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September 2024
Special Guests at Our Lab Meeting: Welcoming Kendrick, Brianna, and Malcolm
Kendrick, Brianna, and Malcolm vistied out lab meeting! We shared overall research questions of our lab and some of ongoing projects(Youngeun-MPC, Euijin-MIA, Hongji-Pico, Sungwoo-intero AI). Kendrick and Brianna also introduced their interests: Kendrick on the brain’s computational principles for visual information and Brianna on the clinical application of acupuncture.
Thankfully, Malcolm enjoyed snacks and juice.
A Celebration of Three New Papers in September
Our lab successfully published three papers this month! Congratulations, Suhwan, Jungwoo, and Donghee!
Suhwan’s first first-authored paper has been published in nature communications.
Paper title: “Interindividual differences in pain can be explained by fMRI, sociodemographic, and psychological factors”
nature communications | PDF
Jungwoo’s second first-authored paper has been published in Science Advances.
Paper title: Paper title: “A computational mechanism of cue-stimulus integration for pain in the brain”
Science Advances | PDF
Dong Hee’s first first-authored paper has been published in PAIN.
Paper title: Paper title: “Decoding pain: uncovering the factors that affect the performance of neuroimaging-based pain models”
PAIN | PDF
August 2024
Congratulations on Hongji’s PhD and Youngeun’s master’s degree!
On 23rd of August, our lab celebrated a special graduation ceremony. The event honored Dr. Hongji Kim, who successfully completed her Ph.D. program, and Youngeun Park, who earned her master’s degree. Both have demonstrated outstanding achievements in their respective research fields, and this graduation marks the culmination of their hard work and dedication. Lab colleagues and professors gathered to offer their heartfelt congratulations. We look forward to their bright futures, and we hope that all the experiences they gained in our lab will serve as valuable assets in their careers!
2024 Neurosplash
COCOAN lab attended ‘2024 한국뇌신경과학회 고등인지분과 하계 워크샵 (also called Neurosplash)’ held in Jecheon. Suhwan, Jihoon&Sungwoo, Euijin, and Yuseon gave poster presentations for their recent projects. It was a great chance to meet many high cognition researchers from other labs/institutes, discussing various topics and engaging in interesting debates.
2024 IASP
Soo Ahn, Youngeun, and Wani attended the 2024 International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) World Congress in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Wani gave a talk on personalized pain biomarkers, and Soo Ahn and Youngeun presented posters on their research projects. It was an inspiring opportunity to explore diverse pain research and reflect on the importance of studying pain.
July 2024
The 2024 Summer School has successfully concluded!
Eugene Han and Taeho Ahn completed the 2024 Summer School program (June 24, 2024 – July 19, 2024) alongside Yuseon Park and Sohee Kim. During the summer school period, they worked on the SOHO project, focusing on homeostatic regulation of pain. They learned how to handle fMRI data using Matlab and performed basic behavioral and fMRI analyses, including continuous rating plots and GLM analysis. Thank you for all your hard work and for a successful poster presentation!
June 2024
2024 OHBM
This year, the Organization for Human Brain Mapping (OHBM), the international conference which draws about 2000-3000 attendees annually, was held at Coex, Seoul. Every student in the lab participated in the conference, learning about ongoing research worldwide and making new connections. Our lab’s research (oral presentation by Wani, poster presentation by Euijin, Jungwoo, Youngeun, Sooahn, and JJ) also earned significant attention! Additionally, lab members attended social events hosted by OHBM. Despite feeling exhausted (oh yeah, we were), everyone had a great time learning and networking! A v-log about this experience will be posted soon, so stay tuned on our Instagram and YouTube!
2024 pre-OHBM (Research Exchange & CNIR Open House events)
Before the OHBM conference, we hosted a Research Exchange and the CNIR Open House at our center. During the Research Exchange, pain researchers from around the globe gathered to introduce their current work. Present were Tor, Wani’s PhD advisor, as well as Tor’s former postdocs and Wani’s colleagues, Mathieu and Liz. Also joining were Massieh from the University of Toronto, Andreas from McLean Hospital at Harvard Medical School, and Henrietta, an editor from Nature Neuroscience. From the lab, Suhwan, Euijin, Sooahn, Jungwoo, and Youngeun each presented their outstanding research. The presentations were EXCELLENT! At the CNIR Open House, we invited leading neuroscience researchers from around the world to introduce our center, enjoy a meal together, and get to know each other. It was a great opportunity to showcase our center and the lab to the global neuroscience community. Great job, everyone!
Hongji and Youngeun’s defense
Hongji has finished her PhD, and Youngeun has finished her master’s defense! Hongji presented her dissertation titled “Exploring Internal Context through Personal Narratives and Spontaneous Thoughts - fMRI-based Predictive Models for Emotion and Personal Traits”, while Youngeun presented her thesis titled “A Neuroimaging-Based Personalized Pain Biomarker Based on Densely Sampled Data”. Congratulations to both for their remarkable research achievements and earning their degrees!
Soo Ahn’s paper has been published in PNAS
Paper title: “Brain Representations of Affective Valence and Intensity in Sustained Pleasure and Pain”
(1st author: Soo Ahn Lee, currently a PhD candidate) PNAS | PDF
Soo Ahn’s first first-authored paper has been published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Congratulations! Check out the video abstract!
April 2024
Cocoan lab at SANS 2024
Hongji and Suhwan attended the annual meeting of the Social and Affective Neuroscience Society 2024 (SANS 2024) in Toronto, Canada. Hongji and Suhwan presented posters on their research projects during the conference. It was nice to see “social” and “affective” folks around the world, doing lots of cool studies! Also, it was fun to share the house with students from the PECON lab and make good memories. Lastly, Suhwan won the travel awards. Congratulations!
March 2024
Hongji’s paper has been published in PNAS
Paper title: “Brain decoding of spontaneous thought: Predictive modeling of self-relevance and valence using personal narratives” PNAS | PDF
Hongji’s first first-authored paper has been published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Congratulations! Check out the video abstract!
One Slide Day: A Unique Format for Lab meeting
This week’s lab meeting was held as a “One Slide Day” with a visit from Prof. Joonkoo Park. Each member presented and discussed their individual projects and areas of interest. We also had the opportunity to hear about Professor Park’s research, making it a meaningful and productive time.
Wani attended ‘The Human Pain Seminar Series Summit’ in Toronto
Wani attended ‘The Human Pain Seminar Series Summit’ at the University of Toronto organized by the Center for the Study of Pain. The talks were all great and fascinating, covering various topics on pain, chronic pain, the brain, psychology, biomarkers, and interventions. Wani is grateful for this opportunity to interact with smart and caring people and get inspiration from them.
Feb 2024
Cocoan lab photo for 2024 (Feb 13th, 2024)
We had a Cocoan photo day and took our Cocoan lab photos. Here they are!
Jan 2024
BK21 IPHC Research Symposium
Cocoan lab attended 2024 IPHC Research Symposium. Suhwan won a bronze prize for the oral presentation and Youngeun received a silver prize for the poster presentation. Well done!
Cocoan lab’s research was featured in the publication ‘exemplary cases of interdisciplinary research’
융합연구 우수사례집 | 통증을 정량화하고 예측하는 바이오마커로 진단과 치료의 새 장을 열다