Mentors

Young Jong Lee received B.S. and M.S. degrees in chemistry from Seoul National University and a Ph.D. in chemistry from the same school in 2001. Following his four-year postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Texas at Austin, he joined the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in 2006 as a research chemist. At NIST, he has been developing label-free chemical imaging technologies utilizing coherent Raman spectroscopy to rapidly capture the structural and molecular information of complex polymeric materials and biological cells and tissues.

Recently, his research has concentrated on innovating spectroscopy methods for measuring absolute molecular quantities using high-sensitivity infrared (IR) absorption. His latest breakthrough in mitigating the strong absorption by water has facilitated the high-sensitivity quantitation of proteins and other biomolecules in drug formulations and live cells. His research interests also extend to 3D orientational imaging of polymers, quantifying and identifying micro(nano)plastics, and accurate kinetics metrology in advanced packaging for CHIPS. With twenty-three years of federal government research experience, Dr. Lee continues to contribute to chemical imaging and metrology. (www.nist.gov/people/young-jong-lee)

Tae Seok Moon is a YouTuber, director of an NSF global center, professor at JCVI, EBRC Council Member, SynBYSS Chair, Moonshot Bio founder, EFB Executive Board Member, and editor of 10 journals, including the New Biotechnology Editor-in-Chief. His 31 funded projects have secured $43.4M since 2012 and resulted in 104 publications, 230 invited talks, 204 contributed presentations, and 10 patents (as of 2/15/2025). His service to SynBYSS provides a weekly forum for >1,000 global audiences. The 417 speakers include a Nobel Laureate, 24 National Academy Members, 42 funders, 20 Editors-in-chief, 11 Nature/Cell journal editors, and 199 rising stars.

Prof. Dong-Hyun Kim is an Associate professor of Radiology and Biomedical Engineering at the Northwestern University. He is the director of Biomaterials for Image Guided MEDicine Lab (BIGMed lab) and the co-director of Molecular and Translational Imaging Core (MTIC) at R.H Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center. He received his B.S. in materials science and engineering and Ph.D. in medical science, Yonsei University. He got postdoc trainings in chemical and biological engineering at University of Alabama and Materials Science Division at Argonne National Laboratory. He and his group's research has focused on image guided medicine using multifunctional therapeutic carrier platforms to treat cancers for 20 years and published over 100 papers on international refereed journals. Dr. Kim is working closely with clinicians, medical scientists, biologist, engineers, and imaging professionals to translate new cancer therapeutic approaches to clinics. He has been working on NIH research projects and published papers focusing on image guided medicine in high impact scientific journals. He recently got awarded 2020 Distinguished Investigator from the Academy for Radiology and Biomedical Imaging Research.

Young L. Kim is a Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Purdue University. He also holds the titles of University Faculty Scholar and Showalter Faculty Scholar at Purdue University. In addition, he is a scientist at CDC. He earned his PhD from Northwestern University and completed postdoctoral training supported by NCI. His research primarily focuses on mobile health, particularly hybrid machine learning for colors and spectral imaging in medical diagnostics using smartphone cameras. In recognition of this work, his project won First Prize in the NIH Technology Accelerator Challenge in 2020. He is currently leading two collaborative projects in Rwanda and Kenya. His lab also conducts research in diverse fields, including metamaterials, cryptographic primitives, and biomedical security. He is the founder and Chief Science Officer of two startups, CryptoMED and HemaChrome.

Dr. Chi Hwan Lee is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and the Leslie A. Geddes Professor at Purdue University. He holds primary appointments in Biomedical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, with courtesy appointments in Materials Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences. Additionally, he serves as an Adjunct Professor in Optometry at Indiana University and Mechanical Engineering at Hanyang University in South Korea. Dr. Lee earned his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University in 2013 and furthered his research as a postdoctoral assistant at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign before joining Purdue University in 2015. His work focuses on developing innovative wearable biomedical devices that address clinical needs with simplicity and effectiveness. Dr. Lee has received numerous accolades, including the NIH Trailblazer Award and Purdue College of Engineering Research and Teaching Awards. His contributions include > 90 journal publications, 7 book chapters, 10 U.S. patents, and > 20 utility patent filings. He has also co-founded four startup companies and led efforts to secure approximately $45 million in research funding.

