Korean-American Professional Association in Life Sciences (KAPAL) is a non-profit organization open to anyone who is interested in learning life science, sharing knowledge, and contributing to the development of all areas of life science.  We are organizing many social and scientific events to share expertise and experience, and to build professional networks among the broad range of experts in life sciences.  Our organization is open to all professionals in all ethnic groups, and spur social/scientific events with diverse organizations related to life sciences.

Don’t hesitate to contact us to find out more and stay tuned for upcoming exciting events.

The organization’s three main goals are following:

1)    To promote exchange of knowledge and experience among Korean-American professionals in the life science industries, academia, and research institutes in the United States,

2)    To facilitate constructive networks and spur collaborations among diverse professionals in life sciences

3)    To cultivate young scientists and experts for their success and contribution to life sciences

본 한미생명과학인 협회는 생명과학 및 제약 보건 관련 전문가들의 교류협력을 목적으로한 비영리 단체입니다.  생명과학과 보건산업에 관심있는 분들은 참여할수 있으며 회원간의 정보교환및 한미 바이오 산업의 발전을 추구하는 단체입니다.

워싱턴 디씨 메트로 지역에 생명과학인들은 커리어세미나, 생명과학포럼과 바이오-파마심포지엄등의 다양한 행사들로 한미제약산업과 생명과학산업의 발전을 도모하는 활동들을 하며 협회의 창조경제적이고 상호발전적인 취지의 행사들을 추진하고 있습니다.  현재 30여개 이상의 기관과 기업의 전문회원들이 협회활동에 참가하여 기업, 학계, 기관에 걸쳐 넓은 네트워크를 구축하며 협력사업과 공동발전에 지약적으로 노력을 하고 있습니다.  많은 관심과 참여를 바랍니다.

State of Maryland filing number: 500XXXXXXXXXX371
Employer Identification Number (EIN): 82-1559580


Organizing Committees

Jihoon Park, Ph.D.
President
Managing Partner, Linkorus, LLC.
VP Admin, Baudax Bio, Inc.
COO and VP Finance, Teraimmune, Inc.
Postdoctoral Fellow, NHBLI, NIH
PhD, Biochemistry, Chungnam National University, South Korea.

Han-Sol Park, Ph.D.
Vice President
Senior Research Associate, Johns Hopkins University
Immune Response Core Manager, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg
School of Public Health
Previously worked as a Visiting Fellow at the NIA/NIH.
Ph.D. in Medical Science, Asan Institute for Life Science, Korea

Kwan-Ho (Alex) Chung, J.D., Ph.D.
General Director
Partner, Sheppard Mullin
Partner, Perkins Coie LLP
Associate, Jones Day, Finnegan, Sterne Kessler
Postdoctoral Fellow, NEI/NIH
Ph.D. in Neuroscience, Univ. of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI
M.S. in Immunology & B.S. in Microbiology, Seoul National University, Seoul, ROK

Suntae Kim, Ph.D.
IT Director
Director, Connext Co. Ltd.

Previously worked as CDO, MedGene Therapeutics Inc.; Project Manager & Senior Director, KCRN Research; Principal Scientist, G+FLAS Lifesciences; Postdoc & Research Fellow, NCI, NIH
Ph.D. in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology, Environmental Toxicology, Michigan State University

Byung Ha Lee, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Chief Scientific Officer, NeoImmuneTech, Inc.

Former President, KAPAL (2021-2024)
Genexine, Inc
NIAID, NIH, USA
Samsung Biomedical Research Institute
Postdoc, The University of Florida College of Dentistry
Ph.D. in Immunology and Microbiology, The University of Florida College of Medicine

Sang Tae Park, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Chief Executive Officer, COREE LLC

Chief Executive Officer, Dx&Vx, a KOSDAQ company
Chief Executive Officer, Psomagen, a KOSDAQ company
Lead Scientist, The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard/Boston Univ/NEIDL
Postdoc, Harvard Medical School/Children’s Hospital Boston
Ph.D. in Molecular Microbiology, Yonsei University

Eunkyung An, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Manager at mProbe
Senior Scientist at NantOmics
Scientist at Oncoplex Diagnostics
Post-doctoral fellow at the NIAID/NIH.
Ph.D. in Biochemistry and molecular genetics, The George Washington University

Woosub Lee, MBA
General Director
Managing Partner, SID Partners
Deputy Director, Korea Innovation Center Washington D.C.
IT Sector Equity Analyst, Mayor Fund
Finance Manager, Korean Air

Juny Kim, MBA
Public Affairs Director
Director, CRScube America, Inc

Director, Clinical Research Marketing, Inc
Associate Director, KCRN Research, LLC
Worked as Team Leader, Bison Medical co,. Ltd.
MBA, Hood College

Helena Hyesook Ahn, Ph.D.
Financial Director
Previously worked as Program Specialist and Biologist at NIH/NCCIH and as Project & Regulatory Associate at KCRN Research. Postdoc, Yale University
Ph.D. in Neurobiology, The Catholic University of Korea

