Oh chosen for HHMI early career scientist

Oh Dong-chan, pharmacy professor of Seoul National University, has been chosen as one of the early career scientists of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, an internationally renowned research foundation, SNU said Wednesday.

Oh is expected to receive $715,000 for the next five years in funding for his research on microbes in relation to drug use, according to the school.

“The research on discovering new antibiotic compounds based on microbes is promising … on discovering antibiotics from natural sources. It can contribute to overcoming tolerance to existing antibiotics,” said Oh. 

Oh received his Ph.D in natural product chemistry at the University of California, San Diego and worked in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard Medical School.

Oh has served as professor of pharmacy at SNU since 2009 and focused on discovering new antibiotic compounds by studying microbes.

The early career scientist award was established last year by the HHMI to support promising young American scientists, but has also awarded 28 international scientists to encourage biomedical research on the international stage.

By Lee Woo-young (wylee@heraldcorp.com)