Professor
Seoul National University, Republic of Korea
Sunghoon Kwon (born December 23, 1975) is a Korean biomedical engineer, entrepreneur, and professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Seoul National University (SNU). He is also the CEO of Quantamatrix, a biotechnology company specializing in diagnostics.Born in Seoul, Kwon showed an early interest in computer programming. He studied Electrical Engineering at SNU, but a serious traffic accident during his third year changed his trajectory. Witnessing the impact of imaging technologies such as CT and MRI inspired him to pursue biomedical engineering. He earned his master’s degree at SNU’s Department of Medical Engineering, developing a wireless eye-tracking mouse for the disabled. He later pursued doctoral studies at the University of California, Berkeley, under Luke Pyungse Lee, focusing on bio/optical MEMS and lab-on-a-chip systems. He completed his Ph.D. in just three and a half years in 2003 and conducted research on nanomaterials at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. As a professor at SNU, Kwon has devoted his career to developing tools for life scientists and clinicians, aiming to advance personalized medicine. Under the motto “helping life scientists with technology”, his group has produced over 80 scientific publications, filed 130 patents, and launched two spin-off companies employing more than 200 staff. His research covers multiplex bioassay platforms, single-cell analysis, and computational immune profiling. Kwon has delivered plenary talks at major conferences, including IEEE MEMS and TEDx Korea. He was appointed an SNU Creative Distinguished Professor in 2012 and has received numerous prestigious awards, such as the Korean Presidential Young Scientist Award (2012), the Young Engineer Award from the National Academy of Engineering of Korea (2018), and the Pioneers of Miniaturization Lectureship from Lab on a Chip (2018). He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering of Korea and Y-KAST, reflecting his recognized contributions to science, engineering, and translational medicine.
