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Sun Ha Paek

Seoul National University · Medicine

About the Lab

Professor Sun Ha Paek's research lab specializes in neuro-oncology and neurodegenerative diseases, focusing on the biological mechanisms underlying brain tumors such as gliomas and vestibular schwannomas, as well as conditions like Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. The lab integrates advanced imaging techniques, including SPECT and stereotactic radiosurgery, with molecular and cellular biology to explore therapeutic targets and improve diagnostic accuracy. A key focus is on identifying biomarkers—such as CHI3L1 and Sox2—and developing AI-driven tools for medical image interpretation to enhance clinical outcomes.

brain tumorsParkinson's diseaseAlzheimer’s diseaseSPECT imagingdeep learning in neuroimaging

Research Overview

Papers
462
Total Citations
16,436
Papers (5y)
92
Primary Field
Medicine

Research Output Trend

Figures are computed from collected data and may differ slightly.

Publications per year (5y)
92total
2021
2022
2023
2024
2025
Citations per year (5y)
1,580total
20212022202320242025

Selected Papers

15
1
Article|615 citations·2019
A bioprinted human-glioblastoma-on-a-chip for the identification of patient-specific responses to chemoradiotherapy
Hee‐Gyeong Yi, Young Hun Jeong, Yona Kim, Yeong‐Jin Choi, Hyo Eun Moon, Sung‐Hye Park, Kyung Shin Kang, Mihyeon Bae, Jinah Jang, Hyewon Youn, Sun Ha Paek, Dong‐Woo Cho
SJR Q1Nature Biomedical Engineering
Biomedical EngineeringEngineering
2
Article|265 citations·2005
Reevaluation of Surgery for the Treatment of Brain Metastases: Review of 208 Patients with Single or Multiple Brain Metastases Treated at One Institution with Modern Neurosurgical Techniques
Sun Ha Paek, Paul Audu, Michael R. Sperling, Joon Cho, David W. Andrews
SJR Q1Neurosurgery

In most patients with single or multiple brain metastases, surgical resection reversed or stabilized neurological symptoms with therapeutic benefit, conveying a notable survival advantage without apparent increased risk, particularly in RPA Class I patients. In patients with Grade III single metastasis or RPA Class II multiple metastasis, surgical judgment should be exercised, and stereotactic radiosurgery boost treatment may be preferable. An algorithm for treatment of brain metastases is propo

Pulmonary and Respiratory MedicineMedicine
3
Article|195 citations·2005
Hearing preservation after gamma knife stereotactic radiosurgery of vestibular schwannoma
Sun Ha Paek, Hyun‐Tai Chung, Sang Soon Jeong, Chul‐Kee Park, Chae‐Yong Kim, Jeong Eun Kim, Dong Gyu Kim, Hee‐Won Jung
SJR Q1Cancer

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the hearing preservation rate and to determine its prognostic factors after gamma knife (GK) stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) in patients with vestibular schwannoma, the authors used a prospective study design to analyze these patients. METHODS: Between December 1997 and January 2002, 25 patients with vestibular schwannoma with serviceable hearing were enrolled in the current study. The median tumor volume was 3.0 cc (0.16-9.1 cc). The prescription dose was 12.0 +/- 0.7 gr

EpidemiologyMedicine
4
Article|182 citations·2017
Refining diagnosis of Parkinson's disease with deep learning-based interpretation of dopamine transporter imaging
Hongyoon Choi, Seunggyun Ha, Hyung Jun Im, Sun Ha Paek, Dong Soo Lee
SJR Q1NeuroImage ClinicalOA

Dopaminergic degeneration is a pathologic hallmark of Parkinson's disease (PD), which can be assessed by dopamine transporter imaging such as FP-CIT SPECT. Until now, imaging has been routinely interpreted by human though it can show interobserver variability and result in inconsistent diagnosis. In this study, we developed a deep learning-based FP-CIT SPECT interpretation system to refine the imaging diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. This system trained by SPECT images of PD patients and normal

NeurologyMedicine
5
Article|119 citations·2010
CHI3L1 (YKL‐40) is expressed in human gliomas and regulates the invasion, growth and survival of glioma cells
Bo Mi Ku, Yeon Kyung Lee, Jinhyun Ryu, Joo Jeong, Jungil Choi, Keyoung Mi Eun, Hye Young Shin, Dong Gyu Kim, Eun Mi Hwang, Jae Cheal Yoo, Jae‐Yong Park, Gu Seob Roh
SJR Q1International Journal of CancerOA

Chitinase 3-like 1 (CHI3L1) is a secreted glycoprotein that has pleiotropic activity in aggressive cancers. In our study, we examined the expression and function of CHI3L1 in glioma cells. CHI3L1 was highly expressed in human glioma tissue, whereas its expression in normal brain tissue was very low. CHI3L1 suppression by shRNA reduced glioma cell invasion, anchorage-independent growth and increased cell death triggered by several anticancer drugs, including cisplatin, etoposide and doxorubicin,

