Education and Training:

Seoul National University, BS

Stanford University, PhD

Salk Institute for Biological Studies, Postdoc

Areas of Interest:

Our overarching goal is to understand how proteolytic switches are designed and actuated to induce rapid changes in cell morphology, behavior, and identity. We combine chemical biology, proteomics/genomics, and zebrafish models. We are also interested in the aberrant (de)activation of developmental proteases in aging and age-related diseases. Ultimately, we want to identify a combination of protease inhibitors/activators that can modulate cell fate or cure diseases – i.e., Yamanaka factors in the form of protease-activity modulating chemicals.

Awards and Honors:

2023-25 K01 Mentored Research Scientist Career Development Award, NIH

2021 Travel Award for Frontiers in Myogenesis 2021, Society for Muscle Biology

2021 Career Advancement Award, Salk Institute

2021 Best Proposal Award, Salk Institute

2019 Trainee Showcase Talk Award, Salk Institute

2018-19 Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellowship, AFAR

2014 ChEM-H Seed Grant, Stanford University

2014 Travel Grant for EMBO Chemical Biology 2014, Stanford University

2010-15 Samsung Predoctoral Fellowship, Samsung

2009 KFAS Predoctoral Scholarship, Korea Foundation of Advanced Studies (gratefully declined)

2010 Summa Cum Laude, Seoul National University

2005-10 Presidential Scholarship, President of Korea

2005 Samsung Human-Tech Thesis Prize, Samsung