Hojoong Kwak, M.D., Ph.D., M.S., was born in South Korea where he earned his M.D. before transitioning into research under the mentorship of Dr. Woong Yank Park. Dr. Kwak moved to the United States to pursue graduate studies focusing on the mechanisms of transcription regulation. Following his doctoral training, Dr. Kwak worked in labs with Dr. Vivian Cheung and Dr. Hyun Min Kang where he expanded his expertise in RNA biology and computational approaches. Dr. Kwak established his own lab at Cornell University building a research program dedicated to RNA regulation and its implications in gene expression and cellular function. 

Dr. Kwak relocated his lab to NYMC aiming to expand his research into the role of RNA regulation in disease mechanisms. His work continues to advance the understanding of RNA biology and its impact on health and disease. 

Areas of Expertise

• Gene Expression Regulation
• Human Genetics
• Bioinformatics/Computational Biology

Education

• Ph.D., Cornell University
• M.D., Seoul National University
• M.S., Seoul National University
• Undergraduate: Seoul National University

Honors and Awards

• Outstanding Cornellian, Cornell University 
• International Student Research Fellowship, Howard Hughes Medical Institute
• Presidential Life Science Fellowship, Cornell University
• Gold Medalist, International Physics Olympiad

Research

• Dynamics of RNA polymerase pausing and elongation
• Enhancer RNA Genetics and nascent RNA Methods
• Characterization of phase separated RNA granules in cell stress
• Poly(A) RNA processing and RNA stability
• Nuclear phase condensates and role of FUS in chromatin dynamics

Publications

• Lee SA, Kristjánsdóttir K, Kwak H, et. al. "eRNA co-expression network uncovers TF dependency and convergent cooperativity." Scientific reports, 13(1), (2023) 19085. doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-46415-2
• Lee SA, Kristjánsdóttir K, Kwak H, et. al. "Revealing eRNA interactions: TF dependency and convergent cooperativity." Research square, (), (2023) . pii: rs.3.rs-2592357. doi: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2592357/v1
• Bae S, Kim K, Kang K, et. al. "RANKL-responsive epigenetic mechanism reprograms macrophages into bone-resorbing osteoclasts." Cellular & molecular immunology, 20(1), (2023) 94-109. doi: 10.1038/s41423-022-00959-x
• Kwak Y, Daly CWP, Fogarty EA, et. al. "Dynamic and widespread control of poly(A) tail length during macrophage activation." RNA (New York, N.Y.), 28(7), (2022) 947-971. doi: 10.1261/rna.078918.121
• Kwak Y, Kwak H. "Genome-Wide Identification of Polyadenylation Dynamics with TED-Seq." Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.), 2404(), (2022) 281-298. doi: 10.1007/978-1-0716-1851-6_15
• Kristjánsdóttir K, Dziubek A, Kang HM, et. al. "Population-scale study of eRNA transcription reveals bipartite functional enhancer architecture." Nature communications, 11(1), (2020) 5963. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-19829-z
• Park SR, Namkoong S, Friesen L, et. al. "Single-Cell Transcriptome Analysis of Colon Cancer Cell Response to 5-Fluorouracil-Induced DNA Damage." Cell reports, 32(8), (2020) 108077. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.108077

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