Seok-Yong Lee, Ph.D.

This project aims to study the mechanisms and design principles governing somatosensation and nociception by membrane sensory receptor channels to understand their broader contextualization in pain and itch-related conditions. To accomplish this goal, Dr. Seok-Yong Lee's group will study temperature sensing by key thermosensitive Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) channels (thermoTRPs), investigate their interactions with other signaling proteins that shape and regulate TRP channel-mediated signaling networks to uncover the molecular basis of neurological disease mutations in TRP channels, and develop small molecules that modulate TRP channel-mediated sensory transduction.