February 20, 2023
Staff Accomplishment

Jung Lee Joins Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience Editorial Board

Senior data scientist to serve on review team for research in novel ways to gain insight into brain function

Jung Lee

Senior data scientist Jung Lee will serve as review editor for Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience.

(Photo courtesy Jung Lee | Pacific Northwest National Laboratory)

Jung Lee, a data scientist at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), recently accepted the position of review editor for Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience. This continuing editorship comes on the heels of his service as a guest editor for a special issue focused on how microcircuits work in the brain and artificial intelligence (AI).

As a review editor, Lee will contribute more broadly using expertise he gained during his neuroscience research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Dartmouth College, Boston University, and the Allen Institute for Brain Science.

Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience is part of the award-winning Frontiers open science platform and one of only a few journals that focus exclusively on computational neuroscience. The challenging, dynamic field of computational neuroscience uses numerical modeling and analysis to uncover how the brain performs functions such as cognition, perception, decision-making, and learning.

“The brain is the most complex system we’ll ever know,” said Lee. “To model it on a computer, you must use extensive physics and chemistry theories as you manage and interpret an exponentially increasing amount of data. To use physics theory, you have to simplify the system, but we don’t know how. Every detail matters.”

Lee earned a PhD in physics from SUNY Stony Brook University, where he worked with distinguished professor Konstantin K. Likharev. Lee developed learning algorithms and architecture for CMOL CrossNets, a nanoelectronics neuromorphic system seeking to match the speed and complexity of human brain function.

Since joining PNNL in 2020, Lee has conducted AI research to support PNNL’s national security mission. His current research focuses on developing machine learning models and algorithms for safer and more explainable AI. In addition, he sees the potential for the intersection between machine learning and neuroscience to help develop more secure, reliable, and robust AI.

“I would like to develop brain-inspired deep learning systems in the future,” said Jung. “Thus, keeping in touch with the developments of neuroscience would be helpful. That is my motivation in taking this editorship.”

Published: February 20, 2023