Seungwon “Sebastian” Choi, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Neuroscience, and Anesthesiology & Pain Management, has been selected to receive a Klingenstein Fellowship Award in Neuroscience for his study of pathological interactions between cancer and pain circuits.

One of the most prestigious awards for early-career researchers in the field of neuroscience, the fellowship promotes high-risk, and potentially high-reward, projects that may lead to a better understanding of neurological and psychiatric disorders. Klingenstein Neuroscience Fellows for 2025 receive $150,000 per year for three years.

“I am deeply honored to be an award recipient and to join the remarkable community of current and past Klingenstein scholars,” said Dr. Choi, a member of UT Southwestern’s Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center. “I am also grateful for the generous funding that will allow us to explore new frontiers at the intersection of cancer biology and neuroscience.”

Acting as the body’s control center, the nervous system communicates with other body systems to regulate functions such as breathing (respiratory system), gastrointestinal movement (digestive system), and blood flow (cardiovascular system). It also communicates with malignant cells, such as cancer cells.

“One of my lab’s research focuses is to study this interaction between neurons and cancer cells using cancer pain models,” Dr. Choi said. “In this growing field of cancer neuroscience, we aim to understand how cancer shapes the way we feel pain and how pain circuits influence cancer progression. We also seek to identify potential ‘messengers’ that may mediate this vicious communication between cancer and neurons.”

While scientists have studied the connection between brain cells and brain tumor development, the role of the peripheral nervous system – sensory neurons and spinal cord pain circuits – in cancer progression is an emerging area of research.

“This is a new idea, since cancer and pain have traditionally been viewed as separate pathological states. I believe my lab is uniquely positioned to explore this exciting new area using powerful mouse genetic tools and cutting-edge experimental methods,” Dr. Choi said. “I hope our findings will reveal new therapeutic substrates for both pain management and cancer treatment. Since many more cancer patients suffer from cancers in peripheral tissues, such as the lung, breast, stomach, and colon, we hope our research can have a broad impact and lead to novel strategies for treating these cancers.”

Born in South Korea, Dr. Choi received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in biological sciences from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and a Ph.D. in genetics from Harvard University. As a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School, he studied ascending spinal pathways that convey touch and pain signals to the brain. He was brought to UTSW in 2022 with a Recruitment of First-Time, Tenure-Track Faculty Members award from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.

“One of the aspects I appreciated about UT Southwestern was the collaborative and collegial research environment,” he said. “Although I never studied cancer biology during my training, my proposed research will benefit from the strong cancer research expertise and resources at UT Southwestern Medical Center.”