Dr. Young Charles Jang earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas, his M.S. from the University of Florida, and his B.S. from Korea University. He completed postdoctoral fellowship in stem cell biology and aging at the Harvard University and became a research faculty in the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. He began his independent research career in 2014 as an Assistant Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology and was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2021. Dr. Jang is currently a tenured professor in the Department of Orthopedics, Emory Musculoskeletal Institute, Emory School of Medicine and is also a research scientist at the Atlanta VA Medical Center.

Professor Jang’s research focuses on muscle stem cell biology, particularly the systemic and metabolic regulation of stem cells and their niches. His work aims to develop bioactive stem cell delivery systems for regenerative medicine applications, targeting musculoskeletal aging, neuromuscular diseases, and traumatic injuries. His scholarly contributions have been widely recognized in the field of aging, with over 9,700 citations to his work.

Keun Seok Seo is an Associate Professor at the Mississippi State University. He earned his DVM from Seoul National University and PhD from University of Idaho in 1994 and 2007, respectively. He has over 25 years of research experience in microbiology, specifically in host-pathogen interactions, investigating how bacterial virulence factors modulate host innate and acquired immunity to cause disease. Understanding these mechanisms provides me with fundamental insights to develop preventive and therapeutic measures for significant human and animal pathogens. Currently, my research focuses on developing therapeutics/diagnostics using a multidisciplinary approach. This includes the rational design of novel compounds to enhance antibiotic efficacy, vaccine development with recombinant proteins, metabolic inhibition of virulence, and rapid diagnostics using point-of-care systems in collaboration with medicinal chemists, microbiologists, and biomedical engineers. He has published over 60 journal papers and 4 book chapters, granted 2 U.S. patents and received over $4M in research fundings from the NIH and other stakeholders.

Dohyung Kim is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania. He received his B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Seoul National University in 2012 and a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley in 2018. Before joining Penn Engineering in 2022, he was a postdoctoral scholar at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Stanford University. His research focuses on gaining fundamental insights into electrochemical processes occurring at solid-liquid interfaces and applying such knowledge to various areas of energy, chemicals, materials, and the environment. He is a recipient of the Unilever Award from ACS Colloid and Surface Chemistry, KSEA Young Investigator Award, ACS PRF DNI Award, the Hanwha Non-tenured Faculty Award, Kavli Energy Nanoscience Institute Thesis Prize, and the Gareth Thomas Materials Excellence Award.

Dr.Hyowon Seo is an Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering at the Stony Brook University since 2024. Her research is focused on electrochemical decarbonization engineering. She obtained her BS and MS degrees in Pharmacy at the Seoul National University, South Korea, where she studied synthesis of natural products with Prof. Young-Ger Suh. She earned her PhD in Chemistry in 2019 from MIT, where she studied photoredox activation of CO2 in flow for the synthesis of value-added products with Prof. Timothy Jamison. While there, she received Korean Government Scholarship and Amgen Graduate Fellowship. Before starting at the Stony Brook University, she was a postdoctoral associate in the T. Alan Hatton Group in Chemical Engineering at the MIT. Her current research focuses on the development of electrochemical processes using stimulus-responsive materials to facilitate carbon capture and to convert captured carbon to value-added products.

Inseung Kang is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. His research program focuses on enhancing human mobility using robotics, wearables, and artificial intelligence. His team has a diverse research portfolio, ranging from designing versatile mechatronic systems to developing generalizable deep learning-based controllers. Before joining Carnegie Mellon University, Kang was a postdoctoral associate at the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech.

Dr. Su Chin Heo is an Assistant Professor in Orthopaedic Surgery and Bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) and the Project Director of the Penn Achilles Tendinopathy Center of Research Translation (PAT-CORT). He earned his Ph.D. in Bioengineering from UPenn and continued his training as a postdoctoral fellow and Research Associate in Orthopaedic Surgery at UPenn before joining the faculty in 2019. His lab advances nuclear mechanobiology, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine to develop novel therapeutic strategies for musculoskeletal repair, with the goal of enhancing healing and functional recovery in orthopedic conditions. By leveraging advanced imaging and biomaterial-based approaches, he investigates how mechanical forces and extracellular matrix properties influence cellular behavior and fate at the single-cell level. His work not only deepens our understanding of mechanobiology but also contributes to the development of biomimetic scaffolds and bioactive materials to promote tissue repair and regeneration. Dr. Heo has been recognized for his contributions with awards including the 2020 NIH K01 Award, the 2024 KBMES Young Innovator Award, and several NIH grants as a Principal Investigator.

