Currently I am working as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, Davis. The research focus is in creating in vitro hepatic microenvironment which mimics complexity of the in vivo interactions to define the microenvironment niche required for hepatic phenotype expression in fetal hepatocytes and stem cells. I have developed a micropatterned co-culture method based on microarraying and photoresist lithography, and also demonstrated local cellular analysis method by laser microdissection and gene expression analysis. Most recently, I have expanded the complexity of the cell culture system to create micropatterned triple cell cultures. These tri-cultures are currently being investigated as a microenvironment conducive to stem cell differentiation toward liver cells.
During my graduate study at Seoul National University, I have performed interdisciplinary research in a field of DNA computing with colleagues in Departments of Computer Science and Biochemistry. I have introduced new molecular algorithm and experimental implementation to solve a graphical problem. Also, I have worked on projects discriminating acute leukemia based on gene expression profiling and developing lab-on-a chip system to automate biological operators for DNA computing.
The future research plans are to merge the study during Ph.D and postdoctoral research toward integrated cell-chip for clinical and toxicological applications and also fundamental studies. One project will be long-term cultivation of functional hepatocytes by rational design of microenvironment and perfusion culture to develop cell-based analysis platform. Second project will involve the study of stem cell differentiation toward specific lineage (e.g. hepatocytes). Rapid, rational and systematic screening of diverse inducers leading to differentiation will be performed in a microfabricated platform.