ChangHui Pak, Ph.D.
Associate Professor in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (she/her)
ChangHui received her B.A. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her Ph.D. from Emory University School of Medicine. During her graduate work with Drs. Anita Corbett and Ken Moberg, she studied how RNA processing affects normal neural function in humans and Drosophila. Then she moved to Stanford University School of Medicine to work with Dr. Thomas Sudhof (Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine 2013) to study the molecular basis of synaptic function and dysfunction using human induced neuronal models of schizophrenia. She was supported by postdoctoral F32 NRSA from Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) and Katharine McCormick award (Stanford University). In 2018, she started a faculty position in the Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology at UMass Amherst and is an active mentoring faculty member in Molecular & Cellular Biology Graduate Program, Neuroscience & Behavior Graduate Program, and Biotechnology Graduate Training Program (NIGMS T32).
Education & Training:
2017-2018 Research Scientist in Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Supervisor: Dr. Thomas Südhof
2011-2017 Postdoctoral Fellow in Molecular and Cellular Physiology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Postdoc Mentor: Dr. Thomas Südhof
2005-2011 Ph.D. in Genetics and Molecular Biology Graduate Program, Emory University School of Medicine,Thesis Advisors: Dr. Anita Corbett (Biochemistry) and Dr. Kenneth Moberg (Cell Biology)
2001-2005 B.A. with Honors, Molecular and Cellular Biology/ minor in Chemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign, Research Supervisor: Dr. Peter Jones (Molecular & Cell Biology)
Honors & Awards:
2022 Outstanding Junior Faculty Research Award, Association of Korean Neuroscientists
2021 National Science Foundation UMass ADVANCE Faculty Fellow
2020 Early Career Reviewer, NIH Center for Scientific Review
2016-2017 Katharine McCormick Advanced Postdoctoral Fellowship, Stanford University
2013-2016 Ruth L. Kirchstein National Research Service Award (F32 NRSA), NICHD
Teaching:
2025-present: Advanced Molecular Cell Biology (Biochem/MCB 623), UMass Amherst, module instructor
2024: Advanced Topics in Molecular Neuroscience, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Graduate school intensive course, Instructor of Record
2022-2024: CRISPR and genome engineering in iPSC research (Biochem 690B), UMass Amherst, instructor of record; Graduate level T32 training program core lab module
2019-2023: Advanced Molecular Cell Biology (Biochem/MCB 642), UMass Amherst, co-instructor of record
2019-2024: Advanced Biochemistry (Biochem 424), UMass Amherst, co-instructor of record
Professional services and affiliations:
2024-2025: Adjunct Faculty, Yonsei University School of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea
2024-present: Scientific Advisory Board, NRXN1 Network
2024-present: Scientific Advisory Board, Project CASK
2024-present: Council, Association of Korean Neuroscientists
2024: Symposium Co-organizer, “Navigating Complexity: Symposium on Advancements in 3D Neural Organoid Models for Understanding Brain Disorders and Neurodevelopment” Korean Society for Brain and Neural Sciences Annual Meeting. Gyeongju, South Korea
2024: Conference Co-organizer, Inaugural 2024 NRXN1 Research and Family Conference (September 13-14 virtual)
2023: Symposium Chair, “Investigating convergent biological mechanisms across neuropsychiatric disorders” International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society Annual Meeting. Galway, Ireland
2022-2023: Guest editor for Methods in Molecular Biology (Springer Nature), book series “Stem Cell Based Neural Model Systems for Neurological Disorders”
2023-2024: Associate editor for Behavioral and Psychiatric Genetics section in Frontiers in Genetics, Special issue on “Stem cells and organoid models for complex psychiatric disorders”
2021-2022: Guest editor for Journal of Molecular Biology (Elsevier), Special issue on “Organoids”