Korea VirusResearch Institute

Education and Degrees

• Mar. 1999 - Feb. 2003 Ph. D. in Immunology, Seoul National University. Dissertation: Mechanism of peripheral immune tolerance induced by oral Ag and its application to a murine model of asthma. (Advisor : Dr. Chang-Yuil Kang)
• Mar. 1997 - Feb. 1999 M. S. in Pharmacy/Immunology, Seoul National University. Dissertation: Antigen feeding effects on different phases of the immune response. (Advisor: Dr. Chang-Yuil Kang)
• Mar. 1993 - Feb. 1997 B. Sc. in Pharmacy, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea

Positions and Employment

• Mar. 2026 ~ present Director, Center for Viral Immunology, Korea Virus Research Institute, IBS
• Mar. 2021 ~ present Professor (tenured), College of Pharmacy, Seoul National University
• Mar. 2016 ~ Feb. 2021 Associate professor, College of Pharmacy, Seoul National University
• Mar. 2014 ~ Feb. 2016 Assistant professor, College of Pharmacy, Seoul National University
• Mar. 2014 ~ present Adjunct professor, Institute of Molecular Medicine, The University of Texas-Medical School at Houston, Houston, TX, USA
• Jun. 2010 ~ Feb. 2014 Assistant professor (tenure track), Institute of Molecular Medicine, The University of Texas-Medical School at Houston, Houston, TX, USA
• Dec. 2009 ~ May. 2010 Instructor (faculty), Department of Immunology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA (supervisor: Dr. Chen Dong)
• Feb. 2005 ~ Dec. 2009 Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Immunology, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA (supervisor: Dr. Chen Dong)
• Mar. 2003 ~ Jan. 2005 Research Scientist, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, Seoul National University, South Korea

Honors and Awards

• 2019 Top 100 National Research and Development Achievements, 2019, Ministry of Science and ICT of Korea
• 2018 1st KAI-Genexine Excellence Award, Korean Association of Immunologists, Korea
• 2018 Young Investigator Award, The Pharmaceutical Society of Korea, Korea
• 2014 Herbert Tabor Young Investigator Award, International Cytokine & Interferon Society, Cytokines 2014, Melbourne, Australia
• 2013 Early career junior faculty travel award, American Association of Immunologists, Immunology 2013, Honolulu, Hawaii
• 2010 Awardee, Scientist Development Program (National Center), American Heart Association, USA
• 2010 Seymour and Vivian Milstein Young Investigator Award, International Society for Interferon and Cytokine Research, Chicago, Illinois, USA
• 2009 Best poster award (1st place), Immunology Graduate Program Retreat, The University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, Texas, USA
• 2006 Bioneer award for the outstanding achievement in research, Korean-American Bio-Medical Scientists Symposium, Houston, Texas.
• 2004 Postdoctoral fellowship, Korea Science and Engineering Foundation (KOSEF).
• 1999 Travel award for the annual meeting of the Japanese Society for Immunologist, Kyoto, Japan

Professional Affiliation

• 2019- Editorial Board, Frontiers in Immunology (SCI)
• 2019- Editorial Board, FASEB Journal (SCI)
• 2018- Editorial Board, Molecules & Cells (SCI)
• 2018- Editorial Board, Biomolecules & Therapeutics (SCIE)
• 2014- Editorial Board, Immune Network (SCIE)
• 2012- Editorial Board, PLoS One (SCIE)
• 2018- Member, Korean Society for Molecular and Cellular Biology (KSMCB)
• 2014- Member, Microbiology and immunology section, Pharmaceutical Society of Korea (PSK)
• 2014- Member, Korean Association of Immunologists (KAI)

Publications

Representative Publications as Corresponding Author:

• NRF2 is a spatiotemporal metabolic hub essential for the polyfunctionality of Th2 cells. Choi G, Ju HY, Bok J, Choi J, Shin JW, Oh H, Jeon Y, Kim J, Kim D, Moon H, Lee JE, Keum YS, Kim YM, Kim HY, Park SH, Han MR, Chung Y. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024. 121: e2319994121
• A personalized cancer vaccine that induces synergistic innate and adaptive immune responses. Kuen DS, Hong J, Lee S, Koh CH, Kwak M, Kim B-S, Jung M, Kim Y-J, Cho B-S, Kim B-S, Chung Y. Advanced Materials. 2023. 35: e2303080
• Liver X Receptor Controls Follicular Helper T Cell Differentiation via Repression of TCF-1. Kim J., Lee H., Lee J.-E., G., Chung H., Kim D., Park M.J., Gye Y.S., Shin K.-S., Kang C.-Y., Kwok S.-K., and Chung Y. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2023. 120(9):e2213793120
• Nanovesicle-Mediated Targeted Delivery of Immune Checkpoint Blockades to Potentiate Therapeutic Efficacy and Prevent Side Effects. Jung M, Kang M, Kim BS, Hong J, Kim C, Koh CH, Choi G, Chung Y*, Kim BS*. Advanced Materials. 2022. 34(9):e2106516 (*corresponding author)
• Critical regulation of follicular helper T cell differentiation and function by Gα13 signaling. Kuen DS, Park M., Ryu H., Choi G., Moon YH., Kim JO., Kang KW., Kim SG., and Chung Y. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2021. 118: e2108376118
• [Letter] Defining the role of transforming growth factor β1 in Foxp3+ T regulatory cells. Choi G, Kim BS, Chang JH, Chung Y. Immunity. 2021. 54(3):393-394.
• IL-27 confers a protumorigenic activity of regulatory T cells via CD39. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. Park YJ, Ryu H, Choi G, Kim BS, Hwang ES, Kim HS, Chung Y. 2019. 116(8):3106-3111.
• Atherogenic dyslipidemia promotes autoimmune follicular helper T cell responses via IL-27. Ryu H, Lim H, Choi G, Park YJ, Cho M, Na H, Ahn CW, Kim YC, Kim WU, Lee SH, Chung Y. Nat Immunol. 2018. 19(6):583-593.
• Na H, Lim H, Choi G, Kim BK, Kim SH, Chang YS, Nurieva RI, Dong C, Chang SH, Chung Y. Concomitant Suppression of Th2 and Th17 cell responses in allergic asthma by targeting RORγt. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2018. 141(6), pp. 2061-2073
• Cho M, Lee JE, Lim H, Shin HW, Khalmuratova R, Choi G, Kim HS, Choi WS, Park YJ, Shim I, Kim BS, Kang CY, Kim JO, Tanaka S, Kubo M, Chung Y. Fibrinogen-cleavage products and TLR4 promote the generation of programmed cell death 1 ligand 2(PD-L2)+ dendritic cells in allergic asthma. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2018. 142(2):530-541
• Proatherogenic conditions promote autoimmune T helper 17 cell responses in vivo. Lim H, Kim YU, Sun H, Lee JH, Reynolds JM, Hanabuchi S, Wu H, Teng B, and Chung Y. Immunity. 2014: 40:153
• Chung Y*, Tanaka S, Chu F, Nurieva RI, Martinez GJ, Rawal S, Wang YH, Lim H, Reynolds JM, Zhou XH, Fan HM, Liu ZM, Neelapu SS, Dong C*. Follicular regulatory T cells expressing Foxp3 and Bcl6 suppress germinal center reactions. Nature Medicine. 2011: 17: 983 (* co-corresponding authors)

Major Scientific Accomplishments

• Th17, Tfh and discovery of follicular regulatory T (Tfr) cells
• Cross-talk between lipid metabolism and immune system
• Regulation of allergic T cell responses
• Cancer vaccine and tumour immunology