FOXG1 expert Soo-Kyung Lee to be honored at next Spotlight Symposia

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences’ Spotlight Symposia Series will return in 2026 to honor Soo-Kyung Lee, director of the FOXG1 Research Center at UB and a leading expert on genetics and brain development. 

Launched in the fall of 2024, the series recognizes and elevates the college’s faculty by inviting distinguished speakers to campus who share the honoree’s research field. Titled, “Master Switches of the Mind: Gene Regulation and Neurodevelopmental Disorders,” this second symposium in the series will be held April 24-25 and place Lee at the center of critical conversations around the role that genes play in the health of the human brain.

“The Spotlight Symposia brings brilliant minds together to accelerate discovery,” says Jeff Grabill, dean of the College. “Dr. Lee’s research offers hope for families impacted by neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative disorders and reminds us that the future of neuroscience depends on bold ideas and relentless innovation.”

Lee, PhD, SUNY Empire Innovation Professor and the Om P. Bahl Endowed Professor in the UB Department of Biological Sciences, investigates how gene expression influences both development and defects of the central nervous system. Her pioneering biochemical and molecular approaches in mouse and chick embryos has led to seminal discoveries related to gene regulation and neuronal cell fate..

She and her husband, Jae Lee, PhD, professor of biological sciences, became experts on the rare neurodevelopmental disorder known as FOXG1 syndrome after their teenage daughter Yuna was diagnosed with it at age 2. 

Caused by a mutation of the FOXG1 gene — one of the most essential genes for early brain development — the disorder can lead to cognitive and physical disabilities, along with life-threatening seizures.

In 2024, with the support of UB and the FOXG1 Research Foundation, the Lees launched the FOXG1 Research Center, where they are developing therapies for FOXG1 syndrome that may be transferable to more common disorders like autism and Alzheimer’s disease.

Their viral gene therapy has restored some functions in day-old mice with FOXG1 syndrome. The first patient studies may take place early next year. 

“I am truly honored by this event and hope it will coincide with the long-awaited clinical trials of the therapy we have developed for fellow FOXG1 families around the world,” Lee says.

In addition to honoring Lee, the symposium will gather leading neurologists, geneticists and psychiatrists from across the United States.

The keynote address, open to the public, will be given April 24 by Hugo J. Bellen, DVM, PhD, Distinguished Service Professor in the Departments of Molecular and Human Genetics at Baylor College of Medicine. One of the world's premier researchers in fruit fly genetics and a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Bellen’s address will discuss how the study of rare pediatric neurological diseases can drive discoveries in more common diseases.

In addition, the program includes a performance by Sungmin Shin, associate professor in the Department of Music.

Other technical talks will follow on April 25 and be given by Lee, along with:

• Gord Fishell, Harvard Medical School
• Holly A. Ingraham, University of California, San Francisco
• David D. Moore, University of California, Berkeley
• Samuel L. Pfaff, Salk Institute for Biological Studies
• Franck Polleux, Columbia University
• Robert G. Roeder, The Rockefeller University
• John L. R. Rubenstein, University of California, San Francisco
• Hongjun Song, University of Pennsylvania

There will also be a poster session for UB students to share their work. The deadline to register and submit poster abstracts is March 11. Selected posters will be announced around the end of March.

For more information, contact casevents@buffalo.edu.