Dr. Seon-Kyu Lee is Professor of Radiology, Neurology, and Neurosurgery at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Montefiore Medical Center at Bronx, NY. He is also the Program Director of Endovascular Neurosurgery/Interventional Neuroradiology Fellowship at Montefiore.

Please tell us your background, where you are from, schooling, etc.

I am a graduate of Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea, and had resident training at the Department of Radiology, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, Korea. I had my fellowship training under Prof Karel terBrugge at the University of Toronto, Toronto Western Hospital. Dr. Zheng Dao Lan who was supposed to join me as a Endovascular Neurosurgery/Interventional Neuroradiology Fellow was the PI of this Grant  and I was his collaborator of this project as well as his mentor. Sadly, he unexpectedly passed a couple of months ago. I think it is my role to accept this award on behalf of him, continue this project and complete it successfully. I believe this is a way to properly recognizing and remembering his contribution to Neurointervention Research. 

What led you to become involved with brain aneurysm research?

Though we are facing brain aneurysm patients almost everyday, there are so many unknowns in the field of brain aneurysm research. To elucidate these uncertainties, it is crucial to conduct scientifically sound, unbiased clinical and basic brain aneurysm realted researches. We have seen significant progress in detecting and treating brain aneurysms during recent years. However, the field of vasospasm does not appear to show noticeable progresses comparing other aspects of brain aneurysm research. We thought one of the roadblocks includes multitude of immunological reactions, complex connectivities of each immunologic markers, etc. Thus, we believe applying AI technologies can clarify the main stream of immunologic reactions and we hope we can identify potential therapeutic targets with this project.

In the simplest terms, what is the purpose of your project?

There are myriad of immunological responses and reactions in post-aneurysmal SAH period which have been very challenging to understand. We aim to analyze and understand those reactions applying AI technology.

In the simplest terms, what do you hope will change through your research findings?

We hope we will understand complex immunologic responses better and clearer understanding of immunologic responses of post aneurysmal SAH vasospasm. Furthermore, we hope to be able to identify therapeutic targets through our investigations.

Why is the funding you are receiving through the Brain Aneurysm Foundation so important?

The BAF funding will support our high-risk project in generating preliminary results, which will be essential for future funding applications, including NIH grants.