“BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERS are not like Tesla technicians or Google engineers. Unlike electric cars or mobile phones, it may take a while to show notable achievements to the public,” said Professor Kwak Min-suk in an interview with The Yonsei Annals. Though the outcomes of biomedical engineering might not be seen immediately, it is a very relevant field of study considering it affects the quality of people’s health care at a time where people’s life expectancies have significantly increased. Contributing to the progress of medicine, researchers at Yonsei University’s Institute for Basic Science’s Center for Nanomedicine (IBS CNM) lead the future of Nano biomedical engineering (Nano BME). Professor Kwak shares the journey he took to become an inspirational member of the IBS CNM community.

Annals: Can you please explain biomedical engineering for readers who are not familiar with your field of study?

Kwak: Biomedical engineering converges physical science, biomedical science, and engineering to develop new technologies that help improve people’s health. Researchers are concerned with detecting and treating illnesses in a faster, more accurate way. For example, in IBS CNM, we have been developing faster and more reliable COVID-19 test kits using new nanotechnology; although biomedical engineers do not directly diagnose and treat patients like doctors do, we still make significant contributions to human medicine. We aim to create fundamental solutions to worldwide health issues, including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, and infectious diseases.

Annals: What made you decide to go overseas to study biomedical engineering?

Kwak: One of my favorite books is Guns, Germs, and Steels, and I am mesmerized by the book’s premise that deadly infectious diseases such as plague, Spanish flu, and now covid-19 could easily bring the downfall of powerful empires and civilizations, and dramatically change the course of human history. Fascinated by the power of ‘Germs’, which include virus and bacteria, I wanted to pursue my career in immunology, and understand the nature of those tiny but dangerous invaders to provide new solutions for preventing and eradicating them from human society. Since U.S. has long been the place where the most creative and significant biomedical discoveries and innovations have been made, studying there has always been a dream of mine. And when I went to Hanyoung Foreign Language high school, I was given an opportunity to realize my dream. I joined the program that offered the curriculum designed to prepare students for US college admission, and I got acceptance from many great universities in US including UC Berkeley, Dartmouth, and Cornell. However, I soon realized all those schools are really expensive and I won’t be able to afford going there. Fortunately, Rice University offered me a 4-year full scholarship for my college education. Rice University has one of the strongest Biomedical Engineering program in US and its location right next to Texas Medical Center, the world’s largest medical center, would provide me with abundant opportunities to realize my research career in biomedical sciences. So, I ultimately chose to move to Texas and majored in Bioengineering at Rice University.

Annals: How was your experience living in the United States while you pursued your bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees?

Kwak: I really appreciated how everyone on campus tried to create an interactive and productive learning environment. Professors were very accessible to undergraduate students, and willing to give students advises not only for the courses but also for students’ career after college. All students were highly engaged and passionate about their academic works. Because Rice offered a variety of opportunities of undergraduate research, everyone majored in any science & engineering discipline had a chance to participate in research activities from the freshmen year. During the summers, I participated in undergraduate research internships at University of Pittsburg Medical School and MD Anderson Cancer Center, and got first-hand experiences in molecular biology, immunobiology, and biomedical engineering research. All these experiences greatly helped me when I decided to join Professor Rong Fan’s Lab for my master and doctorate education at Yale University.

Annals: What research did you participate in as a Life Science Research Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at University of California, San Francisco?

Kwak: I developed new nanotechnology for sensing, imaging, and controlling biological targets with high spatial and temporal precision. By integrating nanotechnology with high-resolution imaging and gene engineering techniques, I visualized how receptors (proteins that sense enviornment to control cell function) on immune cells drive immune response, and control their movements to modulate immune cell activation. I also discovered a new activation mechanism of proteins associated with cancer and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). We are applying our knowledge to propose new concepts for cancer immunotherapies and AD therapeutics.

Annals: Can you share some memorable moments with your ex-coworker, now postgrad student Jeong Hee-kyung?

Kwak: Hee-kyung was a fellow researcher when I was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). She conducted her research in UCSF for 1 year as a part of her Ph.D. program at IBS CNM. Because Heekyung and I have different expertise but similar research goals, it was nice to do collaborative, multi-disciplinary research with her. As a biomedical engineer, I often guided her through her molecular biology or cell imaging experiment, while Hee-kyung, a chemistry major, could help me with nanomaterial synthesis and chemistry. When she first arrived in San Francisco, I also gave her some tips on where to find safe and affordable housing as well as nice Korean restaurants. While I am now one of her academic advisors at IBS CNM, we still work together as research colleagues, and I try to do experiments with Heekyung when she encounters any issue that I know how to solve.

Annals: How is your experience at Yonsei University’s IBS CNM?

Kwak: I spent most of my research career in U.S. where the largest financial supports toward science/engineering, the best research infrastructures, the most advanced research culture, and the most creative and brilliant scientific minds are coming together. While South Korea still has to work very hard to catch up to the standards of U.S., I believe IBS has been the prime example of our nation’s appreciation of importance of basic science as the founding principles of discoveries that generate bigger opportunities for this country and transform human society. By promoting cross-disciplinary open science, IBS CNM is striving to expand the frontiers of nano-biosciences and make breakthroughs that transform nanomedicine. I really enjoy doing research here because IBS CNM has successfully established state-of-the-art facilities and an advanced research environment, and recruited many brilliant and motivated scientists who are eager to collaborate to solve bigger issues. I believe that we are now capable of recruiting and fostering next-generation scientific leaders in nanomedicine, another crucial milestone to become the globally recognized research center. I truly believe that IBS CNM has the potential to become one of the world’s leading research institutes in cross-disciplinary sciences in chemistry, biology, and nanomedicine.

Annals: What do you think of the future of Nano BME?

Kwak: Biomedical engineers were more concerned with “big” biomedical engineering, such as innovations in artificial organs and their transplantation process. More recently, top companies like Apple and Google have been investing in nanomedicine. Nano BME, a cutting-edge field of study, tackles diseases at a molecular level. Nanotechnology allows us to detect the causes of illnesses that may have been impossible to identify in the past. As a future-oriented discipline, Nano BME will improve the future progress of cures for diseases.

Annals: What are you currently researching on?

Kwak: In September 2020, I started as an assistant professor. Now I am leading multiple very interesting projects that combine nanoscience, biological sciences, and biomedical engineering. In particularly, I am overseeing the development of new single cell nanotechnology platforms for understanding and modulating immune cells and stem cells to better analyze, diagnose, and treat diseases like cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and brain diseases. I am also appointed to oversee the development of the library of nanomaterials with superior properties and functions for biomedical applications. With further engineering, these nanomaterials will enable capture and activation of specific cell types with greater specificity and efficiency. By offering more accurate and faster assay than existing techniques, our innovation will have a broad applicability in basic biology science as well as potential translation to clinics.

Annals: What do you think is the most important thing to have in mind when conducting research?

Kwak: Being attentive to the things people need. However, scientists should not research on what everyone else is interested in. Rather, they should turn their attention to the lesser-known fields that we are overlooking. Researchers also need to be consistent. People have noticed the efforts of those who have been studying epidemiology for years only recently. Anyone can research once they have the skills, but it is only when a researcher has a clear goal that he or she will be able to get the desired results.

Annals: Do you have any words of advice for students interested in biomedical engineering?

Kwak: Have pride and remember that your research findings can make people’s lives better. Always have that sort of sense of duty engraved into your mind.

*Nanotechnology: Science conducted at nanoscale, 1/10,000 of the width of a human hair

*This article is a modified version of the printed article*