Cheon Jin-woo, Director General of the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) Nano Medicine Research Group and a Yonsei University Underwood Distinguished Professor, has been selected as the associate editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), a leading journal in the field of chemistry. His term begins in January next year.
JACS is the world's premier journal in the field of chemistry, boasting 145 years of tradition, where the most Nobel Prize-winning papers have been published. It is a journal that publishes significant research across all areas of chemistry, including pure chemistry, applied chemistry, chemical engineering, and nanoengineering.
Director General Cheon will take on the role of reviewing papers in the fields of nanochemistry and nanomedicine submitted to JACS. He has also served as the senior editor of another prestigious journal, the Accounts of Chemical Research, for the past 15 years. Thus, he has become the first Korean scientist to serve as editor of two representative journals of the American Chemical Society.
Director General Cheon is an authority in the field of nanomedicine, which applies nanoscience to medicine. Notably, he developed a magnetogenetics technology that wirelessly controls brain nerves using magnetic fields, and he was the first in the world to prove the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast effect occurring at the nanoscale, achieving ultra-precise biological diagnosis. In recognition of these achievements, he has received several awards, including the Incheon Award, Cheongam Award, HoAm Prize, the University of Illinois Alumni Award, and the Humboldt Research Award.
Director General Cheon said, "I am very happy to be selected as the editor of the top academic journal in the field of chemistry," and expressed his ambition to "enhance the country's stature and contribute to outstanding domestic researchers stepping onto the international stage."