Academia Sinica’s Dr. Li-Huei Tsai Elected To The US Institute Of Medicine

Dr. Li-Huei Tsai of Taiwan’s Academia Sinica has been elected a member of the US Institute of Medicine.

AsianScientist (Oct. 28, 2011) – Academician Dr. Li-Huei Tsai of Taiwan’s Academia Sinica has been elected a member of the US Institute of Medicine (IOM) on October 17, 2011, along with 64 other new members and five foreign associates.

Election to the IOM is one of the highest honors in the field of health and medicine, and elected individuals are recognized for their research achievements and commitment to service.

Asian Scientist Magazine spoke with Prof. Tsai in July this year, where she discussed her research on the pathogenic mechanisms underlying neurological diseases affecting learning and memory. Her research areas include neuropsychiatric disorders, Alzheimer’s disease, autism, and schizophrenia.

Prof. Tsai’s research group studies a protein kinase called Cdk5; it is hypothesized that the deregulation of Cdk5 – through conversion of p35 to p25 – plays an important role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease.

Using the inducible p25 mouse model developed in her lab, Prof. Tsai recently found that chromatin remodeling via increased histone acetylation is beneficial for learning impairment and memory loss caused by severe neurodegeneration.

Academician Tsai was elected an Academician of Academia Sinica in 2008. She is also the Director and Picower Professor of Neuroscience at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2009-); an Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (2006 -); and the Director of the Neurobiology Program, Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, The Broad Institute (2007-).

Related Article::
(July 11, 2011) Asian Scientist Magazine Interviews MIT Picower Director, Dr. Li-Huei Tsai.

——

Source: Academia Sinica; Photo: MIT.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.

Hsin-Jung Sophia Li is a Ph.D. student at Princeton University. She received a S.B. degree with double majors in Chemical Engineering and Biology from MIT. She is a first dan black belt in Taekwondo and loves traveling around the world. Her research interests are systems biology and molecular cell biology.

Related Stories from Asian Scientist