The KCS-Wiley Young Chemist Awards are presented annually by the Korean Chemical Society (KCS) and John Wiley & Sons. Two Korean scientists under the age of 40 are honored for outstanding achievements and contributions to the community.
This year, the awards were presented to Sunkyu Han (pictured left), Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, South Korea, and Jeong-Mo Choi (pictured right), Pusan National University, Busan, Republic of Korea, at the 130th General Meeting of the Korean Chemical Society at the Gyeongju Hwabaek International Convention Center (HICO), South Korea, on October 20, 2021.
Sunkyu Han, born in Pisa, Italy, in 1982, studied chemistry at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon, and at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Seoul, and received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA, USA.
From 2012 to 2014, he was a postdoctoral associate at Yale University New Haven, CT, USA, from 2014 to 2019, assistant professor at KAIST, and from 2019 to 2021, associate professor. He has been an associate professor with tenure since September 2021.
Sunkyu Han is interested in the synthesis of complex natural products. His research interests include intrinsic reactivities of molecules, novel transformations and bond formation strategies, and convergent and flexible synthetic approaches.
Jeong-Mo Choi studied chemistry and physics at KAIST, Daejeon, South Korea, and Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, USA, and received his Ph.D. in chemistry from Harvard University in 2016. He was a postdoctoral researcher at Washington University in St. Louis, MO, USA, from 2016 to 2019, a research assistant professor at KAIST from 2019 to 2020, and an assistant professor at Pusan National University, Busan, since 2020.
Jeong-Mo Choi’s research focuses on physical chemistry of living systems, biological applications of statistical physics, mMolecular modeling and computational chemistry, protein interactions and collective behaviors, and protein evolution and design.
Selected Publications by Sunkyu Han
- Collective Total Synthesis of C4-Oxygenated Securinine-Type Alkaloids via Stereocontrolled Diversifications on the Piperidine Core,
S. Park, G. Kang, C. Kim, D. Kim, S. Han,
Nature Commun. 2022, 13, 5149.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32902-z - Alkylidene Carbene from Silyl Vinyl Iodide Provides Mechanistic Insights on Trimethylenemethane Diyl-Mediated Tandem Cyclizations,
D. W. Jee, J. Myung, R. D. Little, S. Han, H.-Y. Lee,
Org. Lett. 2022, 24, 4399.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.orglett.2c01622 - Synthesis of Dimeric Securinega Alkaloid Flueggeacosine B: From Pd-Catalyzed Cross-Coupling to Cu-Catalyzed Cross-Dehydrogenative Coupling,
G. Kang, S. Han,
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144, 8932.
https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.2c03861 - On the Erosion of Enantiopurity of Rhodonoids via Their Asymmetric Total Synthesis,
H. Jeon, G. Kang, M. J. Kim, J. S. Shin, S. Han, H.-Y. Lee,
Org. Lett. 2022, 24, 2181.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.orglett.2c00482 - Synthesis and Reactivities of 1-Hydroxyherquline A,
T. T. Kim, C. Lee, D. Kim, H.-S. Lee, S. Han,
Org. Lett. 2022, 24, 1964.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.orglett.2c00379 - Biopatterned Reorganization of Alkaloids Enabled by Ring-Opening Functionalization of Tertiary Amines,
H. Lim, S. Seong, Y. Kim, S. Seo, S. Han,
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2021, 143, 19966.
https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.1c10205 - Synthesis of Pentacyclic Framework of Herquline A,
T. T. Kim, C. Lee, S. Heo, H.-S. Lee, S. Han,
Chem. Asian. J. 2021, 16, 3382.
https://doi.org/10.1002/asia.202101004
Selected Publications by Jeong-Mo Choi
- Recent Trends in Studies of Biomolecular Phase Separation,
C. G. Kim, D. E. Hwang, R. Kumar, M. Chung, Y. G. Eom, H. Kim, D. H. Koo, J. M. Choi,
BMB Reports 2022, 55 (8): 363-369.
https://doi.org/10.5483/BMBRep.2022.55.8.101 - Thermodynamics of π–π Interactions of Benzene and Phenol in Water,
D. Paik, H. Lee, H. Kim, J. M. Choi,
Int. J. Molec. Sci. 2022, 23 (17): 9811.
https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23179811
28. - Kinetic Modulation of Amyloid- β (1–42) Aggregation and Toxicity by Structure-Based Rational Design,
D. Im, C. E. Heo, M. K. Son, C. R. Park, H. I. Kim, J. M. Choi,
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2022, 144 (4), 1603–1611.
https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.1c10173 - Client Proximity Enhancement inside Cellular Membrane-lessCompartments Governed by Client-Compartment Interactions,
D. Song, Y. Jo, J. M, Choi, Y. Jung,
Nature Communic. 2020, 11, 5642.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19476-4 - Multivalent Interaction-Driven Assembly of Discrete, Flexible, and Asymmetric Supramolecular Protein Nano-Prisms,
S. Han, Yn Kim, G. Jo, Y. E. Kim, H. M. Kim, J. M. Choi, Y. Jung,
Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2020, 59 (51), 23244-23251.
https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202010054 - LASSI: A Lattice Model for Simulating Phase Transitions of Multivalent Proteins,
J. M. Choi, F. Da, R. V. Pappu,
PLOS Comput. Biol. 2019, 15 (10), e1007028.
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1007028 - Covalently-Assembled, Single-Chain Protein Nanostructures with Ultra-High Stability,
W. Bai, C. Sargent, J. M. Choi, R. V. Pappu, F. Zhang,
Nature Communic. 2019, 10, 3317.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-019-11285-8
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