Sungwhan received his bachelor’s degree in chemistry, summa cum laude, at Seoul National University in 2003, and moved to Boston for his graduate studies in the Division of Medical Science, Harvard Medical School. In 2009, he defended his Ph.D. dissertation on the biosynthesis and pro-resolving activity of endogenous lipid mediators, in the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, HMS, under the supervision of Prof. Charles N. Serhan. Sungwhan joined the Kasper laboratory in 2011, where he worked as a postdoctoral fellow (2011-2016) and instructor (2017-2018), supported by a Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation research fellowship (2013-2015), and a research scientist development award from NIDDK (2015-present). By using high-sensitivity mass spectrometric platforms, he identified and characterized several molecules of gut symbiotic origin and elucidated their immunomodulatory functions.

Currently, Sungwhan is a Principal Investigator at the Center for Experimental Therapeutics and Reperfusion Injury (CETRI), Brigham and Women’s Hospital. His group closely collaborates with the Kasper laboratory, synergizing expertise in synthetic and analytical chemistry, immunology and microbiology to understand the molecular mechanisms of host-microbiota-diet interaction.