Sung Soo Kim

Sung Soo Kim is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), with affiliations in UCSB Neuroscience. His research focuses on understanding how the brain integrates multi-sensory information to enable navigational decisions, using Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism. Techniques employed include two-photon calcium imaging, optogenetics, electron microscopy, and computational modeling.

Education & Awards: Recipient of prestigious awards such as the NSF CAREER Award, McKnight Scholar Award, and NIH Director's New Innovator Award. He holds scholarships from The Samsung Foundation and The Rotary Foundation.

Research Interests: The lab investigates neural circuits underlying spatial navigation and cognitive behavior. Key topics include compass-like neural representations, visuomotor computations, and circuit dynamics. They combine experimental and computational approaches to map neural circuits at synaptic resolution.

Grants & Collaborations: Active grants include NIH and NSF funding. Collaborations involve projects like the FlyWire Consortium for neuronal wiring diagrams and EM connectomics.

Labs & Teams: Leads the Sung Soo Kim Lab at UCSB, which integrates molecular, cellular, and computational approaches. The lab actively recruits graduate students and postdocs with interests in neuroscience and quantitative biology.