Molecular BiologyBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
6
Article|116 citations·2008
Chronic subthalamic deep brain stimulation improves pain in Parkinson disease
Han‐Joon Kim, Sun Ha Paek, J.-Y. Kim, Jee‐Young Lee, Yong Hoon Lim, M.-R. Kim, D. G. Kim, Beomseok Jeon
SJR Q1Journal of Neurology
NeurologyMedicine
7
Article|104 citations·2002
Correlation of Clinical and Biological Parameters with Peritumoral Edema in Meningioma
Sun Ha Paek, Chae‐Yong Kim, Young Yim Kim, In Ae Park, Min‐Seok Kim, Dong Gyu Kim, Hee‐Won Jung
SJR Q1Journal of Neuro-Oncology
EpidemiologyMedicine
8
Article|97 citations·2008
Sox2 Expression in Brain Tumors: A Reflection of the Neuroglial Differentiation Pathway
Ji Hoon Phi, Sung‐Hye Park, Seung‐Ki Kim, Sun Ha Paek, Jin Hyun Kim, Yun Jin Lee, Byung-Kyu Cho, Chul‐Kee Park, Do‐Hun Lee, Kyu‐Chang Wang
SJR Q1The American Journal of Surgical Pathology

Sox2 is a key transcription factor that maintains the proliferation of neuroglial stem cells and inhibits neuronal fate commitment. Moreover, it was recently found that brain tumors contain stem cells that resemble normal neuroglial stem cells in many respects. This study was undertaken to describe Sox2 expression in various brain tumors, and to determine whether Sox2 expression is a universal feature of brain tumors, or whether its expression is limited to a specific lineage of brain tumors. So

Cancer ResearchBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
9
Article|81 citations·2017
Clinical Outcome After Extended Endoscopic Endonasal Resection of Craniopharyngiomas: Two-Institution Experience
Hye Ran Park, Varun R. Kshettry, Christopher Farrell, Jae Meen Lee, Yong Hwy Kim, Tae Won, Doo Hee Han, Hyunwoo Do, Gurston Nyguist, Marc Rosen, Dong Gyu Kim, James J. Evans
SJR Q2World Neurosurgery
Endocrinology, Diabetes and MetabolismMedicine
10
Review|77 citations·2005
Integration of surgery with fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy for treatment of nonfunctioning pituitary macroadenomas
Sun Ha Paek, M. Beverly Downes, Greg Bednarz, William M. Keane, Maria Werner‐Wasik, Walter J. Curran, David W. Andrews
SJR Q1International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics
Endocrinology, Diabetes and MetabolismMedicine
11
Article|75 citations·2012
Induction of Neuronal Death by Microglial AGE-Albumin: Implications for Alzheimer’s Disease
Kyunghee Byun, Enkhjargal Bayarsaikhan, Daesik Kim, Chae Young Kim, Inhee Mook‐Jung, Sun Ha Paek, Seung Up Kim, Tadashi Yamamoto, Moo-Ho Won, Byoung‐Joon Song, Young Mok Park, Bong‐Hee Lee
SJR Q1PLoS ONEOA

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) have long been considered as potent molecules promoting neuronal cell death and contributing to neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study, we demonstrate that AGE-albumin, the most abundant AGE product in human AD brains, is synthesized in activated microglial cells and secreted into the extracellular space. The rate of AGE-albumin synthesis in human microglial cells is markedly increased by amyloid-β exposure and oxidative

Clinical BiochemistryBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
12
Article|74 citations·2005
Immunohistochemical study of central neurocytoma, subependymoma, and subependymal giant cell astrocytoma
Heon You, Young Im Kim, Soo Young Im, Haeyoung Suh‐Kim, Sun Ha Paek, Sung‐Hye Park, Dong Gyu Kim, Hee‐Won Jung
SJR Q1Journal of Neuro-Oncology
GeneticsMedicine
13
Article|72 citations·2016
Fractionated Stereotactic Gamma Knife Radiosurgery for Large Brain Metastases: A Retrospective, Single Center Study
Joo Whan Kim, Hye Ran Park, Jae Meen Lee, Jin‐Wook Kim, Hyun‐Tai Chung, Dong Gyu Kim, Hee‐Won Jung, Sun Ha Paek
SJR Q1PLoS ONEOA

Our findings suggest that consecutive hypofractionated Gamma Knife SRS could be applied to large metastatic brain tumors with effective tumor control and low toxicity rates.

Pulmonary and Respiratory MedicineMedicine
14
Article|71 citations·2005
Microcystic meningiomas: radiological characteristics of 16 cases
Sun Ha Paek, Sae Hoon Kim, K H Chang, Chul‐Kee Park, Jeong Eun Kim, D. G. Kim, S.-H. Park, Hee‐Won Jung
SJR Q1Acta Neurochirurgica
EpidemiologyMedicine
15
Article|61 citations·2011
The Benefit of Subthalamic Deep Brain Stimulation for Pain in Parkinson Disease
Han‐Joon Kim, Beom S. Jeon, Jee‐Young Lee, Sun Ha Paek, Dong Gyu Kim
SJR Q1Neurosurgery

STN DBS improves pain in PD, and this beneficial effect persists, being observed after a prolonged follow-up of 24 months. In addition, in many of the PD patients new, mainly musculoskeletal pain developed on longer follow-up.

NeurologyMedicine

Research Areas

NeurologyGeneticsEpidemiologyPulmonary and Respiratory MedicineMolecular BiologyEndocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism

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