Prof. Nam-Joon Cho

MRS-Singapore Chair Professor; Director (Flagship Program) President's Office; Director, Centre for Cross Economy Global University Centre

Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

Dr. Cho is a graduate of Stanford University where he earned an M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering, and a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering under the guidance of Professor Curtis W. Frank. During his doctoral studies, Dr. Cho first gained an interest in research at the interface of molecular virology and biomaterials. The principal goal of his thesis work was to develop lab-on-a-chip technologies for analysis of viral protein interactions with lipid membranes.

Dr. Cho then continued his postdoctoral training in Professor Jeffrey S. Glenn’s group in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the Stanford University School of Medicine. He applied these engineering technologies to combat the Hepatitis C virus (HCV), which affects over 150 million people worldwide. His work has led to significant advances for treating HCV, including new drugs currently in preclinical or clinical trials. In addition, Dr. Cho has pioneered a novel approach to liver tissue engineering that has enabled an improved artificial organ system for studying liver disease.

His passion for translational and regenerative medicine has been recognized by several prestigious international honors and awards from the American Liver Foundation, Beckman Foundation, and leading global universities and companies including Chalmers University of Technology and Roche Ltd. In 2011, Dr. Cho was named an NRF Fellow by the Singapore National Research Foundation, and was also appointed to a Nanyang Associate Professorship. In addition to his academic duties, Dr. Cho is the founder of infollutionZERO, a global nonprofit organization committed to building a green digital world for future generations by eradicating infollution (information + pollution) from the digital world.