Kwang-Hyun Cho received B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in 1993 (summa cum laude), 1995 (summa cum laude), and 1998, respectively. From March 1999 to August 2004, he was a Lecturer and an Assistant Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering at the University of Ulsan, Korea. From June 2002 to August 2003, he was a Visiting Professor at the Control Systems Centre in the Department of Electrical Engineering & Electronics at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST), U.K. From January to March in 2004 he was a Visiting Research Fellow at the Automatic Control Group in the Department of Signals, Sensors and Systems at the Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden. Between June and August 2004, he was an invited Senior Research Fellow at the Hamilton Institute, Ireland. From September 2004 to August 2007, he was an Associate Professor at the College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Korea and held a joint position at the Bio-MAX Institute, Seoul National University, Korea as a Director of the Systems Biology Laboratory. Since 2007, he has been a tenured full Professor in the Department of Bio and Brain Engineering at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), holding a joint position at the KAIST Institutes for IT Convergence, and a director of the Laboratory for Systems Biology and Bio-Inspired Engineering. In May 2011, he got an honor to become a KAIST Endowed Chair Professor. He was the Head of Department from June 2015 to March 2019, and the Vice President of Research of KAIST from March 2019 to February 2023. From June 2008 to August 2008, he was an invited Visiting Professor at the Centre for Mathematical Biology, University of Oxford, U.K. From June 2009 to August 2009, he was an invited Visiting Professor at the Dept. of Bioengineering, University of Glasgow, U.K. From July 2011 to Feb. 2012, he was an invited Visiting Professor at the Center for Complex Biological Systems, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA. From March 2012 to August 2012, he was an invited Walton Fellow at the Systems Biology Ireland, University College Dublin (UCD), Ireland. He was a guest editor of SIMULATION: Transactions of the Society for Modeling and Simulation International (vol. 79, no. 12, 2003) and IEEE Control Systems Magazine (vol. 24, no. 4, 2004) for the special systems biology issues. He has been guest editors of numerous journals for the special issue of systems biology and has given a number of plenary/keynote talks at international conferences on systems biology including ICSB2008 (the 9th Int. Conf. on Systems Biology) held in Gothenburg, Sweden. He co-founded Systems Biology as an Editor-in-Chief, which is the world-first international journal in systems biology launched by IEE (changed to IET in 2007) in London from 2004. He was also a leader of Systems Biology section in Korean society for molecular and cellular biology (KSMCB) from 2012 to 2017. He is currently an Editorial Board Member of Systems and Synthetic Biology (Springer, Netherlands, from 2006), BMC Systems Biology (BMC, London, U.K., from 2007), Gene Regulation and Systems Biology (Libertas Academica, New Zealand, from 2007), Bulletin of Mathematical Biology (Springer, New York, from 2008), Mathematical Biosciences (Elsevier, Netherlands, from 2010), and Journal of Coupled Systems and Multiscale Dynamics (JCSMD) (American Scientific Publishers, CA, USA, from 2013), and an Editorial Advisory Board Member of Molecular BioSystems (The Royal Society of Chemistry, U.K.) and Molecular and Cellular Therapies (BioMed Central, London, U.K., from 2013). He is also an Associate Editor of BMC Systems Biology and BMC Research Notes (BMC, London, U.K., from 2008), and Bulletin of Mathematical Biology (Springer, New