Seo Ho Michael Song

Dr. Seo Ho (Michael) Song

Hello there! My name is Seo Ho (Michael) Song. Most people call me Michael. I was born in Seoul, Republic of Korea. My father’s international banking career allowed me to spend my childhood in Hong Kong and Ireland before my family settled in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada – my current hometown.

I attended Dalhousie University, where I first fell in love with the brain. I followed this passion further – across the Atlantic – to the University of Oxford. Here, I found my first calling to answer why we sleep. I don’t have an answer yet, but I hope to find an answer during my career (If you see me nodding off during lectures, I am…experimenting). By researching why we sleep, I hope to innovate ways to improve our sleep quality. This, I am sure, will help us live our lives to the fullest and function at our highest mental and physical capacity.

I pursued medical school at the Geisel of Medicine at Dartmouth College with the hope of realizing my goals in translational research to bring my research to the forefront of clinical care. I am ecstatic to continue this journey at the Center for Sleep and Cognition alongside so much diverse talent and compassion!

Outside science and medicine, I am an avid coffee brewer (fate, it seems, is not without a sense of irony) and an aficionado of history, mythology, and Tolkienology. I am a former rower, and I hope to pick up rowing again on the Charles. At present, I am an avid runner and swimmer. I am so excited and honored to become a part of the Center for Sleep and Cognition!

Education

  • Dalhousie University (BSc)

  • University of Oxford (MSc, DPhil)

  • Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College (MBA)

  • Geisel School of Medicine, Dartmouth College (MD)

Publications

  • Terhune DB*, Song SM*, Cohen Kadosh R. (2015) Transcranial alternating current stimulation reveals atypical 40 Hz phosphene thresholds in synaesthesia. Cortex, 63:267-270. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2014.09.006 *Co-first authorship PDF

  • Pimentel D, Donlea JM, Talbot CB, Song SM, Thurston AJF, Miesenböck G. Operation of a homeostatic sleep switch. Nature. 2016;536(7616):333-337. doi:10.1038/nature19055 PDF

  • Kempf A*, Song SM&, Talbot CB, Miesenböck G. A potassium channel β-subunit couples mitochondrial electron transport to sleep. Nature. 2019;568(7751):230-234. doi:10.1038/s41586-019-1034-5 *Co-first authorship PDF

  • Caffrey D, Finn CT, Song SM, Burton F, Arsan C. Stiff-Person Syndrome and Psychiatric Comorbidities: A Systematic Review. J Acad Consult Liaison Psychiatry. 2021;62(1):3-13. doi:10.1016/j.psym.2020.08.005 PDF

  • Nguyen M, Song SH, Ferritto A, Ata A, Mason HRC. Demographic Factors and Academic Outcomes Associated With Taking a Leave of Absence From Medical School. JAMA Netw Open. 2021;4(1):e2033570. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.33570 PDF

Media References & Appearances

Affiliations & Credentials

  • Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Harvard Psychiatry Residency Program Research Track

Awards & Honors

  • 2021 | Dorfman Journal Paper Award for Best Review Article: awarded by Academy of Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry

  • 2013 - 2016 | Commonwealth Scholarship

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