Cheol Lee, Ph.D.
Scientific Director
Scientist, Kelly Government Solutions

Postdoc, NICHD, NIH
Ph.D. in Neuroscience, Uniformed Services University

Eunjung Choi, M.S.
Administrative Director
Principal Investigator, Frontage CRO
Seoul National University Hospital
M.S in Biotechnology, City University of New York
B.S. Yonsei University, Korea

Young O (Dennis) Hahm, MPS
BD Director
Director, Business Development at TeraImmune, Inc.
Previously worked as Senior Manager, Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and Korea International Trade Association (KITA)
MPS in Cybersecurity, the George Washington University and B.A. in Economics, University of Maryland College Park

Bumrae Cho, J.D./LL.M.
Program Director

Partner, Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP.
Previously worked as Partner at Dentons US LLP.
LL.M., Franklin Pierce Law Center (University of New Hampshire)
LL.M., Yonsei University, B.S. Yonsei University
Admitted in DC and MA

Youngmi Ji, PhD
Program Director

Functional Genomicist with extensive experience working at NIH research and DOD military research environment over 20 years.
Senior Research Fellow at the NIAMS/NIH, a Guest Researcher at the NIBIB/NIH, and an Assistant Professor at USUHS.
Ph.D. in Molecular Developmental Biology, Chungnam National University, Korea

JongJoo Lee, Ph.D.
Scientific Director
Principal Scientist, Kaigene
Scientist at Kairos Bioconsulting LLC.; Scientist at NCI.; Visiting fellow & Research fellow at NIDDK.
Ph.D. in Molecular Biology, Hanyang University, Korea

Seungwook Shin, Ph.D.
Public Affairs Director
Senior Scientist, AstraZeneca
Postdoc at NIDDK, NIH and JSPS fellow at The University of Tokyo.
Ph.D. in Developmental Biology, Kindai University, Japan


Senior Advisors

Heemin Rhee, Ph.D.
President, Health Research International
Principal Investigator, International Scientific Standard.  Worked over 30 years at FDA DMEP/OND/CDER.  Visiting Professor, Howard University Medical School
Associate Professor, Oral Robert University Medical School
Ph.D. in Pharmacology, Ohio State University Medical School

Hae-Young Ahn, Ph.D., RAC
CEO & President, AhnBio Consulting, Inc.
Former Deputy Director, Division of Clinical Pharmacology, CDER, FDA.  29 years of experience in US FDA.  B.S. in pharmacy from Ewha Womans University.  M.S. in pharmaceutics from Seoul National University.  Ph.D. in pharmaceutics from West Virginia University.  Postdoctoral training in pharmaceutics at the University of Michigan

Hong-Woon Yang, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist, Sanofi
Over 16 years of experience in small molecule-based drug discovery.  Previously worked at Array BioPharma, CoMentis, and GlycoMimetics.  Postdoc, Johns Hopkins University.  Ph.D. in Chemistry, Texas A&M University

Luke YS Oh, Ph.D.
CEO, NeoImmuneTech, Inc
Over 14 years of experience in biopharmaceuticals for small molecules and antibodies. Worked as associate director at Questcor Pharma and Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals. Spearheaded immunology research group in Human Genome Sciences. Research scientist and council member at Vertex Pharmaceuticals.
Ph.D. in Neuroimmunology at McGill University and postdoc at UCONN

Jeong Kuen (JK) Song, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist, L&J Biosciences
Postdoc & Research Fellow, NINDS, NIH
Ph.D. in Neuroscience, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

 


Organizing Committees of KAPAL CA

Hyun Jong Kim, MBA
President, KAPAL CA
CEO, Flann Corp, Healthcare Consultant
Managing Partner, Parliament Venture Capital I, NYC
Harvard Medical School GHLP, US
MBA, Washington University in St. Louis – Olin, US
B.A., Yonsei University, Korea

Mike Lee, FACHE, NHA, MBA
Executive Director
Senior Advisor, Generations HCN, Partner, Flann Inc
Managing Partner, Culminate Care
Previously worked as COO, 360 Clinic.md.
Fellow of American College of Healthcare Executives
MBA, USC Marshall School of Business.

James Y. Lee
Program Director
Director of Business Development, Culminate Care
Previously worked as Director of Community Health, 360 Clinic; Manager, Business Development, KHIDI USA
B.A., University of California, Berkeley

Jake Hostetler
Community Engagement Director
Head of Business Development, BioGraphene, Inc.
Previously worked as Business Development Manager, NETRONIC Software GmbH and Metadium Technology, Inc.
B.A. in International Business & Development, Dickinson College

Yong Seok Choi, Ph.D.
General Director

Chief Technology Officer, Graphene Square, Inc.
Ph.D. in Chemistry, Seoul National University

Heejoon Um, MBA.
General Director

Director of Business, VPIX Medical, Inc. and CEO, VPIX Medical US, Inc.
Previously worked as Sales Manager, Mitsui Chemicals, Japan.
MBA, UCLA Anderson
B.A., Waseda University, Japan


Senior Advisors, KAPAL CA

Stanford Jhee, Pharm.D.
Corporate Vice President of Scientific Affairs PAREXEL International
Member of the American Society of Clinical Pharmacology
Member of the Japanese Society of Clinical Pharmacology
Doctor of Pharmacy, University of Southern California (USC)
Studied Biological Sciences from the University of California at Irvine(UCI)