CNNL

Dr. Byeongwook Lee is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at KAIST and Director of the Computational and Network Neuroscience Laboratory. His research seeks to uncover the organizational principles and emergent dynamics of brain networks across the lifespan using computational modeling, multimodal neuroimaging, and artificial intelligence.

Dr. Lee earned his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from KAIST and completed his integrated M.S. and Ph.D. in Bio and Brain Engineering at KAIST. His doctoral research focused on systems-level principles underlying complex brain networks, where he applied mathematical and computational modeling to uncover hidden organizational architectures of the connectome.

He then pursued postdoctoral training at Stanford University in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences under the mentorship of Dr. Vinod Menon. During this period, he developed novel computational frameworks to model whole-brain causal dynamics and latent brain state transitions in humans. His work revealed how dynamic circuit mechanisms underlie cognitive flexibility in aging, dopaminergic modulation in Parkinson’s disease, and network disruptions across stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

In parallel, Dr. Lee expanded his research into animal models, integrating optogenetic-fMRI, fiber photometry, and computational modeling to investigate the neuronal dynamics of the Default Mode Network and Salience Network in rodents. This work uncovered previously unknown circuit-level mechanisms and established translational bridges between human neuroimaging and cellular-level manipulation.

Dr. Lee’s research has been published in leading journals including Nature Communications, Science Advances, PNAS, Brain, Cell Reports, and Progress in Neurobiology. He has received multiple honors, including the Alzheimer’s Association Research Fellowship, the Best Doctoral Dissertation Award at KAIST, the Qualcomm Innovation Award, and national research fellowships.

Building on this foundation, Dr. Lee’s laboratory now focuses on understanding multiscale brain resilience mechanisms across development and aging. By integrating structural connectivity, functional dynamics, and genetic, molecular, and environmental factors within unified computational frameworks, his research aims to explain why individual brain trajectories diverge over the lifespan — and how neural robustness and vulnerability emerge from complex network interactions.