Dr. Jing-Qiong (Katty) Kang is an associate professor of Neurology, Pharmacology and a faculty member of Vanderbilt brain Institute and Vanderbilt Kennedy Center of Human Development. Dr. Kang’s long standing research interest is to understand the pathophysiology of GABAA receptor mutation and GABA transporter 1/SLC6A1 mutation mediated epilepsy and other neurodevelopmental disorders. The goal of her lab is to develop the most effective treatment options if not a cure for children suffering from these disorders. Dr. Kang’s work has focused on understanding the role of protein trafficking inside endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and the channel or transporter function in mediating these mutation mediated disorders. Her lab work has first demonstrated that 4-phenylbutyrate can restore GABA uptake in human patient derived cells and reduce seizures in the mutation knockin mice for SLC6A1 mutations. The work has prompted an ongoing clinical trial (NCT04937062) for SLC6A1 mutations. The ongoing work in her lab is to further understand the role of ER proteostasis in epilepsy and identify more treatment options.
Dr. Kang has a long-standing commitment to patient care and developing treatment options for patients suffering from the genetic mutations, especially for mutations in GABAA receptors and GABA transporters. The research work in her lab involves using human patient derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and mutation knockin mouse models in addition to evaluation of large libraries of patient variants in HEK293T cells. The therapeutic approaches tested in those preclinical cell and mouse models include small molecules, ASOs, gene therapy etc. Her lab has partnered with several patient advocacy groups such as SLC6A1 Connect, CURE GABA variants, MED13L foundation and CombinedBrain.
Dr. Kang is devoted to training next generation of physicians and scientists who are passionate on helping patients. Her lab work has inspired many students at various levels ranging from high schoolers, undergraduate students, graduate students to postdoc fellows who have embarked on the journey to serving patients in different ways. She emphasizes personal well-being, community-building and mind nourishing in addition to pursuing science in her lab.