معرفی
Alex Kwan is an Associate Professor in the Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering at Cornell University. Previously, he held positions at Yale School of Medicine and pursued postdoctoral studies as a Croucher Fellow at UC Berkeley. His research integrates systems neuroscience and neuroengineering to study mental health, focusing on drug action in neural circuits, particularly psychedelics like psilocybin and ketamine. He leads the Kwan Lab, which develops optical imaging and behavioral paradigms to visualize neural activity and structure in awake mice.
Education:
- B.A.Sc. in Engineering Physics, Simon Fraser University (2003)
- Ph.D. in Applied Physics, Cornell University (2009)
Research Interests:
His work emphasizes understanding how psychiatric drugs modify neural connectivity and function, with applications in preclinical drug development. Key areas include:
- Psychedelic neurobiology and therapeutic mechanisms
- Optical imaging of brain-wide neural activity
- Neural plasticity induced by antidepressants
Awards & Grants:
- One Mind Rising Star Award for Mental Health Research (2022)
- NIH and Simons Foundation grants
- Croucher Fellowship (postdoctoral)
Lab & Collaborations:
The Kwan Lab collaborates with Weill Cornell Medicine and Cornell Neurotech, leveraging interdisciplinary tools like two-photon microscopy and optogenetics. Their long-term goal is to develop safe and effective treatments for depression and anxiety disorders.
