Precision Medicine and Molecular Imaging Research: Prof.Kyung Oh Jung
Prof.Kyung Oh Jung
: Our laboratory focuses on a broad spectrum of research grounded in life sciences, utilizing molecular imaging across cellular levels, preclinical animal models, and clinical patient samples. Building on our recent work in molecular imaging powered by artificial intelligence (Jung et al. Nat. Biomed. Eng. 2020), we are advancing interdisciplinary research in collaboration with fields such as chemistry, physics, computer science, and clinical medicine. Our ultimate goal is to develop diagnostic and therapeutic strategies for various diseases through precision medicine. Additionally, we are conducting specialized research on skin and hair health, leveraging natural extracts and exosomes.
Tel: +82-2-820-5883; Fax: +82-2-813-5387; Email: kojung@cau.ac.kr ;

Education:
2010 – 2016
PhD in Biomedical Sciences, Molecular Imaging and Therapy lab, College of Medicine, Seoul National University
Thesis title: Visualization of exosome-mediated miR-210 from hypoxic tumor cells
Thesis advisor: Prof. June-Key Chung
2006 – 2010
1st Major: B.S. in Radiologic Science, Korea University
Duplicate Major: B.S. in Biotechnology, Korea University
Professional Experience:
2024~present: Associate Professor, Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University
2021 – 2024: Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, Chung-Ang University
2020 – 2021: 2nd Postdoctoral Fellow, Artificial Intelligence in Medicine and Biomedical Physics lab (Prof. Lei Xing, the Director of Medical Physics Division), Stanford University School of Medicine
2016 – 2020: 1st Postdoctoral Fellow, Physical Oncology lab (Prof. Guillem Pratx), Stanford University School of Medicine
scholarly society activities
2022 – present: International Journal of Stem Cells / Editorial Board Member
2022 – present: Korean Society of Molecular Imaging, KSMI / Academic Committee
2022 – present: Korean Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, KSBMB / Academic Committee
2022 – present: Korean Society for Stem Cell Research, KSSCR / International Committee
2020 – present: K-BioX / Founder member
2016 – 2017: Korean Life Scientists in the Bay Area, KOLIS / Stanford President

Publication Lists (First author/Corresponding Author, Kyung Oh Jung)
[1] Hong S, Rhee S, Jung KO*. D Kim*. In vivo stem cell imaging principles and applications . InternationalJournal of Stem Cell. (IF: 3.011). 2023. * Corresponding Author.
[2] YJ Lee, Jung KO*. Buspirone Induces Weight Loss and Normalization of Blood Pressure via the Stimulation ofPPARδ Dependent Energy Producing Pathway in Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats. Ppar Research. (IF: 4.385) 2023Jun;55(6):267-274. ***** Corresponding Author
[3] JM An, Jung KO*. Acetylcholinesterase-responsive fluorescent probe: Recent advances from development to applications. Dyes and Pigments (IF: 5.122, JCR 10%) 2023 Jun;55(6):267-274. * Corresponding Author
[4] RH Kang, Jung KO*, D Kim*. Self-sealing chemistry of calcium/magnesium silicate on porous silicon nanoparticles for enhanced drug-loading and slowed drug-releasing. Materials Letters. (IF: 3.574). 2022:132719. * Corresponding Author.
[5] Hong S, Rhee S, Jung KO*. In vivo molecular and single cell imaging. BMB Rep. (IF: 4.778) 2022 Jun;55(6):267-274. * Corresponding Author
[6] Jung KO*, Theruvath AJ, Nejadnik H, Liu A, Xing L, Sulchek T, Pratx G. Mechanoporation enables rapid and efficient radiolabeling of stem cells for PET imaging. Sci. Rep. (IF: 4.996). 2022:12 (1):1-10. * Corresponding Author
[7] Jung KO, Kim YH, Chung SJ, Rhee S, Pratx G, Chung JK, Youn H. Identification of Lymphatic and Hematogenous Metastasis Routes of Radiolabeled Exosomes Using Highly Sensitive Positron Emission Tomography. Int. J. Mol. Sci. (IF: 5.923). 2020;21:7850.