York, from 2008). He is a Senior Member of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS), IEEE Control Systems Society (CSS), IEEE Systems, Man, and Cybernetics Society (Technical Committee Member of “Systems Biology”) (SMC), and IEEE Robotics and Automation Society (RAS). He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of IET Systems Biology (IET, London, U.K.) and one of the Editors-in-Chief of the ‘Encyclopedia of Systems Biology’ to be published by Springer in New York. He was also invited to serve as a member of the Editorial Borad of Journal of Molecular Cell Biology (JMCB, Oxford University Press, U.K., from 2017 to 2021). He served a Research Grant Review Committee Member of Human Frontier Science Program (HFSP) in 2008-2009, an External Reviewer of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) in the U.K. in 2007, an External Reviewer of the Medical Research Council (MRC) in the U.K. in 2007, a Scientific Advisory Group Member of the COSBICS (Computational Systems Biology of Cell Signaling) in the EU Framework Programme 6 in Germany during 2005-2008, a Review Committee Member of the Microsoft Research PhD Scholarship Programme in Cambridge, U.K. in 2008, and has been a Review Editor of the Systems Biology section, Frontiers in Physiology (Frontiers Media, Switzerland) from 2007. He was the recipient of the Honor Prize by the Korean Minister of Science and Technology in 1993, the Excellent Academic Activity Award from ICASE in 2002, the Best Paper Award for a Young Scientist from ICASE in 2003, the Award for Excellent SCI Papers in 2005 from Seoul National University Hospital, the IEEE/IEEK Joint Award for Young IT Engineer of the Year 2008, the Excellent Professor Award of 2008 from the College of Life Science and Bioengineering in KAIST, the Technology Innovation Award from KAIST in 2009, the International Activity Award from KAIST in 2010, the Young Scientist Award from the President of Korea in 2010, the Walton Fellow Award from Science Foundation of Ireland in 2012, the Special Research Award from the Department of Bio and Brain Engineering, KAIST in 2012, the Visiting Professorship Award for Senior International Scientists from Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 2014, the Award for a Scientist of the Month from the Ministry of Science, ICT & Future Planning / National Research Foundation of Korea in 2015, the KAIST Top 10 Cutting-Edge Technology Award in 2017, the Academic Achievement Award from KAIST in 2018, the Top 5 Most Interesting Biological Research Award from BRIC in 2020, the Top 10 Representative Research Award from KAIST in 2020 and 2022, the KAIST Research Award in 2022, the Meritorious Award for Basic Science Research from the Ministry of Science and ICT in 2022, and the National Engineer’s Award from the President of Korea in 2023. His research interests cover the areas of systems science with bio-medical applications including systems biology and bio-inspired engineering based on molecular systems biology. The focus has been on applications in biotechnology and bio-medical sciences, in particular, a system-level analysis of cellular signal transduction networks, unraveling hidden cellular dynamics, investigations into the evolution and wiring/re-wiring of molecular and cellular interaction networks, multi-scale biological processes, network pathology, computational chemotherapy, digital drug discovery, precision medicine, and development of new kinds of engineering systems inspired from molecular biology. In particular, he is pioneering in reverse control of irreversible biological processes such as tumorigenesis and aging, and proving all his discoveries by experiments. He established the concept of ‘reversion therapy’ and has been challenging to realize this concept as real therapeutics.

