Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Hovy Wong @hovywong.bsky.social · 20d

We'll be hosting Prof. Simon Chen @schenlabottawa.bsky.social
from UOttawa at The Chinese Uni. of Hong Kong. He'll share with us his fascinating work on inhibitory neuron in motor learning. Please come & join us, all are welcome!
📅 23 Sep 2025 (Tue)
⏰ 16:00–17:30
🚏Room 211, C. W. Chu College, CUHK

Hovy Wong @hovywong.bsky.social · Aug 7

These lovely neurons made it to the journal cover!
www.nature.com/nprot/volume...
With @alannawatt.bsky.social and @pjsjostrom.bsky.social in @natprot.nature.com.

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Hovy Wong @hovywong.bsky.social · Jun 25

Thank you Cahir!

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Hovy Wong @hovywong.bsky.social · Jun 24

Delighted to share that I'm awarded the @ibroorg.bsky.social (IBRO) Rising Stars Award 2025! Look forward to bridging Asia-Pacific and international neuroscience, with the common goals of demystifying the brain & targeting brain disorders! 🧠

Thank you IBRO for the recognition and all my colleagues!

CUHK Gerald Choa Neuroscience Institute @cuhk-gcni.bsky.social · Jun 24

🎉 CUHK Neuroscientist Wins IBRO Rising Stars Award 2025!

Prof. Hovy Wong @hovywong.bsky.social received the Rising Stars Award 2025 from the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) — making history as the first recipient in the Greater China Area! 👏

gcni.cuhk.edu.hk/cuhk-neurosc...

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Hovy Wong @hovywong.bsky.social · May 26

Now out in @elife.bsky.social with an excellent Insight preview commentry by Ikuko Smith! Enjoy🙂
Commentary: elifesciences.org/articles/107...
Article: elifesciences.org/reviewed-pre...

Hovy Wong @hovywong.bsky.social · Feb 18

"Long-Term Depression (LTD)" weakens the strength of brain connections and is a cellular mechanism involved in memory removal. In our new preprint, we found that the "memory receptor" (NMDAR) signals through the JNK2/STX1a pathway to mediate LTD!

Check out our paper: t.co/84pP49WvfZ
(1/4)

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Hovy Wong @hovywong.bsky.social · May 13

The Handbook of Ephys is out!! Thanks to the editors!
doi.org/10.1142/14331

"How to Patch a Cell"- we provide a quick-start guide for people who are fresh to whole-cell patching.

"Multiple Whole-Cell Recordings"- we go into details of obtaining quality recordings of dual- to 4-cell patch.

Enjoy!😃

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Hovy Wong @hovywong.bsky.social · Apr 7

We still have open Research Assistant positions in the lab! If you are interested, please get in touch.

Hovy Wong @hovywong.bsky.social · Feb 4

My lab at CUHK (QS: 36th) is hiring!
We are looking for motivated Research Assistants, PhD students (urgent🚨) and Postdocs who love solving problems. To understand the mysterious brain, we use a range of fun techniques. Please spread the word and get in touch if you are interested!

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Hovy Wong @hovywong.bsky.social · Feb 18

This work was spearheaded by my talented fellow postdoc colleague, Aurore Thomazeau, and led by @pjsjostrom.bsky.social!
(4/4)

Hovy Wong @hovywong.bsky.social · Feb 18

3) These provide unique opportunities for targeting the signaling pathway in pathological conditions with altered LTD
(3/4)

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Hovy Wong @hovywong.bsky.social · Feb 18

This is special because:
1) It doesn't require the typical function of the memory receptor to pass ions into the brain cells
2) This happens in the "speaker neuron", rather than in the "listener neuron" where the memory receptor is traditionally thought to reside
(2/4)

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Hovy Wong @hovywong.bsky.social · Feb 18

"Long-Term Depression (LTD)" weakens the strength of brain connections and is a cellular mechanism involved in memory removal. In our new preprint, we found that the "memory receptor" (NMDAR) signals through the JNK2/STX1a pathway to mediate LTD!

