Research Interests
Keywords: Hi-C, Chromatin architecture, Neuropsychiatric disorders, Substance use disorder, Functional Genomics, Massively parallel reporter assay
We try to bridge the gap between genetic risk factors for psychiatric illnesses and neurobiological mechanisms by decoding the regulatory relationships of the non-coding genome. In particular, we implement Hi-C, a genome-wide chromosome conformation capture technique, to identify the folding principle of the genome in human brain. We then leverage this information to identify the functional impacts of the common variants associated with neuropsychiatric disorders.
Mentor Training:
- Bias 101
Training Program Affiliations:
- Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
- Genetics and Molecular Biology
- Neuroscience
- Pharmacology
Publications
Hyejung Won in UNC Genetics News

May 9, 2022
Department of Genetics Publications April 24th – May 7th, 2022
Department of Genetics faculty, postdocs, students and collaborators published 14 papers during April 24th – May 7th, 2022.

April 25, 2022
Department of Genetics Publications April 10th – 23rd, 2022
Department of Genetics faculty, postdocs, students and collaborators published 18 papers during April 10th – 23rd, 2022.

November 1, 2021
Highlighted Faculty: Hyejung Won, PhD, Assistant Professor
Dr. Hyejung Won was recruited to the Department of Genetics and the Neuroscience Center at UNC Chapel Hill in 2018. Her up-and-coming research program integrates innovative genomic approaches with basic neurobiology to develop a systematic understanding of psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders. Dr. Won’s scientific career began at KAIST in Daejeon, South Korea where she earned …

October 18, 2021
Department of Genetics Publications October 3rd – 16th 2021
Department of Genetics faculty, postdocs, students and collaborators published 11 papers during October 3rd – 16th 2021.

September 20, 2021
Department of Genetics Publications September 5th – 18th 2021
Department of Genetics faculty, postdocs, students and collaborators published 7 papers during September 5th – 18th 2021.

September 9, 2021
Won, Mohlke, Love awarded UM1 as part of the new IGVF consortium at NHGRI
Hyejung Won (PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Genetics, Neuroscience Center), Karen Mohlke (PhD, Professor, Department of Genetics), and Mike Love (PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Biostatistics, Department of Genetics), were awarded a 5-year $9.25 million UM1 grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) titled “Systematic in vivo characterization of disease-associated regulatory variants”. The …

August 9, 2021
Department of Genetics Publications for July 25th – August 7th 2021
Department of Genetics faculty, postdocs, students and collaborators published 12 papers during July 25th – August 7th 2021.

July 30, 2021
Jason Stein, PhD and Hyejung Won, PhD Awarded U01 Grant from NIMH
Drs. Jason Stein (Assistant Professor) and Hyejung Won (Assistant Professor) have been awarded an U01 grant from the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) for their project titled “Discovery and validation of genetic variation impacting the gene regulatory landscape during human cortical development”.

July 24, 2021
Department of Genetics Publications for July 11th – July 24th, 2021
Department of Genetics faculty, postdocs, students and collaborators published 12 papers during July 11th - July 24th, 2021.

July 22, 2021
Nancy Sey, Graduate Student in Hyejung Won’s Lab, Named HHMI Gilliam Fellow
We are excited to announce that Nancy Sey, who works in Dr. Hyejung Won’s lab and is co-mentored by Dr. Joyce Besheer, was selected as a 2021 HHMI Gilliam Fellow.