GIST Opens a New Chapter
in Microbiome–Body–Brain
Research

How the Body Communicates with the Brain

We all experience hunger and satiety, as well as sudden cravings for something sweet or salty. While these may seem like ordinary sensations, they arise from sophisticated signals exchanged between the body and the brain.
The gut is far more than an organ that digests food; it senses the body’s nutritional status and interacts with the gut microbiome.
The brain, in turn, regulates behavior, metabolism, and hormonal responses based on signals from the body. Recent advances in the life sciences have moved beyond viewing the brain as an isolated organ. Moving beyond the study of neurons and neural circuits, research is rapidly expanding to examine how the brain interacts with bodily organs, metabolic states, immune responses, and the microbial environment.

A New Research and Education Framework: The Joint Launch of a Research Center and an Academic Department

The newly established IBS Center for Microbiome–Body–Brain Physiology Research at GIST serves as a hub for advancing this paradigm shift in research.
The center explores how the body detects nutrients and how these signals are translated, through interactions among the gut, brain, and microbiome, into feeding behavior, metabolic homeostasis, and hormonal responses.
Alongside the launch of the center, GIST has also established the Department of Integrative Neuroscience & Physiology. While the research center serves as a hub for basic science research into the interactions among the gut, brain, microbiome, and the body’s physiological systems, the Department of Integrative Neuroscience & Physiology provides an educational foundation for translating the center’s findings into the training of future researchers. Through close collaboration between the research center and the department, GIST plans to build an interdisciplinary education and research system that seeks to achieve a fundamental understanding of major physiological conditions affecting humanity, such as eating disorders, obesity, diabetes, and aging, and to systematically elucidate the mechanisms connecting the brain and bodily organs.
The significance of this launch also lies in GIST’s strategic expansion of its bioscience capabilities and the establishment of a research and educational foundation capable of responding to emerging changes in neuroscience. This direction was also evident at the inauguration ceremony.

GIST Marks the Start of a New Research and Education System for Microbiome- Body-Brain Physiology

On February 26, GIST held a joint ceremony at Oryong Hall to unveil the signboard for the IBS Center for Microbiome–Body–Brain Physiology Research and celebrate the launch of the GIST Department of Integrative Neuroscience & Physiology, formally marking the beginning of a collaborative research and educational framework linking the center and the department.
The event served both to announce the center’s launch within and beyond GIST and to signal the beginning of systematic training for specialists in the field. The ceremony was attended by key figures including IBS Acting Vice President Chae Soon-gi, Korea Brain Research Institute (KBRI) President Suh Pan-ghil, GIST President Lim Ki-chul, GIST Vice President for Research Kim Yong-chul, and Park Ji-yong, Head of the Department of Integrative Neuroscience & Physiology, alongside faculty, staff, and students. The program included introductions to both the center and the new department, followed by a tour of the facilities and a signboard-unveiling ceremony.
The IBS Center for Microbiome–Body–Brain Physiology Research is the third IBS campus research center established at GIST.
Following the previously launched IBS Center for Quantum Conversion Research (Director Kim You-soo) and the IBS Center for Relativistic Laser Science Research (Director Kim Kyung-taec), this expansion into the life sciences gives GIST a more diverse and multidimensional portfolio of basic science research. A key significance of this launch lies in the simultaneous establishment of the research center and the academic department.
Through close collaboration with the center, the Department of Integrative Neuroscience & Physiology aims to build an interdisciplinary education and research framework for achieving a fundamental understanding of major physiological conditions affecting humanity, such as eating disorders, obesity, diabetes, and aging, and for systematically elucidating the mechanisms connecting the brain and bodily organs.
In particular, by offering a curriculum that encompasses life sciences, engineering, medical science, and information science, GIST plans to establish a virtuous cycle in which the center’s basic science discoveries directly contribute to the training of the next generation of researchers.
During the ceremony, GIST President Lim Ki-chul stated, “The IBS Center for Microbiome–Body–Brain Physiology Research and the Department of Integrative Neuroscience & Physiology will serve as leading hubs for next-generation interdisciplinary research and talent development in the life sciences,” adding, “GIST will strategically advance the bioscience sector, one of Korea’s five national game-changing fields, and lead a paradigm shift in the future of neuroscience research.”