Introduction of PI
Professor Minghu Han is the chair professor and director of the Department of Mental Health and Public Health the of the Faculty of Life and Health Science, Shenzhen University of Advanced Technology (SUAT). He formerly served as a tenured professor in the Department of Pharmacological Sciences and the Neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Professor Han has long been engaged in research on neurological and psychiatric disorders, including emotional disorders and drug dependence. His research elucidates the neural mechanisms underlying why a small number of individuals suffer from depression while the majority maintain physical and mental health under long-term stress environments, and discovers active regulatory mechanisms that promote anti-stress phenotypes. His research identified the new drug target Kv7/KCNQ potassium ion channel for the treatment of depression, and the related research has entered clinical trials. More than 90 papers have been published, including 25 in Cell, Science, Nature, Nature Neuroscience, and Nature Communications journals. The total citation count of the research work exceeds 14900 times (Google Scholar). The research paper published in Cell in 2007 established a classic animal model for the study of susceptibility and resilience mechanisms in the field. It was selected by Nature as one of the 20 important research papers of that year and has been cited more than 2400 times to date. He has won the first prize of the Natural Science Award in Shanghai, China, the first prize of the Natural Science Award of the Ministry of Education of China, the Young Scientist Award of the National Association for the Study of Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD), the NARSAD Independent Scientist Award, the Science Star Award for Translational Medicine Research of the International Brain Health Research Organization (IMHRO), the Lamport Award of the Icahn School of Medicine, the Academy Council Award, and the Excellence Research Award of the American Psychiatric Association (NAMI). He is one of the top ten reviewers for the Journal of Biological Psychiatry. I am currently a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychiatric Pharmacology (ACNP) and the International College of Neuropsychiatric Pharmacology (CINP).
Research Area
Han Lab studies the molecular (ionic and receptor), cellular and neural circuit mechanisms of affective disorders and drug addiction in animal models.
One of the most fundamental functions of the brain is the capacity to develop adaptive changes in response to environmental stimuli under both physiological and pathophysiological conditions. These neural adaptations can occur at a variety of levels such as at the levels of ion channels, synaptic transmission, and integrative function of neuron and neural network, and they are believed to be responsible for governing behavioral/psychological functioning. Dr. Han’s laboratory is specifically interested in identifying the intrinsic plasticity of ion channels and neuronal excitability, and adaptive changes in neural network, that are induced by psychological stress and alcohol in the dopamine circuit of the ventral tegmental area, an emotion- and reward-related system. Research in Dr. Han’s laboratory focuses on the underlying mechanisms of these neuroadpations and how they mediate behavioral susceptibility and resilience to stress and alcohol in laboratory models of depression and alcohol dependence.
To understand the roles of neuroadaptations in mediating behavioral changes, the laboratory employs an up-down-up methodology: established behavior model – neuroadaptation – molecular/ionic mechanism – molecular/ionic manipulation – validation of neuronal function – behavioral test. The laboratory uses in vivo and in vitro electrophysiological techniques to identify neuroadaptations and investigate molecular/ionic mechanisms, and employs advanced gene manipulation approaches, including viral-mediated gene delivery, local knockouts of interested genes, and optogenetic tools, to conduct molecular/ionic manipulation followed by behavioral assays. The combination of these gene manipulation techniques and neurophysiology offers the laboratory a unique ability to explore the neurophysiological basis of depression and alcoholism.
