{"id":50758,"date":"2025-10-03T08:43:29","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T12:43:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/?post_type=news&p=50758"},"modified":"2025-10-23T09:27:10","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T13:27:10","slug":"full-circle-alumnus-returns-to-chembe-as-professor","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/full-circle-alumnus-returns-to-chembe-as-professor\/","title":{"rendered":"Full Circle: Alumnus Returns to ChemBE as Professor"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sangkyun Cho<\/a>, Engr\u201913, joined the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering<\/a> as an assistant professor on August 1, returning to the department where his scientific journey began.<\/p>\n

\u201cI completed my undergraduate studies in ChemBE here at Johns Hopkins, so this is a homecoming,\u201d said Cho, who is a core faculty member at the Whiting School of Engineering\u2019s Institute for NanoBioTechnology<\/a>. \u201cReturning to Johns Hopkins, where I first learned how to hold a pipette, feels like coming full circle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cho\u2019s research combines biology, engineering, and data science to better understand and treat fibrosis, a major driver of pathology and aging of nearly all of our solid organs. His lab is particularly interested in the development of new precision therapies against fibrosis-associated conditions, including cardiovascular disease and cancer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was inspired early on as an undergraduate student by the idea that mechanical signals\u2014something as fundamental as stiffness or stretch\u2014could profoundly alter cell fate, drive pathology, and potentially be harnessed to promote healing and regeneration,\u201d said Cho.<\/p>\n

His interests have since expanded to include bioinformatics and cardiovascular physiology, along with a broader focus on understanding and engineering the complex microenvironments that regulate tissue health and disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cA common underlying theme in my research is understanding how our cells interact with each other and with their complex physical microenvironment,\u201d said Cho.<\/p>\n

In a recent study published in Nature<\/em><\/a>, he led a team that developed a dual \u201cmechanotherapy\u201d to combat heart failure and fibrosis. At Johns Hopkins, Cho\u2019s lab will investigate how mechanical forces and chemical signals work together to control how fibroblasts\u2014cells that help build and repair tissue\u2014change their behavior and develop into different specialized types. He will explore how these processes differ between females and males across various diseases, as well as how cells communicate with each other during scarring and tissue regeneration.<\/p>\n

After earning his bachelor\u2019s degree at Johns Hopkins, Cho pursued a PhD with Dennis Discher<\/a> at the University of Pennsylvania, where he explored how cells\u2014 specifically, their nuclei, sense and respond to mechanical stress. Cho completed postdoctoral training under Joseph Wu<\/a> at Stanford University School of Medicine, focusing on cardiovascular fibrosis, single-cell genomics, and stem cell-based tissue engineering.<\/p>\n

\u201cProfessionally, I was drawn back to Hopkins\u2019 ChemBE because of its strong interdisciplinary culture, its leadership in bioengineering, and the exciting opportunities to collaborate across engineering, medicine, and the life sciences,\u201d said Cho.<\/p>\n

He said he is looking forward to building his lab \u201cfrom the ground up\u2014bringing together a diverse group of students and postdocs, establishing new collaborations across Hopkins, and launching our first set of projects. The department provided me with so many opportunities that were foundational to my career, and I look forward to giving back through service, mentorship, and teaching.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside the lab, Cho enjoys running, basketball, and experimenting with fermentation.<\/p>\n

\u201cLately, I\u2019ve gotten into fermenting different foods at home, like pickles, sauerkraut, and kimchi, which I am finding is a very productive and enjoyable activity, especially for a chemical engineer,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","class_list":["post-50758","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","news_categories-alumni","news_categories-faculty"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFull Circle: Alumnus Returns to ChemBE as Professor - Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/full-circle-alumnus-returns-to-chembe-as-professor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Full Circle: Alumnus Returns to ChemBE as Professor - Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sangkyun Cho, Engr\u201913, joined the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering as an assistant professor on August 1, returning to the department where his scientific journey began. \u201cI completed my…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/engineering.jhu.edu\/chembe\/news\/full-circle-alumnus-returns-to-chembe-as-professor\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-10-23T13:27:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Full Circle: Alumnus Returns to ChemBE as Professor - 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