Hyun Min Jung
Email Address: hmjung@uic.eduCollege: Medicine Department: Pharmacology
Title: Assistant Professor
Office: COMRB 4141 Phone: 3123551138
Webpage: http://mcph.uic.edu/jung/
Participating in the Chancellor’s Undergraduate Research Awards program: Yes
Research Interest:
The Jung lab is at UIC Department of Pharmacology and Regenerative Medicine!
A research-focused (~10 hours/week) is available. This position is ideal for students who are willing to participate in research projects in preparation for graduate school or medical school. Long-term commitment (2+ years) is preferred.
We are interested in understanding how lymphatic vessels develop and function. The lymphatic system is essential for maintaining fluid homeostasis and immune surveillance and plays unique organ-specific functions. Defects in this system can lead to many diseases such as lymphedema, cardiovascular diseases, cancer metastasis, organ transplant failure, inflammatory diseases, and obesity. However, there are not many options to treat these disorders due to our limited knowledge about this system.
We use the zebrafish to explore many scientific questions in vascular biology. The zebrafish is a superb model organism for in vivo analysis with several advantages: 1) Rapid external development, 2) Optical clarity, 3) High Fecundity, 4) Genetic malleability, 5) High-throughput screening. These advantages permit rapid, visible, and quantifiable analysis in the context of normal or genetically or experimentally manipulated animals. High-resolution live imaging on fluorescence-labeled transgenic animals is a powerful technique that provides unique information underlying vascular development and cellular behavior in living organisms in real-time.
We are currently studying these interesting topics in lymphatic biology and are open to exciting ideas that will let us understand the basics underlying lymphatic biology.
• Development of the lymphatic system.
• MicroRNA function in lymphatic biology.
• Crosstalk between lymphatic vessels and immune cells. Minimum time commitment in hours per week: 10 Qualifications of a Student:
*Preferred Major:
- Biological Sciences or related discipline
* Qualifications:
- Prior lab experience is not required but is a plus.
- Enthusiastic in learning new techniques.
- Interest in using zebrafish as animal model to study vascular biology.
- A successful candidate will follow directions precisely with a collaborative mindset.
- Students who desire a long-term laboratory experience (2+ years) in preparation for graduate school in biomedical research or medical school will be given priority.
NOTE: This researcher is currently not accepting applications for the Undergraduate Research Experience program.
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