Kyunghee Koh, Ph.D.

Contact Dr. Koh

900 Walnut St., Suite 400

Philadelphia, PA 19107

(215)-955-5905
(215)-955-4949 fax

Graduate School
Ph.D., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Fellowship
Postdoctoral Fellow: University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

University Appointment
Assistant Professor

Research and Clinical Interests
Sleep appears to serve important functions, but why we sleep and how sleep is regulated are not well understood. It is clear, however, that sleep is under circadian control. Our overall goal is to elucidate the molecular and cellular basis of sleep and circadian rhythms. Due to ease of genetic manipulation and molecular analysis, the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, has emerged as a powerful model system for studying sleep and circadian rhythms. Our research strategy is to find Drosophila mutants with a strong and interesting sleep or circadian phenotype and identify the genetic, molecular, and cellular basis for the phenotype. Using this strategy, we have discovered several novel genes [e.g., jetlag (Koh et al, Science, 2006) and sleepless (Koh et al, Science, 2008; Wu et al, Nature Neuroscience, 2010)] and mutations affecting sleep and circadian rhythms. We also employ various genetic tools for targeted gene expression to define novel sleep circuits.

Publications

Most recent Peer-reviewed Publications

1. Dyschronic, a Drosophila homolog of a deaf-blindness gene, regulates circadian output and slowpoke channels
2. Post-translational regulation and nuclear entry of TIMELESS and PERIOD are affected in new timeless mutant
3. SLEEPLESS, a Ly-6/neurotoxin family member, regulates the levels, localization and activity of Shaker
4. An isoform-specific mutant reveals a role of PDP1ε in the circadian oscillator
5. The effects of caffeine on sleep in Drosophila require PKA activity, but not the adenosine receptor
6. The COP9 signalosome is required for light-dependent timeless degradation and Drosophila clock resetting
7. Identification of SLEEPLESS, a sleep-promoting factor
8. A genetic screen for sleep and circadian mutants reveals mechanisms underlying regulation of sleep in Drosophila
9. Molecular analysis of sleep:wake cycles in Drosophila
10. A Drosophila model for age-associated changes in sleep:wake cycles
11. JETLAG resets the Drosophila circadian clock by promoting light-induced degradation of TIMELESS
12. The nT1 translocation separates vulval regulatory elements from the egl-18 and elt-6 GATA factor genes
13. Cell fates and fusion in the C. elegans vulval primordium are regulated by the EGL-18 and ELt-6 GATA factors - apparent direct targets of the LIN-39-Hox protein
14. ELT-5 and ELT-6 are required continuously to regulate epidermal seam cell differentiation and cell fusion in C. elegans
15. Induction of combination rules in two-dimensional function learning
16. Function Learning: Induction of Continuous Stimulus-Response Relations
17. A Theory of Conditioning: Inductive Learning Within Rule-Based Default Hierarchies
18. Surface and structural similarity in analogical transfer