2016 Young investigator grant program: Basic research-Schizophrenia

hopes to elucidate molecular mechanisms through which environmental factors influence the development of schizophrenia. She will test the hypothesis that neurons differentiated from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) sampled from childhood-onset schizophrenia patients are more susceptible to negative environmental factors such as hypoxia, or oxygen deprivation. Dr. Kim will also investigate whether dysfunctions in subcellular components called mitochondria can impair the ability of neurons from schizophrenia patients to mitigate hypoxia.