Meet our Innovators

Introduction

Can you share a bit about your background and how you came to join Ajinomoto CELLiST Korea's CSC team?
 

I trained as a biochemist, with a focus on enzymology and protein folding. Did you hear that the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded for advances in novel protein design and protein structure prediction? Protein folding is one of nature's most complex puzzles, and now Artificial Intelligence can solve the clues. 

After completing my graduate studies, I joined Genexine, where I worked as a protein scientist and in technical business roles. When ACK was founded, I became part of the team. 4 years ago, I joined CSC.

Vision at CSC
 

What inspired you to pursue a career in biotechnology, and what excites you most about working in this field?

During my university entrance interview, the professors asked me, 'Why did you choose Life Science?' I replied, 'I want to learn how to cure cancer.' Since then, my entire career has been focused on cancer biology, especially in antibody-related research. 

In ACK, I play an important role of "Medical advancement and better life" as described in our mission. My role in CSC is support customers with my knowledge and experience, especially protein science and metabolomics. Many of ACK's customers develop cutting-edge biopharmaceuticals, including impressive antibody biologics in their portfolios.

First Impressions
 

Outside of work, what hobbies or activities do you enjoy?

How do they help you maintain a work-life balance?

Road cycling, motorcycle, and SCUBA diving are my go-to activities. After about 4 hours, 30 minutes, and 5 minutes into each, respectively, I find myself fully focused. These activities help me relieve stress and give me a more positive outlook on life. Like "Alway Look on the Bright Side of Life", without nailed to a cross. I also get to keep all my equipment in top shape, and I actually enjoy the maintenance process: cleaning, tightening, lubricating. It’s satisfying work.

Leadership Approach
 

Could you describe your role as a Senior Scientist at CSC?

What are some of the key projects you've been involved in?
 

I was trained as a biochemist, and role in CSC is specializing in amino acid analysis in spent media and various aspects of proteins, both of which are critical to our customers' success. For example, the amino acid consumption profile during cell growth provides crucial insights into cell metabolism. With this metabolomic understanding, growth and production bottlenecks can often be resolved by simply adjusting the ratio of specific components in the cell culture media.

Additionally, my expertise in protein science and drug development allows me to effectively support my colleagues. From time to time, customer questionnaires cover a wide range of topics, requiring an understanding of extensive pharmaceutical science or regulatory backgrounds. To provide effective solutions, it is essential for all CSC members to have broad knowledge and access to a wide range of information.

Challenges in Transition

What significant challenges have you faced in your research or projects at CSC, and how did you overcome them?
 

Reproducibility is key. In my opinion, human error can lead to significant error accumulation, which may compromise the solutions provided to customers. That's why having a fully automated and reliable analytical process, while remaining flexible to meet customer needs, is crucial. I implemented such system.

For example, a single Ambr15 DoE media test can produce 7 to 10 sets of 24 samples and all of which must be analyzed together. Analyzing such a large batch can lead to accumulated errors, increasing data variability and making it difficult to extract meaningful insights. To address this, CSC now uses an automated liquid handler system for amino acid analysis, significantly improving reproducibility. All the processes are pre-designed and Scientist can focus data analysis without consideration of errors and deviations.

Future Development

How do you see CSC evolving in the next few years, and what role do you hope to play in that growth?
 

As a senior scientist, it's my responsibility to stay current with the latest knowledge and regulatory policies, ensuring we provide the right solutions for our customers and contribute to CSC's growth. With this in mind, our focus will be on delivering the right solutions for our customers. While ACK doesn’t supply upstream equipment, CSC can support any type of upstream equipment used in the customer’s lab or facility. Similarly, although ACK doesn’t prepare regulatory documents directly, CSC can provide relevant information to support customers’ regulatory requests.

The ultimate goal of CSC is customer success, and my key role is to help build a strong scientific and technical foundation to support that mission.