[8] Jung KO, Kim TJ, Yu JH, Rhee S, Zhao W, Ha B, Red-Horse K, Gambhir SS, Pratx G. Whole-body tracking of single cells via positron emission tomography. Nat. Biomed. Eng. (IF: 29.234, JCR 0.575%, Top ranked journal in category of ENGINEERING, BIOMEDICAL). 2020 Aug;4(8):835-844.
[9] Nejadnik H†, Jung KO†, Theruvath A†, Liu A, Wu W, Kiru L, Sulchek T, Pratx G, Daldrup-Link H. Instant labeling of therapeutic cells for multimodality imaging. Theranostics. (IF: 11.06). 2020;10(13):6024-6034. † equal contribution.
[10] Liu Z† , Jung KO†, Takahata R, Sakamoto M, Teranishi T, Fujitsuka M, Pratx G, and Osakada Y. Hard X-ray-excited optical luminescence from protein-directed Au~20 clusters. RSC Adv. (IF: 3.361). 2020;10;13824-13829. † equal contribution.
[11] Jung KO, Joe HH, Yu JH, Gambhir SS, Pratx G. Development and MPI tracking of novel hypoxia-targeted theranostic exosomes**. Biomaterials.** (IF: 15.304, JCR 1.316%, Top ranked journal in category of MATERIALS SCIENCE, BIOMATERIALS, citation number: 44). 2018 May 29;177:139-148.
[12] Jung KO, Youn H, Lee CH, Kang KW, Chung JK. Visualization of exosome-mediated miR-210 transfer from hypoxic tumor cells. Oncotarget. (IF: 5.168). 2017 Feb 7;8(6):9899-9910.
[13] Jung KO, Youn H, Kim SH, Kim YH, Kang KW, Chung JK. A new fluorescence/PET probe for targeting intracellular human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) using Tat peptide-conjugated IgM. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. (IF: 3.575). 2016 Aug 26;477(3):483-499.
[14] Jung KO, Youn H, Kim YH, Kim S, Na J, Kim YI, Park JW, Kang KW, Lee DS, Chung JK. Relationship between apoptosis imaging and radioiodine therapy in tumor cells with different sodium iodide symporter gene expression. Mol Imaging. (IF: 4.488). 2014;13. Publication Lists (Co-author)[15] Yu JH, Steinberg I, Jung KO, Park SM, Pratx G, Levin C, Gambhir SS. Noninvasive and Highly Multiplexed Five-Color Tumor Imaging of Multicore Near-Infrared Resonant Surface-Enhanced Raman Nanoparticles In Vivo. ACS Nano 2021:15:12:19956–19969.
[16] Ren Y, Winter H, Rosch JG, Jung KO, Duross AN, Landry MR, Pratx G, and Sun C. PEGylated β-NaGdF4/Tb@CaF2 Core/Shell Nanophosphors for Enhanced Radioluminescence and Folate Receptor Targeting. ACS Appl. Nano Mater. (IF: 5.097). 2019 May 2;6:3718-3727.
[17] Choi J, Jung KO, Graves E, Pratx G. A gold nanoparticle system for enhancement of radiotherapy and simultaneous monitoring of reactive-oxygen-species formation. Nanotechnology. (IF: 3.874). 2018 Dec 14;29(50):504001.
[18] Kim TJ, Jung KO, Fahimian B, Pratx G. Flexible Optically Stimulated Luminescence Band for 1-D in vivo Radiation Dosimetry. Phys Med Biol. (IF: 3.609). 2018 Aug 10;63(16):165006.
[19] Heo JY, Kang SH, Kim YH, You S, Jin KS, Kim SW, Jung H, Jung KO, Lee CH, Kim MJ, Sung SE, Kim B, Choi I, Youn H, Chung JK, Kim SK, Kim Y. Toward redesigning the PEG surface of nanocarriers for tumor targeting: impact of inner functionalities on size, charge, multivalent binding, and biodistribution. Chem. Sci. (IF: 9.825). 2017 Jul 1;8(7):5186-5195.
