Dr. Karl Jacob Jr. and Karl Jacob III Early-Career Chair Eun Ji Chung. Photo courtesy of Viterbi Staff.
Eun Ji Chung, USC Viterbi’s Dr. Karl Jacob Jr. and Karl Jacob III Early-Career Chair and Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, has recently been honored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Biomedical Engineering Society (BMES) for her research in nanomedicine and bioengineering.
The IEEE has selected Chung as a NANOMED New Innovator, with the award to be presented at the IEEE International Conference on Nano/Molecular Medicine and Engineering in Gwangju, Korea on 21 – 24 November. The latest honor recognizes Chung’s “eminent research activities in the field of nanomedicine and molecular engineering as well as her continuous contribution to the IEEE-NANOMED community.”
Meanwhile the BMES will honor Chung with the 2020 Rising Star Junior Faculty Award, to be presented at the BMES Cell and Molecular Bioengineering conference on January 2 – 6 in Puerto Rico. Chung will be recognized at the conference gala, and will be invited to present at the event. The BMES describes the Rising Star Award as a leading form of recognition of outstanding research in the field of cell and molecular bioengineering.
Chung and her research group investigate molecular design, nanomedicine and tissue engineering to generate biomaterial strategies for clinical applications. A key focus of Chung’s lab’s research involves the design and application of self-assembling, peptide nanoparticles for targeted cardiovascular and cancer treatments, as well as for the treatment of kidney disease.
A faculty member of the USC Michelson Center for Convergent Bioscience, Chung received her B.A. in Molecular Biology with honors from Scripps College, Claremont, California, and her Ph.D. from the Interdisciplinary Biological Sciences Program and the Department of Biomedical Engineering from Northwestern University.
She was recently named 2019 Orange County Engineering Council Outstanding Young Engineer and a Journal of Materials Chemistry B Emerging Investigator for 2019.
Last year, Chung was awarded the NIH New Innovator Award to develop a new approach to a type of kidney disease, known as autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease, the most commonly inherited kidney disorder.
Chung is a recipient of the SQI-Baxter Early Career Award, the American Heart Association Postdoctoral Fellowship, the Postdoctoral Research Grant from the Chicago Biomedical Consortium, and the K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award from the NIH. She is a member of the Society for Biomaterials, the BMES, and the American Institute for Chemical Engineers.
Published on November 21st, 2019
Last updated on February 8th, 2022