Check out our paper: t.co/84pP49WvfZ
(1/4)

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Hovy Wong @hovywong.bsky.social · Feb 11

We thank our handling editor @rosyf.bsky.social and reviewers, who have been extremely helpful in improving the paper!

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Hovy Wong @hovywong.bsky.social · Feb 11

This method was key to uncovering the role of local axonal protein synthesis in information processing (doi.org/10.1016/j.ne...). It provides a tool to uncover other underexplored compartmentalized signaling in the brain and will offer us fresh info on disease targeting. (3/3)

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Hovy Wong @hovywong.bsky.social · Feb 11

Traditionally, it's been hard to survey the "speaker neuron" and so the listener neuron is often thought to be primary determiner. Here, we present a strategy. Using a femtosecond laser as an optical knife, microsurgery with µm precision can be performed to pinpoint the axonal contribution. (2/3)

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Hovy Wong @hovywong.bsky.social · Feb 11

Our latest paper (@alannawatt.bsky.social & @pjsjostrom.bsky.social) is out in Nature Protocols! (rdcu.be/d9f3v)

When a conversation goes wrong, do we always blame the listener? But then when a brain connection goes wrong, doesn't it seem unfair to always blame the "listener" neuron? (1/3)

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Hovy Wong @hovywong.bsky.social · Feb 4

RA ad: cuhk.taleo.net/careersectio...

Postdoc ad: cuhk.taleo.net/careersectio...

Hovy Wong @hovywong.bsky.social · Feb 4

We play with lasers and optics, we record electrical signals and image subcellular processes in living neurons, we do omics analysis to understand comprehensive molecular landscapes, and we develop cutting-edge technologies to push the field!

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Hovy Wong @hovywong.bsky.social · Feb 4

My lab at CUHK (QS: 36th) is hiring!
We are looking for motivated Research Assistants, PhD students (urgent🚨) and Postdocs who love solving problems. To understand the mysterious brain, we use a range of fun techniques. Please spread the word and get in touch if you are interested!

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Hovy Wong @hovywong.bsky.social · Jan 9

Thank you Srikanth!

Hovy Wong @hovywong.bsky.social · Jan 8

Will miss my postdoc lab and awesome lab mates loads, Montreal & @mcgill.ca will always have a special place in my heart! Also sad to be leaving the amazing @canacn.bsky.social neuroscience community, but will hopefully be welcomed back to attend the fun CAN meetings 😃

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Hovy Wong @hovywong.bsky.social · Jan 8

Can't ever thank my mentors enough, esp. Nancy Ip, Christine Holt & @pjsjostrom.bsky.social. Plus many unofficial ones like Bill Harris, @alannawatt.bsky.social & Keith Murai. I've learnt so much from the wisdom in their science perspectives, and how important kindness is in mentoring & research.

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Hovy Wong @hovywong.bsky.social · Jan 8

Excited to share that I'll be starting my own lab at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (www.cuhk.edu.hk).
What a journey! 🇭🇰 -> 🇬🇧 -> 🇭🇰 -> 🇬🇧 -> 🇨🇦 -> 🇭🇰

Will recruit keen RAs, students & postdocs to do fun 🧠science tgt, involving lots of lasers, electrophysiology & imaging methods. Ads coming soon!

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

www.cuhk.edu.hk

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Hovy Wong @hovywong.bsky.social · Jan 6

Stunning!

Reposted by Hovy Wong

Jesper Sjöström @pjsjostrom.bsky.social · Jan 6

We recently launched a new Frontiers Research Topic called "The Diversity of the Plasticitome", please check it out! By 'we', I mean myself, Christina Chou, Hyungju Park, Serena Dudek, and Clive Bramham. www.frontiersin.org/research-top...

Frontiers | The diversity of the plasticitome

The plasticity of synaptic connections is critical to the functioning of local circuits as it is thought to underlie information processing and storage in th...

www.frontiersin.org

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Hovy Wong @hovywong.bsky.social · Dec 19

Thanks buddy!

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