Spotlight: The Kuo Lab

Principal Investigator: Dr. Sheng-Han Kuo

Location: Columbia University, New York, NY, United States

Year Founded: 2012

What disease areas do you research?

What models and techniques do you use?

Mouse models
Post-mortem patient tissue
Optogenetics
Human physiology
EEG (electroencephalogram)
Neuromodulation

This is a group picture of the Kuo Lab. From the left to right: Nadia Amokrane, Chi-Ying (Roy) Lin, Sara Radmard, Sheng-Han Kuo (PI), Chih-Chun (Charles) Lin, Odane Liu, Chun-Lun Ni , Meng-Ling Chen, Natasha Desai, David Ruff.

Research Focus

What is your research about?

We study how mishaps and damage in the cerebellum lead to the symptoms experienced by ataxia and tremor patients. By looking at human brains, as well as brains from mouse models, we study how different changes in brain structure can lead to symptoms. This includes how well different parts of the brain can communicate with each other.

Why do you do this research?

When you ask patients about the challenges living with ataxia or tremor, they will talk to you about their symptoms. Symptoms can make different activities of daily living very challenging! By connecting specific brain changes to specific symptoms, we want to develop treatment options that target specific diseases. By doing this, we hope to improve patient’s quality of life.

The Kuo lab is part of the Initiative for Columbia Ataxia and Tremor. It’s a new Initiative at Columbia University to bring a group of physicians, scientists, surgeons, and engineers to advance the knowledge of the cerebellum and to develop effective therapies for ataxia and tremor.

Are you recruiting human participants for research?

Yes, we are! We are looking for participants for clinical research and trials. You can learn more about the studies we are currently recruiting for at this link.