Contact Details

Tel.: +82-42-350-4325 (Professor Office), +82-42-350-4396 (Secretary),
+82-42-350-4365/5365 (Laboratory)
Fax: +82-42-350-4310
E-mail: ckh@kaist.ac.kr
Postal Address:
Professor Kwang-Hyun Cho, Ph.D.
Room 1003, E16, Department of Bio and Brain Engineering,
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology,
291 Daehak-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 34141, Republic of Korea.

Employment

Education

Honours

Plenary/Keynote Talks at International Conferences/Institutions

• Plenary Speaker at the Annual Conference of Korean Society for Bioinformatics (BIOINFO 2022), Daejeon, Korea, October 19, 2022. Talk title: “Reverse control of irreversible biological phenomena”.
• Plenary Speaker at the 34th Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems Annual Conference (ICROS 2019), Gyeongju, Korea, May 17, 2019. Talk title: “Systems biology – From modeling and analysis towards control of complex biological networks”.
• Plenary Speaker at the 3rd A3 International Workshop for Mathematical and Life Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan, May 19, 2018. Talk title: “Network dynamics-based classification of cancer panel for precision medicine”.
• Plenary Speaker at the 2nd New Biology Student Symposium on Systems Biology and Bioinformatics, DGIST, Daegu, Korea, Nov 23, 2017. Talk title: “Systems Biology for Precision Medicine and Drug Target Discovery”.
• Plenary Speaker at the 10th International Conference on Human Systems Interaction (HSI2017), Ulsan, Korea, July 18, 2017. Talk title: “Systems biology – Analysis and control of complex biological networks for human and biological system interaction”.
• Keynote Speaker at the Korea-Italia Bilateral Symposium on Brain Sciences, KAIST, Daejeon, Korea, May 23, 2017. Talk title: “Brain systems biology: Towards a system-level understanding of a brain”.
• Plenary Speaker at the International Cell Senescence Association (ICSA) Conference 2017, Institute Pasteur, Paris, France, May 17, 2017. Talk title: “Systems biology: From understanding towards controlling of complex biological networks”.
• Plenary Speaker at the APCTP-ICTP Joint Workshop: Quantitative Life Sciences, Asia Pacific Center for Theoretical Physics, Postech, Pohang, Korea, Nov 22, 2016. Talk title: “Systems biology: Quantitative analysis and control of complex biological phenomena”.
• Plenary Speaker at the CMC Workshop on Collective Dynamics of Many-Body Systems and Related Topics, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea, Nov 8, 2016. Talk title: “Systems biology – Exploring emergent properties induced by collective dynamics of various molecules in a cell”.
• Plenary Speaker at the A3 Workshop on Interdisciplinary Research Connecting Mathematics and Biology, Peking University, Beijing, China, April 23, 2016. Talk title: “Systems Biology: From Circuit Dynamics Toward Network Control”.
• Plenary Speaker at the Symposium of Biodynamical Systems 2016, Southern University of Science and Technology in China, Shenzhen, China, Mar 5, 2016, Talk title: “Cancer systems biology: Optimizing therapeutic responses of cancer cells based on network dynamics”.
• Keynote Speaker at the 10th International Conference on Information Processing in Cells and Tissues, San Diego, USA, Sep 14, 2015, Talk title: “Unraveling the Information Processing Machinery Within a Living Cell”.
• Plenary Speaker at the Workshop on Control Engineering and Synthetic Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, U.K., Sep 10-12, 2014. Talk title: “Systems biology: A hidden molecular circuit that critically regulates uncontrolled cell proliferation”.
• Plenary Speaker at the Eighth q-bio Conference, St. John’s College, New Mexico, USA, Aug 13-16, 2014. Talk title: “A case study on the regulation of uncontrolled cell proliferation by hidden switches mediated by RORα”.
• Keynote Speaker at the A3 Conference on Cancer Nanoscale Imaging, Daejeon, Korea, Feb 21, 2014. Talk title: “Systems biology: From molecular network towards dynamics and function”.
• Keynote Speaker at the 12th Asia-Pacific Bioinfomatics Conference, Shanghai, China, Jan 17-19, 2014. Talk title: “Systems biology: Perspectives and opportunities in the post-genomic era”.
• Plenary Speaker at the 7th Applied Inverse Problem Conference, KAIST, Daejeon, Korea, July 4, 2013. Talk title: “Systems biology: Reverse engineering and control of complex biological networks”.
• Plenary Speaker at the 7th NCC International Symposium – “Beyond the Personalized Therapy”, National Cancer Center Korea, Seoul, Korea, June 19, 2013. Talk title: “A systems approach to understanding and predicting chemotherapeutic responses”.
• Plenary Speaker at the 1st BMIRC International Symposium on Frontiers in Computational Systems Biology and Bioengineering, Iizuka, Fukuoka, Japan, February 28, 2013. Talk title: “Exploring the core information processing unit in a cell”.
