BIO & CURRENT RESEARCH

Regeneration is essential for multicellular life. Many of our adult tissues, such as skin, blood and intestine, undergo constant regeneration to support homeostasis as well as repair injuries. Regeneration is a complex process that requires the participation of multiple cell types, including tissue-resident stem cells. Impaired stem cell function is known to severely impact tissue recovery. However, it remains unclear 1) how other coexisting cells in the tissue, known as the niche, coordinate with stem cells during the repair process and 2) whether interactions between stem and niche cells cause functional behavioral changes in the stem cell population. The challenge in addressing these questions has been an inability to follow the behaviors of different cell types at the same time in vivo and identify functional interactions between stem cells and the niche that regulate stem cell behaviors. Skin is an ideal system to study cellular behaviors of tissue repair because of its accessibility and well-characterized stem cell and niche populations.

In the Park lab, our long-term goal is to discover fundamental principles that underlie skin regeneration in a live animal. To achieve this goal, we utilize in vivo imaging with multiphoton laser microscopy and genetic mouse models to visualize and manipulate specific cell types within the skin of live mice. Our research is highly innovative because of our unique ability to study mammalian skin cells in a live unperturbed animal allow us to answer questions in biology that have been out of reach due to technical limitations. The research we are proposing will not only provide unprecedented insight into the cell biology and molecular mechanisms of tissue regeneration, but will also shed light on disease pathology and potential treatment strategies.

Park Lab

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EDUCATION AND CERTIFICATION

2006: B.S. Animal Biotechnology, Seoul National University
2012: Ph.D. Stem Cell Biology, Seoul National University
2013 – 2018: Postdoctoral fellow, Yale University
2018 – 2019: Associate Research Scientist, Yale University
2020 – present: Assistant Professor, Michigan State University

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PUBMED LINK

Park S[Author]

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