Gijung Kwak, PhD

2009.03 - 2015.02   B.S., Department of Polymer Engineering, INHA University, Republic of Korea.

2015.03 - 2020.02   Ph. D., Department of Nano-Bio-Information Technology, KU-KIST Graduate School of Cenversing Science and Technology, KOREA University, Republic of Korea (Prof. Ick Chan Kwon and Dr. Sun Hwa Kim).

2018.10 - 2019.01   Visiting Student Researcher, Department of Bioengineering, College of Engineering, University of California at Berkeley, CA, US (Prof. ‪Phillip B Messersmith).

2020.09 - 2023.08   Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Center for Nanomedicine, Wilmer Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, MD, US (Prof. Jung Soo Suk).

2023.09 – Present   Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, US (Prof. Jung Soo Suk).

Non-viral drug delivery, polymeric nanoparticles, extracellular vesicles, brain/lung/eye drug delivery, pDNA/mRNA/RNAi based therapy, cancer gene therapy.

Gijung Kwak*, Sung Duk Jo*, Dongkyu Kim, Hyosuk Kim, Myung Goo Kim, Kwangmeyung Kim, Ick Chan Kwon, and Sun Hwa Kim "Synergistic antitumor effects of combination treatment with metronomic doxorubicin and VEGF-targeting RNAi nanoparticles" Journal of Controlled Release, 2017, 267, 203-213. IF: 11.47. DOI: 10.1016/j.jconrel.2017.08.015.

Gijung Kwak, Dongkyu Kim, Gi-hoon Nam, Sun Young Wang, In-San Kim, Sun Hwa Kim, Ick-Chan Kwon, and Yoon Yeo "Programmed Cell Death Protein Ligand-1 Silencing with Polyethylenimine–Dermatan Sulfate Complex for Dual Inhibition of Melanoma Growth" ACS Nano, 2017, 11 (10), 10135-10146. IF: 18.03. DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.7b04717

Gijung Kwak*, Hyosuk Kim*, Jooho Park, Eun Hye Kim, Hochung Jang, Geonhee Han, Sun Young Wang, Yoosoo Yang, Ick Chan Kwon, and Sun Hwa Kim "A Trojan-Horse Strategy by In Situ Piggybacking onto Endogenous Albumin for Tumor-Specific Neutralization of Oncogenic MicroRNA" ACS Nano, 2021, 15(7), 11369–11384. IF: 18.03. DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.1c00799

Gijung Kwak, Jing Cheng, Hyosuk Kim, Sukyung Song, Su Jin Lee, Yoosoo Yang, Ji Hoon Jeong, Ji Eun Lee, Phillip B. Messersmith, and Sun Hwa Kim "Sustained Exosome-Guided Macrophage Polarization Using Hydrolytically Degradable PEG Hydrogels for Cutaneous Wound Healing: Identification of Key Proteins and MiRNAs, and Sustained Release Formulation" Small, 2022, IF: 15.15. DOI: 10.1002/smll.202200060

Daiheon Lee*, Gijung Kwak*, Thomas V Johnson, and Jung Soo Suk "Formulation and Evaluation of Polymer‐Based Nanoparticles for Intravitreal Gene‐Delivery Applications" Current Protocols, 2022, 2(12), e607. IF: 2.74. DOI: 10.1002/cpz1.607

Karina Negron*, Gijung Kwak*, Heng Wang, Haolin Li, Yi‐Ting Huang, Shun‐Wen Chen, Betty Tyler, Charles G Eberhart, Justin Hanes, and Jung Soo Suk "A Highly Translatable Dual‐arm Local Delivery Strategy to Achieve Widespread Therapeutic Coverage in Healthy and Tumor‐bearing Brain Tissues" Small, 2023, 2207278. IF: 15.15. DOI: 10.1002/smll.202207278

Gijung Kwak, Olesia Gololobova, Neeraj Sharma, Colin Caine, Marina Mazur, Kathleen Mulka, Natalie E. West, George M. Solomon, Garry R. Cutting, Kenneth W. Witwer, Steven M. Rowe, Michael Paulaitis, George Aslanidi, and Jung Soo Suk "Extracellular vesicle enhances pulmonary transduction of stably associated adeno-associated virus following intratracheal administration" Journal of Extracellular Vesicles, 2023, 12, e12324. IF: 17.34. DOI: 10.1002/jev2.12324

Divya Rao*, Gijung Kwak*, Heng Wang, Charles Eberhart, Justin Hanes, and Jung Soo Suk "Bioreducible gene delivery platform that promotes intracellular payload release and widespread brain dispersion" ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, 2023. IF: 5.80. DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.3c00799