Biography
Dr. Jacque Pak Kan IP obtained his B.Sc. in Biochemistry from the University of Sydney with first class honours and university medal, and then received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Dr. Ip received further post-doctoral training at the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Ip has devoted his research to investigate the mechanisms of locally coordinated and feedback plasticity in rodent visual cortex, and examine how such mechanistic defects contributes to neurological disorder through the use of multidisciplinary approaches. His long-term goal is to apply multidisciplinary neurotechnology to probe brain function in health and disease. His work has been published in peer-reviewed journals including Science, Nature Neuroscience, Nature Review Neuroscience, Molecular Psychiatry, and the Journal of Neuroscience. He received a number of awards including the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) Rita Levi-Montalcini Research fellowship, Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) Long-Term fellowship, and Hong Kong Research Grant Council Early Career Award. Dr. Ip also plays active roles in several organizations including The Asian Pacific Society for Neurochemistry (APSN), IBRO and ALBA Network to promote trainee development as well as diversity in neuroscience.
Jacque IP
Assistant Professor, School of Biomedical Sciences
Research Interests
- Circular RNAs in synaptic plasticity
- Functional and molecular dissection of CDKL5 Deficiency
- Corticohippocampal circuit in spatial learning and memory
Awards
- Awardee, Strategic Partnership Award for Research Collaboration, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2023.
- Awardee, Early Career Award, Hong Kong Research Grant Council, 2020.
- Awardee, Faculty Innovation Award, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2020.
- Awardee, NARSAD Young Investigator Grant Award, Brain & Behavior Research
Selected publications
- Circular RNA circHomer1 mediates hippocampal functions via ribonucleoprotein granule transport and dendritic targeting of synaptic RNAs.
Cai, Y., Zheng, Z., Xu, H., Zhu, Y., Zepeda, J.C., Grueter, B.A., Wang, X., Ku, T., Duan, Y., Tsang, H.W.S., Fu, W.Y., Fu, A.K.Y, Mellios, N., Wong, H.H.W., Lai, K.O., Ip, J.P.#
Science Advances. 2026; 12:eads7509 - The noncoding circular RNA circHomer1 regulates synaptic development and experience-dependent plasticity in the mouse visual cortex.
Jenks, K.R., Cai, Y., Nayan, M.E., Tsimring, K., Li, K., Zepeda, J.C., Heller, G.R., Delepine, C., Shih, J., Yuan, S., Zhu, Y., Wang, Y., Duan, Y., Fu, A.K.Y., Ku, T., Yun, D.H., Chung, K., Zhang, C., Boyden, E.S., Mellios, N., Sur, M., Ip, J.P.#
iScience. 2025; 28:9 - Base editing restores CDKL5 expression and rescues neuronal deficits in a patient-derived model of CDKL5 deficiency disorder.
Chai, Y., Zhu, Y., Zhu, J., Guan, M., Zheng, Z., Chen, Y., Tsang, H.W.S., Ye, T., Ip, J.P.#
Scientific Reports. 2026 - nELAVL phosphorylation by CDKL5 regulates inter-condensates composition and communication to promote experience-dependent maturation of the visual cortex.
Yuan, S., Zhu, Y., Zheng, Z., Yip, H.M., Chan, M.S.W., Zhang, Z., Chai, Y., Jenks, K.R., Tsimring, K., Heller, G.R., Zepeda, J.C., Celotto, M., Hung, H.K., Duan, Y., Lau, S.-F., Ho, C.W.Y., Tsang, H.W.S., Fu, A.K.Y., Lai, H.M., Kwok, A.J., Ko, H., Gu, C., Ng, B.W.-L., Liao, J., Fung, S.H., Cao, Q., Tsui, S.K.-W., Ku, T., Tan, L., Colarusso, A., Lasker, K., Wan, Y., Zhu, J., Ip, J.P.#
bioRxiv. deposited on April 4, 2026 - Non-canonical C-terminal variant of MeCP2 R344W exhibits enhanced degradation rate.
Chai, Y., Lee, S.S.Y., Shillington, A., Du, X., Fok, C.K.M., Yeung, K.C., Siu, G.K.Y., Yuan, S., Zheng, Z., Tsang, H.W.S., Gu, S., Chen, Y., Ye, T., Ip, J.P.#
IBRO Neuroscience Reports. 2023 Apr 24;3(5):100462 - Effective and Efficient Neural Networks for Spike Inference from In Vivo Calcium Imaging.
Zhou, Z., Yip, H.M., Tsimring, K., Sur, M., Ip, J.P.#, Chung, T.#
Cell Reports Methods. 2023 Apr 24;3(5):100462 - Locally coordinated synaptic plasticity shapes cell-wide plasticity of visual cortex neurons in vivo.
El-Boustani, S.*, Ip, J.P.*, Breton-Provencher, V., Knott, G., Okuno, H., Bito, H., Sur, M.
Science. 2018; 360(6395):1349-1354 - Rett syndrome: insights into genetic, molecular and circuit mechanisms.
Ip, J.P., Mellios, N., Sur, M.
Nature Reviews Neuroscience. 2018 Jun; 19(6):368-382 - MeCP2-regulated miRNAs control early human neurogenesis through differential effects on ERK and AKT signaling.
Mellios, N.*, Feldman, D.*, Sheridan, S.D.*, Ip, J.P.*, Kwok, S., Amoah, S.K., Rosen, B., Rodriguez, B.A., Crawford, B., Swaminathan, R., Chou, S., Li, L., Ziats, M., Ernst, C., Jaenisch, R., Haggarty, S., Sur, M.
Molecular Psychiatry. 2018 Apr; 23(4):1051-1065 - α2-chimaerin controls neuronal migration and functioning of cerebral cortex through CRMP-2.
Ip, J.P.*, Shi, L., Chen, Y., Itoh, Y., Fu, A.W., Betz, A., Yung, W.H., Gotoh, Y., Fu, A.K., Ip, N.Y.
Nature Neuroscience. 2012; 15:39–47
