Focused on Achievements with the Goal of Solving Diseases
13 SCI Papers and 8 Patent Applications
Dohyun Kim, a researcher in the Department of Chemistry at UNIST (President: Chong Rae Park), has been awarded the '2025 Korea Talent Award (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Award)' for his research on overcoming cancer and aging. The award ceremony was held on December 24 at the Government Sejong Convention Center.
Since entering UNIST as an undergraduate in 2014, Dr. Kim has achieved a series of accomplishments in chemical research aimed at disease treatment and aging intervention over the past 11 years, culminating in his doctoral degree in August of this year.
He was highly recognized for conducting research at a single institution from undergraduate through doctoral studies and for successfully translating fundamental research into publications, patents, and technology transfer.
The Korea Talent Award is hosted by the Ministry of Education and organized by the Korea Student Aid Foundation. It selects young talents who demonstrate creativity and initiative and have the potential to contribute to societal development.
It is known that Dr. Kim's decision to pursue a research career was shaped by personal experience. While assisting his father, who had mobility difficulties, he realized the urgent need to address disease-related issues and chose the integrated master's and doctoral program at UNIST with the goal of finding solutions through science.
During his research, Dr. Kim, together with Professor Yujahyeong, explored unconventional approaches. He repeatedly formulated hypotheses and verified them through experiments, and these research achievements formed the basis for this award.
His work has attracted attention from leading academic journals. Dr. Kim published research on compounds that induce cancer cell death in 'JACS Au' and 'Nano Letters', both journals of the American Chemical Society. He also published a study on supramolecular peptides targeting senescent cell elimination in the 'Journal of the American Chemical Society'. His paper on the development of peptides that degrade the cancer cell protein 'PD-L1' was published in 'Advanced Science'.
Since 2021, Dr. Kim has published five first-author papers in SCI-level international journals and co-authored eight additional papers. He has filed eight patents, one of which has been registered, and has successfully transferred one technology to industry.
He has also achieved recognition at academic conferences. He received the Outstanding Oral Presentation Award from the Organic Chemistry Division of the Korean Chemical Society for three consecutive years since 2023, the Outstanding Poster Award from the Korean Chemical Society in 2024, and the Best Oral Presentation Award from the Polymer Society of Korea in 2023. In 2025, he received the Outstanding Student Researcher Award from the Korean Society for Biomaterials, the Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award from the Korean Chemical Society, and the KCS-ACS Graduate Student and Postdoctoral Researcher Award simultaneously.
Dr. Kim stated, "I have been able to continue my research thanks to the support of many people, and I will fulfill my responsibility as a researcher by giving back to society." He added, "I will keep the meaning of the Korea Talent Award in mind and continue to seek answers at the research site."
During his school years, Dr. Kim was selected as an MBC Scholarship recipient and a Samsung Dream Scholarship recipient. At university, he received scholarships from UNIST and the Kyungdong Scholarship, and during graduate school, he continued his studies with support from the Asan Foundation.
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