[20] Kim YI, Jeong S, Jung KO, Song MG, Lee CH, Chung SJ, Park JY, Cha MG, Lee SG, Jun BH, Lee YS, Hwang DW, Youn H, Kang KW, Lee YS, Jeong DH, Lee DS. Simultaneous Detection of EGFR and VEGF in Colorectal Cancer using Fluorescence-Raman Endoscopy. Sci. Rep. (IF: 4.379). 2017 Apr 21;7(1):1035.
[21] Han HJ, Kwon N, Choi MA, Jung KO, Piao JY, Ngo HK, Kim SJ, Kim DH, Chung JK, Cha YN, Youn H, Choi BY, Min SH, Surh YJ. Peptidyl Prolyl Isomerase PIN1 Directly Binds to and Stabilizes Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-1α. PLoS One. (IF: 3.240). 2016 Jan 19;11(1):e0147038.
[22] Jeong S, Kim YI, Kang H, Kim G, Cha MG, Chang H, Jung KO, Kim YH, Jun BH, Hwang DW, Lee YS, Youn H, Lee YS, Kang KW, Lee DS, Jeong DH. Fluorescence-Raman dual modal endoscopic system for multiplexed molecular diagnostics. Sci. Rep. (IF: 4.379). 2015 Mar 30;5:9455.
AWARDS & GRANTS:
2021 RESEARCH SEED FUNDING GRANT, Stanford University School of Medicine, USA
2019 THE BEST PRESENATION AWARD, The Nothern California Chapter of the American Association of
Physicist in Medicine (AAPM) Young Investigator’s Symposium, USA
2018 THE BEST POSTER AWARD, Stanford Imaging Symposium, USA
2015 THE BEST PRESENATION AWARD, Institute of Radiation Medicine, Korea
2015 WMIC TRAVEL STIPEND, World Molecular Imaging Congress, USA
2015 FASMI YOUNG INVESTIGATOR AWARD, Federation of Asian Societies for Molecular Imaging, Japan
2015 THE BEST PAPER AWARD, Seoul National University, Korea
2014 WMIC TRAVEL STIPEND, World Molecular Imaging Congress, Korea
2013 WMIC TRAVEL STIPEND, World Molecular Imaging Congress, USA
2012 ORAL PRESENTATION AWARD, Korean Society of Nuclear Medicine, Korea
2011 WMIC TRAVEL STIPEND, World Molecular Imaging Congress, USA
CONFERENCE ACTIVITY:
1. News Coverage
[1] Highlighted by World Molecular Imaging Society 2019 Annual Congress: “Cancer Studies at World MolecularImaging Society Annual Congress Bring New Research to the Forefront”
2. Selected Presentation
[1] KOLIS-SNUCM Symposium (August, 2020, Korea): Whole-body tracking of single cells via positron emission tomography
[2] “Highlight Session Speaker” World molecular imaging congress (September, 2019, USA): In vivo real-time tracking of single cells in whole-body PET/CT [Oral presentation]
[3] The Society of Nuclear Medicine (June, 2019, USA): In vivo real-time tracking of single cells using whole-body PET/CT [Oral presentation]
[4] Stanford Imaging Symposium (September, 2018, USA): In vivo single cell tracking with PET using radiolabeled Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles [Poster presentation]
[5] “Highlight Speaker” World molecular imaging congress (September, 2015, USA): In vivo bio-distribution of systemically injected exosomes derived from breast cancer cells using NIR and PET imaging [Oral presentation]
[6] JSMI-FASMI joint conference (May, 2015, Japan): In vivo exosome imaging from breast cancer cells using Cy7 and Cu-64 [Oral presentation]
[7] “Highlighted” World molecular imaging congress (September, 2014, Korea): Biodistribution of radiolabeled exosomes of breast cancer cells using PET imaging [Oral presentation]
[8] “Highlighted” World molecular imaging congress (September, 2014, Korea): Visualization of exosome-mediated transfer of miR-210 and its activity in murine model having hypoxic breast cancer [Oral presentation]
[9] The Society of Nuclear Medicine (June, 2014, USA): A new fluorescence/PET probe for intracellular hTERT using Tat peptide-conjugated antibody [Oral presentation]
[10] World molecular imaging congress (September, 2011, USA): In vivo imaging the correlation between I-131 therapy and Apoptosis using Apoptosis-targeting peptide-1 [Oral presentation]