoportal.org/.
Congratulations
| Name | Award | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Ng Shi Jun | Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Prize AY2021-2022 | Jul 2022 |
| John Chua Jia En | Graduate Mentor of the Year (GRAMAY) Award 2022 | Jun 2022 |
| John Chua Jia En | Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine Research Excellence Award AY2019-2020 | May 2021 |
| Qu Yinghua | Outstanding Talk (Society for Neuroscience, Singapore Chapter Meeting) | Oct 2019 |
| Qu Yinghua | Selected for short talk (11th Models of Physiology and Disease Symposium)/ | Sept 2019 |
| Lee Jiaqi | Shaw Foundation Scholarship (Duke-NUS) | Jun 2019 |
| Qu Yinghua | Best Poster EMBO Workshop on Molecular mechanisms of developmental and regenerative biology | Nov 2018 |
| Lee Jiaqi | Outstanding Undergraduate Researcher Prize | June 2018 |
| Qu Yinghua | Best Poster and Oral Presenter (EMBO Workshop on Molecular mechanisms of developmental and regenerative biology EMBO / Singapore Stem Cell Society) | Nov 2018 |