Chun Jin-woo, an Underwood distinguished professor at Yonsei University who has pioneered the field of nano-medicine, was selected as this year's winner of the Korea's Top Scientist and Technologist Award.
The Ministry of Science and ICT and The Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies (KOFST) said they selected Chun as the winner of the 2026 Korea's Top Scientist and Technologist Award. The award is the highest presidential honor in the domestic science and technology field, and 48 people have received it from 2003 through last year.
Chun was recognized for combining nano-chemistry and biotechnology to present new approaches in medicine, including disease diagnosis, cell therapy, and brain circuit control. In particular, based on nano-medicine, Chun broadened the limits of existing drug delivery and diagnostic technologies and expanded the research domain into brain science and brain-computer interface.
A representative achievement is nano-magnetogenetics. This technology uses a magnetic field to wirelessly control neuronal activity in living animals. By enabling precise control of specific neural circuits in the brain, it showed the potential to reduce the limits of existing invasive methods. Related studies were published in the international journals "Nature Materials" in 2021 and "Nature Nanotechnology" in 2024.
Chun received bachelor's and master's degrees in chemistry from Yonsei University and earned a doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Chun has served as a professor in the Department of Chemistry at Yonsei University since 2002 and is currently continuing research and education as an Underwood distinguished professor at Yonsei.
Chun also helped broaden Korea's research base in nano-medicine. Chun established the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) Center for Nanomedicine in 2015 and took part in attracting the International Max Planck Research Center in 2025. Chun serves as a fellow of the American Chemical Society and the Royal Society of Chemistry and is an associate editor of the international journal "Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS)."
The Korea's Top Scientist and Technologist Award ceremony will be held on the 7th at the 2026 Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Conference. The winner will receive a presidential certificate and 3 billion won in prize money.