Cheon Jinwoo | |
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Born | 1962 |
Nationality | South Korean |
Alma mater | Yonsei University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign |
Known for | Nanoscience and nanomedicine |
Awards | 2010 Inchon Award (Inchon Memorial Foundation) 2012 Korea's 100 Most Influential Person for Next 10 Years (DongA Daily News) ContentsHo-Am Prize in Science (Ho-Am Foundation) |
Scientific career | |
Fields | Inorganic chemistry, materials chemistry, nanoscience, nanocrystals |
Institutions | Yonsei University, Institute for Basic Science, Center for Nanomedicine |
Theses | |
Doctoral advisors | Gregory S. Girolami |
Korean name | |
Hangul | 천진우 |
Revised Romanization | Cheon Jinu |
McCune–Reischauer | Ch'ŏn Chinu |
Website | cheongroup |
Cheon Jinwoo is the H.G. Underwood Professor at Yonsei University [1] and the Founding Director of the Center for Nanomedicine, Institute for Basic Science (IBS). As a leading chemist in inorganic materials chemistry [2] and nanomedicine [3] Cheon and his research group mainly focus on developing chemical principles for synthesizing complex inorganic materials and nanoprobes/actuators used in imaging and controlling of cellular functions within the deep tissue in living systems.
Throughout his career, he has received numerous prestigious awards, including Inchon Prize (2010), ChungAm Prize (2012), Ho-Am Prize (2015), Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researcher in the field of chemistry (2014, 2015, 2016) and cross-field (2018). [4] He is a fellow of the American Chemical Society, Royal Society of Chemistry, and Korean Academy of Science and Technology. In addition to his research, he serves as a senior editor of Accounts of Chemical Research [5] and an editorial advisory board member of several leading journals, including Journal of Materials Chemistry , Nano Letters , [6] Materials Horizons , [7] Chemical & Engineering News and Journal of the American Chemical Society . [8]
Cheon began his academic journey at Yonsei University in 1981, where he majored in chemistry. He earned both his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in 1985 and 1987 at Yonsei University, respectively. In 1993, under the guidance of Professor Gregory S. Girolami, he received his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Following his doctoral studies, he continued his research as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California Berkeley. For the next three years, he was a staff research associate at UC, Los Angeles (UCLA) before returning to South Korea to work as an assistant and then associate professor at KAIST. His research at KAIST focused on geometrical shape control of nanoparticles [9] and magnetic particles. [10] [11] This also marked his first publication on nanocrystals [12] which is a reoccurring interest in his research career and a source of multiple highly cited articles. [13] [14] [15] [16]
He started working at Yonsei University as a full professor in 2002 and later became the Horace G. Underwood Professor in 2008. [17] From 2010 to 2016, Cheon was the director of the National Creative Research Initiative Center for Evolutionary Nanoparticles. In 2015, he became the founding director of IBS Center for Nanomedicine at the Yonsei University (IBS CNM at Yonsei) in Seoul and has been serving as a director since then.
His research at Yonsei on nanoscale phenomena has led to nanomaterial applications in biology, including highly sensitive MRI contrast agents [18] [19] [20] and nanoscale toolkits for cells. In 2004, he demonstrated the principle of size-dependent MRI contrast effects using nanoparticles which enabled the development of magnetism-engineered iron oxide (MEIO) as an ultra-sensitive nanoparticle MRI contrast agent which might help detect early-stage cancer. [16] [21] Cheon also has developed magnetic nanomachines which have various mechanical components in hundreds nanometer scale, allowing remote and precise controlling of nanostructures using magnetic fields. [22] These nanomachines are promising for targeted drug delivery and minimally invasive surgery, enhancing functionality by such mechanical components. From 2021, his work has notably advanced the field of magnetogenetics for wireless control of deep tissue in vivo systems, especially brain activities. [23] [24] Magnetogenetics uses mechanical torque or force of magnetic nanoparticles to manipulate neuronal activity with mechanosensitive ion channels (e.g. Piezo1), offering a non-invasive method in meter scale long-distance to control brain function. This innovative approach allows for the precise regulation of neuronal circuits using magnetic fields, providing potential new treatments for neurological disorders and insights into brain function.