Dr. Jin-Ho Chung is a pioneering toxicologist who dedicated 33 years at Seoul National University, investigating how pharmaceuticals, food, and hazardous chemicals impact the human body.

His work fundamentally shifted the paradigm of toxicity evaluation. While conventional assessment examined organs and cells in isolation, he demonstrated that true physiological mechanisms only become clear when the interactions among cardiovascular tissues are considered as an integrated system. The baseline for assessing the cardiovascular risk of chemicals was redrawn by this research.

In 2013, the 13th International Congress of Toxicology invited him to deliver its opening award lecture — the Deichmann Lecture Award, the highest honor in the field. The AstraZeneca Award of the Society of Toxicology (2008) came before it, and the Order of Science and Technology Merit, Innovation Medal (2021) from the Korean government, after.

His expertise extends heavily into the policy arena. He served as an expert adviser to the National Assembly’s Special Committee on the Humidifier Disinfectant Inquiry, chair of the Cosmetic Ingredient Safety Verification Committee, and Director of the Science Advisory Group for Public Safety for the Ministry of Science and ICT, providing critical scientific judgment on matters bearing directly on public health.

He currently serves as President of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology (KAST), the nation’s premier body of scholars.