Kwang Choi, Ph.D.

Research Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry
Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress
kwang.choi@usuhs.mil

Dr. Choi is a Research Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and a Scientist of the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress (CSTS) at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. He holds an appointment as a guest researcher in the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Dr. Choi received B.S. and M.A. in Biology from the Dongguk University in South Korea and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Alberta, Canada. He completed a postdoctoral training at the Department of Psychiatry from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, TX, and worked as a Scientist in the Stanley Medical Research Institute in Rockville, MD.

The goal of Dr. Choi's research is to better understand the genetic and environmental contribution to psychiatric disorders. He is conducting an innovative research of integrating multiple datasets from animal models, postmortem brain tissue and clinical samples from individuals with mood and anxiety disorders including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These approaches complement each other by elucidating the neurobiological mechanisms caused by genetic and environmental factors during brain development and by assessing long-term effects on individuals with vulnerability or resilience to anxiety disorders. By identifying the ways in which environmental and genetic factors interact and change the brain to lead to psychiatric symptoms, we can use the information to guide the development of improved treatments of complex genetic disorders.

Selected Publications

Self DW and Choi KH (2004) Extinction-induced neuroplasticity attenuates stress-induced cocaine seeking: A state-dependent learning hypothesis. Stress 7(3):145-155

Choi KH, Clements RLH, Greenshaw AJ (2005) Simultaneous AMPA/kainite receptor blockade and dopamine D2/3 receptor stimulation in the nucleus accumbens decreases brain stimulation reward in rats. Behav. Brain Res. 158:79-88

Choi KH, Whisler K, Graham DL, Self DW (2006) Antisense-induced reduction in nucleus accumbens CREB attenuates cocaine reinforcement. Neuroscience 137:373-383

Kim S, Choi KH, Baykiz AF, Gershenfeld HK (2007) Suicide candidate genes associated with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia: An exploratory gene expression profiling analysis of post-mortem prefrontal cortex. BMC Genomics 8:413

Choi KH, Elashoff M, Higgs BW, Song J, Kim S, Sabunciyan S, Diglisic S, Yolken RH, Knable M, Torrey EF and Webster MJ (2008) Putative psychosis genes in the prefrontal cortex: combined analysis of gene expression microarrays. BMC Psychiatry 8:87

Choi KH, Higgs BW, Weis S, Song J, Llenos IC, Dulay JR, Yolken RH, Webster MJ (2009) Effects of typical and atypical antipsychotic drugs on gene expression profiles in the liver of schizophrenia subjects. BMC Psychiatry 9:57

Choi KH, Zepp ME, Higgs, BW, Weickert CS, Webster MJ (2009) Expression profiles of schizophrenia susceptibility genes during human prefrontal cortex development. J. Psychiatry and Neuroscience 34:450

Hamazaki K, Choi KH, Kim HY (2010) Differential phospholipid and fatty acid profiles of the postmortem hippocampus of patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. J. Psychiatric Res. 44:688

Zhang L, Su TP, Choi KH, Webster MJ, Li CT, Chung MY, Chen YS, Bi YM, Chou YH, Barker JL, Barrett JE, Li XX, Li H, Ursano RJ (2010) P11 (S100A10) as a potential biomarker of psychiatric patients at risk of suicide. J Psychiatr Res. 2010 Sep 21. [Epub ahead of print]

Choi KH, Higgs BW, Wendland JR, Song J, McMahon FJ, Webster MJ (2011) Gene expression and genetic variation microarray data implicate PCLO in bipolar disorder. Biological Psychiatry 69:353-9

Choi KH, Edwards, S, Graham, DL, Han, MH, Larson, EB, Whisler, KN, Simmons, D, Rahman, Z, Monteggia, LM, Eisch, AJ, Neve, RL, Nestler, EJ, Self, DW Reinforcement-Related Regulation of AMPA Glutamate Receptor Subunits in the Ventral Tegmental Area Enhances Cocaine Reinforcement. (in revision)



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Contact Information

Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Genetics
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
4301 Jones Bridge Road
Bethesda, Maryland 20814-4799