• Plenary Speaker at the Quantitative Approach to Biological Complexity (QABC), POSTECH, Pohang, Korea, February 17-19, 2013. Talk title: “Puzzling dynamics and hidden switches in cell signaling networks”.
• Plenary Speaker at the 1st International Symposium on Protein Modifications in Pathogenic Dysregulation of Signaling, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, February 1-2, 2013. Talk title: “Puzzling switches in the signaling network of complex disease”.
• Plenary Speaker at the INSPIRE 2012 – International Symposium of Physiome Improving Research and Engineering 2012, Busan, Korea, December 15, 2012. Talk title: “State space analysis of cell fate control”.
• Plenary Speaker at the 2012 IEEE International Conference on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics, Seoul, Korea, October 14-17, 2012. Talk title: “Can we control cellular thinking? – Analysis and control of the network-based information processing in a cell”.
• Plenary Speaker at the Frontiers of Natural Computing Workshop, University of York, U.K., September 10-12, 2012. Talk title: “The Core Processing Module of Cellular Computing Networks”.
• Plenary Speaker at the Walton Fellow Public Lecture, UCD, Ireland, June 15, 2012. Talk title: “Can a cell really think?”.
• Plenary Speaker at the SBI UCD and NUIG Joint Workshop, Galway, Ireland, March 29, 2012. Talk title: “Investigations into Rho-GTPase Signaling Network: A Systems Approach”.
• Plenary Speaker at the Systems Biology Ireland, UCD, Ireland, March 2, 2012. Talk title: “Uncovering the Essential Logic in a Cell: From Pathways Towards Networks”.
• Plenary Speaker at the National Short Course in Systems Biology, UC Irvine, CA, USA, Jan. 26, 2012. Talk title: “Dynamical Analysis of Biological Networks: Observing Structure and Seeing Dynamics and Function”.
• Plenary Speaker at the Department of Developmental and Cell Biology & Center for Complex Biological Systems, University of California, Irvine, CA, USA, Jan. 12, 2012. Talk title: “Multi-Scale Systems Biology: From Pathways Towards Networks”.
• Plenary Speaker at the International Conference on Control, Automation and Systems 2010 (ICCAS2010), Seoul, Korea, October 27-30, 2010. Talk title: “Systems Biology and Bio-Inspired Engineering: Challenges and Opportunities at the New Cross-Disciplinary Fields”.
• Plenary Speaker at the 11th International Conference on Systems Biology (ICSB2010), Edinburgh, U.K., October 10-15, 2010. Talk title: “The Cross-Regulation between Ras-Raf-MEK-ERK and PI3K-Akt Pathways Determines the Sensitivity to MEK Inhibitor”.
• Plenary Speaker at the International Workshop on Biological Networks – Principles and Dynamics (Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics China at the Chinese Academy of Sciences), Beijing, China, July 26-30, 2010. Talk title: “A Design Principle of Synchronized Oscillations in Biological Networks”.
• Plenary Speaker at the International Conference on Systems Biology of Stem Cells, Beckman Center of the National Academies of Sciences, Irvine, California, U.S.A., May 24-25, 2010. Talk title: “The kernel of a complex biomolecular interaction network”.
• Plenary Speaker at the Computational Systems Biology Workshop, Institute of Systems Biology, Shanghai University, China, September 19, 2009. Talk title: “Topology, dynamics, and emergent properties in biological interaction networks”.
• Plenary Speaker at the 3rd International Symposium on Optimization and Systems Biology (OSB2009), Zhangjiajie, China, September 20-22, 2009. Talk title: “Exploring the Design Principle of Emergent Properties in Biological Systems”.
• Keynote Speaker at the Annual Research Day Conference, ‘Systems Biology: Biological Networks in Action’, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands, May 19, 2009. Talk title: “Network systems biology: From molecules and cells towards network and dynamics”.
• Plenary Speaker at the 9th International Conference on Systems Biology (ICSB2008), Gothenburg, Sweden, August 23-27, 2008. Talk title: “From topology to dynamics and function: Coupled feedback loops in signaling networks”.
• Keynote Speaker at the Frontiers in the Convergence of Bioscience and Information Technologies 2007 (FBIT 2007), Jeju-do, Korea, Oct. 11-13, 2007. Talk title: “Systems biology as a merger of mathematics, computer simulations, and life sciences”.
• Plenary Speaker at the First International Conference on Integrated Computational Biology (ICB2006), Gyeongju, Korea, Dec. 8th, 2006. Talk title: “Systems biology: Exploring the hidden dynamics of cellular functioning through computations and experiments”.
• Keynote Speaker at the First International Conference on Computational Systems Biology (ICCSB2006), Shanghai, China, July 21st, 2006. Talk title: “Systems biology: Investigations into the hidden dynamics of pathways and networks”.
• Plenary Speaker at the International Seminar Series of Genome Institute of Singapore, Biopolis, Singapore. Sept. 30, 2005. Talk title: “Systems biology: Unraveling the cellular dynamics of pathways and networks”.