B.S., Electrical Engineering, Seoul National University, 1968
M.S., Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, 1973
Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering, Cornell University, 1977

Department of Biomedical Engineering
Box 800759
School of Medicine
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, Virginia 22908

yik@virginia.edu

Research Interests

The function of the nervous system is critically dependent upon transient electrical signals emerging from nerve cells and highly localized synaptic sites. These signals are generated by ion channels, the elementary signaling units of the nervous system. In a wide variety of neurological disorders, clinical defects manifest as specific abnormalities in the function of these ion channels. To study such disease processes, we apply techniques in quantitative neuroscience, computer-aided signal processing, and biomedical instrumentation. Our major approach is to define the bioelectric dysfunctions characterizing particular neuromuscular disorders and subsequently determine the cellular and molecular basis of the neurological impairment. The current research effort is directed toward understanding the pathogenesis of paraneoplastic neurological disorders and motoneuron disease. These studies utilize the patch-clamp technique, as well as other modern electrophysiological methods, in order to determine the disease mechanisms.

Recent Publications

Kao WY, Davis CE, Kim YI, Beach JM
Fluorescence emission spectral shift measurements of membrane potential in single cells.

Kim YI, Nam TS, Kim SH, Viglione MP, Kim J
Specificity of the Lambert-Eaton syndrome antibodies. Downregulation of P/Q-type calcium channels in bovine adrenal chromaffin cells.

Kim YI, Middlekauff EH, Viglione MP, Okutsu J, Satoh Y, Hirashima N, Kirino Y
An autoimmune animal model of the Lambert-Eaton syndrome.

O'Shaughnessy TJ, Yan H, Kim J, Middlekauff EH, Lee KW, Phillips LH, Kim J, Kim YI
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: serum factors enhance spontaneous and evoked transmitter release at the neuromuscular junction.

Viglione MP, O'Shaughnessy TJ, Kim YI
Inhibition of calcium currents and exocytosis by Lambert-Eaton syndrome antibodies in human lung cancer cells.

More Publications