Woonbok Chung, PhD

Assistant Professor
Research Scientist

I have a broad background in microbiology and cancer development and am interested in developing epigenetic biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis of disease including cancer and aging by a non-invasive method, characterizing candidate genes which are inactivated by genetic or epigenetic factors in disease progression by functional studies (RNA-seq, ATAC-seq, and genome-wide DNA methylation profiling). I am also interested in microbiome and epigenetic changes in colorectal cancer.

I provided expertise in several research projects include the discovery of novel methylation markers in prostate, colon and breast cancer, detection of bladder cancer using novel DNA methylation biomarkers in urine, Fusobacterium and CIMP phenotype in colorectal cancer (2014), and genomic and epigenomic predictors of response to guadecitabine in relapsed/refractory AML.

Currently, I am conducting the development of biomarkers that can predict and monitor the efficacy of the combination therapy of check-point inhibitor with epigenetic therapy in urothelial cancer (SU2C) and epigenetic biomarker that can monitor diseases and biological aging. These studies will improve the quality of life of mankind and help the early detection, targeted therapy and monitoring of response.

Education

Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX.

PhD, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea

MSKyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea

MS, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea

BS, Kyungpook National University, Daegu, South Korea

Publications

PubMed - My Bibliography