Cheon Jin-woo, an Underwood Distinguished Professor at Yonsei University who pioneered the field of nanomedicine, has been selected as this year's recipient of the Korea Top Scientist and Engineer Award.
The Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT) and the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies announced Cheon's selection as the winner of the 2026 Korea Top Scientist and Engineer Award on Tuesday. The award is Korea's most prestigious science prize, given to scientists and engineers who have produced world-class research achievements. It has been awarded since 2003, with a total of 48 recipients through last year.
Cheon was recognized for combining nanochemistry and biotechnology to propose new approaches that go beyond the limits of conventional medicine, including disease diagnosis, cell therapy, and brain circuit correction. Nanomedicine is a field that applies materials and technologies operating at the nanometer scale to medicine. Its range of application is expanding beyond disease diagnosis and drug delivery to brain-computer interfaces and neuroscience research.
His representative achievement is nano-magnetogenetics technology. Cheon demonstrated that neuron activity in living animals can be controlled wirelessly and remotely using magnetic fields. This is regarded as an achievement that simultaneously solved "wireless control" and "molecular-level biological selectivity," both considered challenges in the field of brain-computer interfaces. By opening the possibility of precisely controlling specific neural circuits in the brain without surgery, it presented a new paradigm for treating brain diseases.
The related research achievements were published in the international journal Nature Materials in 2021 and Nature Nanotechnology in 2024, respectively. MSIT expects that nano-magnetogenetics technology could clarify how brain circuits work and lead to research on treatments for intractable brain diseases such as Parkinson's disease, dementia, and depression.
Cheon has also contributed to building the foundation for domestic nanomedicine research. He established the Center for Nanomedicine at the Institute for Basic Science in 2015, and in 2025 attracted an international Max Planck research center. Through this, he is credited with helping to develop Korea into a world-class nanomedicine research hub. He is a fellow of the American Chemical Society and the Royal Society of Chemistry, and serves as an associate editor of the Journal of the American Chemical Society, a leading global chemistry journal.
Cheon received his bachelor's and master's degrees from the Department of Chemistry at Yonsei University, then earned his doctorate from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in the United States. He subsequently worked at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, UC Berkeley, UCLA, and KAIST, before joining the Department of Chemistry at Yonsei University as a professor in 2002. He currently serves as an Underwood Distinguished Professor at Yonsei University, director of the IBS Center for Nanomedicine, and director of the Max Planck-Yonsei IBS Center.
Beginning late last year, MSIT conducted a three-stage evaluation of candidates recommended through open recruitment and identification, including a review by specialists, a field review, and an integrated review. The final recipient was selected through a comprehensive assessment of research and development achievements, as well as contributions to economic development and impact on improving people's lives.
The award ceremony will take place at the 2026 World Korean Science and Technology Conference on Wednesday. Cheon will receive a presidential certificate and a prize of 300 million won.
