KAIST BRAIN RePAIR LAB

Finding New Keys to the Deadlock of Human Brain Disorders

One Goal

The KAIST BRAIN RePAIR Lab is a team of researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) dedicated to making brain diseases more curable than yesterday. The primary aspiration of this endeavor is to foster a more profound understanding of the molecular and cellular origins of Neuro-Degenerative, -Psychological & -Developmental diseases & disorders, thereby enabling a more strategic approach to the innovation of new therapeutic intervention.

Two Sides of 'One-Size-Fits-All' Approach

The most common therapeutics in neurodegenerative diseases, such as Dopamine Agonists and Levodopa, follow a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. This approach applies the same treatment regimen to all patients with a particular condition, regardless of individual differences. While this method simplifies the treatment process, making it easier to standardise care and ensure consistency across different healthcare providers, it often fails to account for the unique characteristics and needs of individual patients. As a result, this can lead to less effective disease management and an increased risk of adverse effects, highlighting the need for personalised medicine.

Three Challenges

Our mid-term objective is to develop a bespoke therapeutic platform that addresses three major challenges associated with human brain diseases.

The distinctive complexity inherent in the human brain
The clinical variability presented on an individual level
The predominantly unknown etiological factors of the human brain diseases

[BBC] Animal brains vs. human brains - let the Battle of the Brains commence!

[The Lancet] Report finds no common cause for mystery brain disease.

[WHO] There is no cure for Parkinson's disease, but therapies including medicines, surgery and rehabilitation can reduce symptoms. — [WHO] There is no cure for Parkinson’s disease, but therapies including medicines, surgery and rehabilitation can reduce symptoms.

Four Powerful Keys

Our therapeutic platform is underpinned by four pivotal technological advances.



Patient-induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)		, facilitating the implementation of the ‘Disease in a dish’ model. This approach is instrumental in profiling an individual’s brain cells and elucidating the specific mechanisms driving their disease.


Brain organoid		, often described as “Mini-brain”, a powerful tool in neuroscience, offering a unique window into the human brain’s complexities, diseases, and potential treatments.


	High-resolution live cell imaging	, a technique used in cell biology to study living cells using time-lapse microscopy. This technology allows scientists to observe the dynamic processes and behavior of cells in real-time, providing valuable insights into cellular function, morphology, and interactions.


	Artificial intelligence (AI)	, harnessed to discern and comprehend the heterogeneity of these diseases, thereby contributing to the development of a predictive model individualized for each patient.

Five-fold Enhancement in Human Brain Repairability

A Recent Breakthrough : AI-based Prediction of Disease State and Cellular Subtypes in Parkinson’s Disease (PD)

The workflow of our classifier predicting cellular subtypes in Parkinson's Disease (PD) — The workflow of our classifier predicting cellular subtypes in Parkinson’s Disease (PD)

Our classifier, trained on cell profiles of key organelles, predicts disease states with an accuracy of 82%.