Dr. Seungil Kim is an Assistant Professor in Biomedical Engineering at Mississippi State University. Dr. Kim has had a specialty in biomedical polymer engineering for over 10 years from his research journey at the University of Pittsburgh, University Manitoba, and Sungkyunkwan University. He has an interest in the Structure-Property-Function Relationship of Biomaterials in Medicine. His current research focuses on; 1) Design, synthesis, modification, and processing of sustainable-, biocompatible- and stimuli-responsive polymers, 2) Bioresorbable embolization systems for treatment of cardio- and neurovascular diseases, and) Topical smart delivery systems. Dr. Kim has diverse hobbies including road trips, hiking, fishing, movies, and video games. He talks straight and introverted. He hopes he can be helpful for the next generation of researchers.

Dr. Myungwoon Lee is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Drexel University. She earned her Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from MIT in 2018 and subsequently completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Her research focuses on elucidating the molecular mechanisms of neurodegenerative protein aggregation and its role in disease progression. She employs solid-state NMR and cryo-EM to investigate the structural and biophysical principles underlying protein misfolding in neurodegenerative diseases.

Dr. Yeo is the Harris Saunders Jr. Endowed Professor in the Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering and Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering, and the Director of three centers at Georgia Tech, including NSF Sustainable Development of Medical Devices (NSF SUSMED), Wearable Intelligent Systems and Healthcare Center (WISH Center) and KIAT-Georgia Tech Semiconductor Electronics Center (K-GTSEC). Dr. Yeo’s research focuses on understanding the fundamentals of soft materials, deformable mechanics, interfacial physics, manufacturing, and hard-soft material integration for developing biomedical systems. Dr. Yeo received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at the University of Washington, Seattle. Afterward, he was a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Yeo has published over 170 peer-reviewed articles, including many in top-quality journals, including Nature Materials, Nature Machine Intelligence, Nature Communications, and Science Advances. In addition, Dr. Yeo is a recipient of several awards, including the Peterson Award in Pediatric Technology, NIH Trailblazer Young Investigator Award, IEEE Outstanding Engineer Award, Emory School of Medicine Research Award, Imlay Innovation Award, Lucy G. Moses Lectureship Award, Sensors Young Investigator Award, American Heart Association Innovative Project Award, and Outstanding Yonsei Scholar Award. Dr. Yeo founded two startup companies, Huxley Medical, Inc. and WisMedical, Inc.

Dr. Woo Hyoung Lee is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando, FL, USA. He received his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from The University of Cincinnati, USA in 2009. Before joining UCF, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the National Risk Management Research Laboratory (NRMLR) at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). To date, his professional work and research have encompassed the development and use of electrochemical sensors for water quality monitoring, greywater reuse, bioenergy production from wastes, and smart water and wastewater treatment using environmental nanotechnology and biotechnology. Dr. Lee has been an Office of Naval Research (ONR) summer faculty at the Naval Surface Warfare Center–Carderock Division (NSWCCD) for 7 years. He is a registered professional engineer (P.E.). He currently serves as a member of the U.S. EPA’s Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC) Social and Community Science Subcommittee.

Dr. Sungwon Shin is a Professor in the departments of Marine Science & Convergence Engineering and Military Information Engineering at Hanyang University ERICA, Korea. He earned his Ph.D. in Civil and Construction Engineering from Oregon State University. Following his doctorate, Dr. Shin continued his research at the Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory at Oregon State University, where he served as a Faculty Research Associate for five years before returning to Korea. His research interests encompass coastal hazard mitigation, coastal and harbor structures, and marine renewable energy. Currently, Dr. Shin holds the position of Vice President for Academic Affairs at Hanyang University ERICA.