Seng Kah Ng, Ph.D. Boston MA. Phone: 617-780-4976. Email:marsg78@hotmail.com (NIW approved)

Education: National University of Singapore 2004-2010 Ph.D. in Cellular Biology and Genetics. Thesis Title: An analysis of Woronin body biogenesis in Neurospora crassa. National University of Singapore 1999–2003 B.Sc. (Hons), 2nd class upper Major in Biochemistry and Minor in Biotechnology Award: Dean’s List, Faculty of Science (for undergraduate students in the top 5% of the cohort) Professional Experience: Tufts University, Boston, MA Feb 2012-Present Postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Yongjie Yang, Department of Neuroscience § Research focuses on finding therapeutic cure for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and identification

of astrocyte specific markers in different regions of adult mice brain. § Identified that inhibition of exocytosis specifically in astrocytes is able to delay the onset of ALS. § Identified a drug candidate that increases the survival rate of mice with ALS. St. Jude Children Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 2010-2012 Postdoctoral fellow with Dr. Joseph Opferman, Department of Cell and Molecular Biology § Research focused on identifying the role of mitofilin in mitochondrial morphology and apoptosis. § Generated a conditional mitofilin knock-out mouse. National University of Singapore, Singapore 2004-2010 Graduate student with Dr. Gregory Jedd, Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory § Research studied the function of a novel LEASHIN protein in woronin body organelle biogenesis. § Identified a gigantic novel LEASHIN protein which functions as an organelle tether and is required for the

inheritance of woronin body organelle. § Demonstrated that the novel leashin locus consists of two related adjacent genes (lah-1 and lah-2) in

Neurospora crassa. Skills Research techniques: 1) Tissue culture: mouse embryonic stem cell culture, primary cell lines isolation from astrocyte tissue,

mammalian and yeast cell culture. 2) Imaging: confocal microscopy (include 3D and time-lapse movie), wide field fluorescence microscopy

and transmission electron microscope. 3) Biochemistry, molecular and cellular biology: RNA-sequencing, RNA isolation, real time PCR, siRNA

transfection, northern and southern blot, cell fractionation by density gradient centrifugation, protein purification, SDS- PAGE, western blot analysis, reverse transcriptase-PCR, PCR, molecular cloning and gene deletion/mutagenesis.

Software: python (programming language), Vector NTI, ImageJ, EndNote, Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft word, excel and powerpoint. Languages: English and Mandarin. Leadership and Managerial Experience: § Collaboration with Prof. Philip Haydon (Departmental chair of Neuroscience, Tufts University) and Prof.

Giovanni Manfredi (Brain and Mind Institute, Weill Cornell Medical College). § Member of Career Development Committee for Tufts Post-Doctoral Association.

§ Member of Tufts Biomedical Business Club. § Experience in grant writing. § Present research work at scientific conferences and meetings. § Training, supervising and teaching undergraduate and graduate students. § Organized the ‘7th Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory Symposium’. § Chaired the ‘Yeast and Fungal Biology Symposium’. § Organized ‘Speed Career Networking 2014’ at Tufts University. Presentation and Conferences: 1. 13th Annual ALS Research Symposium, February 2013, Baltimore, USA. 2. Neurosciences, October 2012, New Orleans, USA. 3. Robert Packard Center for ALS Research at Johns Hopkins (Investigators’ Meeting, 27th July 2012). 4. SK Ng, F Liu, J Lai, W Low, G Jedd. A Woronin body tether is associated with evolutionary variation in

organelle positioning. The EMBO meeting, August 2009, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. 5. SK Ng, F Liu, J Lai, G Jedd. A novel protein is associated with organelle inheritance and positioning. 48th

ASCB annual meeting, December 2008, San Francisco, USA. 6. Annual Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory symposium (2004-2009), Singapore, participant and

organizer. 7. Yeast and Fungal Biology Symposium, Singapore, April 2009, session chair. Publications (cited in over 100+ international scientific journals): 1 . SK Ng, Y Yang. Suppression of Adenosine receptor 2a (A2aR)-mediated adenosine signaling

alleviates disease progression in mouse model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. (Under Review in Neurobiology of Disease).

2. H Kawamata, SK Ng, N Diaz, S Burstein, L Morel, A Osgood, B Sider, H Higashimori, P Haydon, G Manfredi, Y Yang. (2014). Abnormal intracellular calcium signal ing and SNARE-dependent exocytosis contributes to SOD1G93A astrocyte-mediated toxicity in ALS. J Neurosci. 34(6): 2331- 2348.

3. L Morel, M Regan, H Higashimori, SK Ng, C Esau, S Vidensky, J Rothstein, Y Yang. (2013). Neuronal exosomal miRNA-dependent translational regulation of astroglial glutamate transporter GLT1. J. Biol. Chem. 288(10): 7105-7116.

4. J Lai, SK Ng, FF Liu, RN Patkar, Y Lu, JR Chan, A Suresh, N Naqvi, G Jedd. (2010). Marker fusion

tagging (MFT): a new method for the construction of chromosomally encoded fusion proteins. Eukaryotic Cell. 9(5): 827-830.

5. SK Ng, F Liu, J Lai, W Low, G Jedd. (2009). A tether required for Woronin body inheritance is

associated with evolutionary variation in organelle positioning. PLoS Genet. 5(6): e1000521. Highlighted by Plamann (2009). Cytoplasmic streaming in Neurospora: disperse the plug to increase the flow? PLoS Genet. 5(6): e1000526.

6. F Liu, SK Ng, Y Lu, W Low, J Lai, G Jedd. (2008). Making two organelles from one: Woronin body biogenesis by peroxisomal protein sorting. J. Cell. Biol. 180(2):325-329.