SNU prof. to head brain lab

By Lee Min-hyung

Seoul National University (SNU) Professor Oh Uh-taek has been named the new head for a brain science laboratory at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST), the nation’s leading research institute said Monday.

Oh, 61, is one of the country’s leading experts on brain science, serving as a pharmacy professor at SNU for more than two decades since 1988. As of this January, the Korean Brain Society also named Oh as its new chairman, in recognition of his expertise and experience in physiology and pathology.

He studied pharmacy at SNU, receiving a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from the university. Oh has since studied physiology at the University of Oklahoma, earning a doctoral degree there.

Expectations are his decades-long experience in brain science will strengthen KIST’s brain research capacity, the institute said. Oh’s tenure begins January, replacing current head Dennis Choi, a neurology professor from the Stony Brook School of Medicine in New York.

“KIST decided to name Oh as the new chief of the brain research lab, as part of a bid to strengthen our research capability,” KIST President Lee Byung-kwon said in a statement. Under the leadership of Oh, KIST is expected to take a leap forward in scientific achievement, Lee added.

Meanwhile, KIST has been pushing to strengthen its brain research capacity in line with the government-led “brain science development strategy” introduced by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) this May.