JEONG @ NIH

Jeong Oen Lee, PhD

Staff Scientist (2024-Present)

Laboratory for Integrative Neuroscience (link).

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, MD

Overview

My research at the NIH/NIAAA focuses on the neural circuits and molecular mechanisms underlying learning-dependent plasticity, reinforcement learning, and substance use disorders. We investigate how intracellular signaling pathways (e.g., GPCR/cAMP) mediate the link between neuromodulation and neural circuit functions in real time in vivo, and how these processes contribute to learning, memory, adaptive behavior, and responses to drugs.

To address these questions from a systems neuroscience perspective, we develop optical and molecular tools, including genetically engineered cAMP biosensors and fluorescence lifetime–based optical systems (e.g. imaging microscopy and in vivo fiber photometry). In parallel, we integrate a broad range of state-of-the-art techniques, such as large-scale calcium imaging techniques (e.g., in-vivo head-mounted or two-photon microscopy), in vitro physiology, optogenetic and chemogenetics, computational behavioral analysis, and single-cell RNA sequencing.

Our recent work examines how dopamine-dependent neuromodulation, reward-based learning, and responses to psychoactive substances are shaped by in vivo GPCR signaling and cell type–specific transcriptomic profiles in the basal ganglia. We also investigate how neural dynamics within cortical microcircuits encode key computational features of brain function, supporting experience-dependent learning, memory, and adaptive behavior.

Short Bio

Jeong has been leading a research team as a Staff Scientist at the NIH/NIAAA since 2024. He previously trained as a postdoctoral fellow and research fellow in the Lovinger Lab at the NIH/NIAAA beginning in 2018.

He earned his BS, MS, and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from KAIST (South Korea), where he specialized in integrated optics, electronic circuits, and nanoscale electromechanical systems. He later trained at Caltech, developing implantable optical devices and machine learning–based signal processing methods for in vivo physiological monitoring in biomedical applications.

At the NIH, his work integrates engineering and neuroscience to tackle fundamental questions through the development of optical tools, genetically encoded biosensors, and computational approaches for studying neural dynamics and animal behaviors. His current research focuses on how neuromodulation regulates intracellular cAMP signaling, gene expression, and circuit function in the basal ganglia, and how neural dynamics encode and shape behavior.

Education and Training

Postdoc, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA

Postdoc, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA

Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon, South Korea

M.S. in Electrical Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon, South Korea

B.S. in Electrical Engineering, KAIST, Daejeon, South Korea

Appointments

Research Fellow, National Institutes of Health (NIH/NIAAA), Laboratory for Integrative Neuroscience, MD, USA (2022-2024)

Post-Doctoral Fellow, National Institutes of Health(NIH/NIAAA), Laboratory for Integrative Neuroscience , MD ,USA (2018-2022)

Post-Doctoral Scholar, California Institute of Technology, Electrical Engineering/Medical Engineering, CA, USA (2013-2017)

Research Assistant Professor, Center for Integrated Smart Sensors (CISS), South Korea (2013)

Graduate Research Assistant & Teaching Assistant, KAIST, Electrical Engineering, South Korea (2007-2013)

Summer Student, UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA