The TEAM —
we are curious and passionate scientists working closely together to uncover the mysteries of brain-body communication
Hojoon Lee, PhD
Principal Investigator
Office: Cook Hall 2-133
Phone: 847.491.5529
hojoon.lee [at] northwestern.edu
Gyujin Park, PhD
Research Associate
gyujin.park [at] northwestern.edu
Syed Adnan Uddin
PhD Candidate
syeduddin2026 [at] u.northwestern.edu
Richard Hwang
PhD Candidate
richardhwang2026 [at] u.northwestern.edu
Alex Pekerman
PhD Candidate
alexpek [at] northwestern.edu
Jiatong Wang
MS Student
jiatongwang2026 [at] u.northwestern.edu
Thirada Boonrawd
Technician
thiradaboonrawd2025 [at] u.northwestern.edu
Hanna Rodriguez
Undergraduate
hannarodriguez2026 [at] u.northwestern.edu
Beatrice Pavan
Undergraduate
beatricepavan2028 [at] u.northwestern.edu
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Lowell August
Creative Director
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Delta Brylee
Cinematographer
Domi Velasquez
Art Director
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Lab Alumni
Jiahao Ye
Yue Yu
John Yun
Hongjie Xia
Junhua Tan
EnChi Wei
Dongpeng Yang
post-doc (2019-2024) - Westlake University
graduate student (2019-2024) - BioPathogenix
technician (2019) - Med School
technician (2020) - PhD Student (Boston University)
technician (2022) - PhD Student (Northwestern)
MS student (2024) - PhD Student (Northwestern)
MS student (2024) - PhD Student (USC)
Selected Publications
Park G, Lee H. A brainstem circuit integrating reflexive and anticipatory salivation. Cell Reports. in press (2026)
Park G, Fukasawa K, Horie T, Masuo Y, Inaba Y, Tatsuno T, Yamada T, Tokumura K, Iwahashi S, Iezaki T, Kaneda K, Kato Y, Ishigaki Y, Mieda M, Tanaka T, Ogawa K, Ochi H, Sato S, Shi YB, Inoue H, Lee H, Hinoi E. l-Type amino acid transporter 1 in hypothalamic neurons in mice maintains energy and bone homeostasis. JCI Insight. (2023)
Fowler BE, Ye J, Humayun S, Lee H, Macpherson LJ. Regional specialization of the tongue revealed by gustatory ganglion imaging. iScience (2022)
Lee H, Alpert MH, Gallio M. Sensory biology: The bitter aftertaste. Current Biology (2021)
Lee H, Macpherson LJ, Parada CA, Zuker CS, Ryba NJP. Rewiring the taste system. Nature (2017)
Funding
Our work is made possible through the generous support of the following agencies:
Active
NIDCD (R01) Structural and functional organization of the peripheral taste system. 2026-2031
NCCIH (R01) Neural circuitry of motion induced nausea. 2025-2030
NIDCD (R21) Neural mechanisms underlying obesity-induced taste dysfunction. 2025-2027
NIBIB (R21) Developing a sensor to monitor brain-to-gut communication. 2025-2028
Past
Brain Research Foundation (seed grant) Deciphering the neural circuitry of nausea. 2023-2025
Chicago Biomedical Consortium (catalyst award) Ultrasensitive discovery of circulating nausea-inducing factors. 2023-2025
NSF-Simons Center for Quantitative Biology at NU (pilot grant) Mapping the transcriptional path of taste cell differentiation. 2021
Whitehall Foundation (research grant) Neural circuits underlying taste behavior. 2019-2022
Other Information
Our lab is based in the Department of Neurobiology within the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University.
We are on the beautiful campus by Lake Michigan in Evanston, Illinois. About 10 miles from downtown Chicago.
Lab address:
2220 Campus Drive
Cook Hall 2-159
Evanston, IL 60208
Lab telephone:
(847) 467-7895
