So Yoen was born and lived in South Korea. She received the Master’s and PhD degree from Korea University. During her graduate studies, she worked with Dr. Woong Sun on the regulation of mitochondrial dynamics and its effects on motor neuronal cell death during development and in Amytorphic lateral sclerosis (ALS). As postdoc associate, she joined Dr. Fen-Biao Gao’s lab at University of Massachusetts Medical school and studied how poly (GR) a dipeptide protein generate by C9ORF72 repeat expansion induces mitochondrial dysfunction in mouse model expressing poly (GR). In Dr. Chiu’s Lab, So Yoen will study the association of central nervous system with the immune system and microbes in inflammation in ALS mouse models. During her free time, she likes to watch movies and take a walk with her parrot (Soonsimi).