Haejin Yoon, Ph.D.

Haejin Yoon, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Science at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) in Ulsan, Republic of Korea. Following graduate training in biomedical science at the College of Medicine in Seoul National University, Dr. Haejin studied mitochondrial lipid metabolism during her postdoctoral research at Harvard Medical School. She has contributed to understanding the effects of metabolic enzymes PHD3 on energy homeostasis.

Her lab aims to identify new role of lipid species in muscle biology, and to investigate the novel physiological role of lipid oxidation in metabolic disease.

She has received a number of honors, including the Korean Society for Molecular and Cellular Biology-Hanmi New Scholar Award, and selection for the Young Researcher Program in National Research Foundation of Korea .

In Haejin’s graduate research program, she studied acetylation of hypoxia-inducible factor 1a for cancer cell adaptation and acetylation of RUNX2 in osteoblast differentiation. Additionally, to understand the epigenetic regulation in hypoxia, she studied the dynamic histone methylation by factor inhibiting HIF in hypoxia. Oxygen is most important factor to alter mitochondria metabolism. Dr. Yoon’s postdoctoral work in Dr. Marcia Haigis lab identified PHD3-dependent ACC2 hydroxylation for fat oxidation and exercise capacity. These experiences have guided Haejin to develop her interests in the basic mechanisms of energy metabolism and their important implications for metabolic syndrome, which will directly impact human health.