Wallace H. Coulter Distinguished Faculty Chair Prof. Hanjoong Jo received the 2025 Scientist of the Year Award from the Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association (KSEA) and Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies (KFOST) at the 38th annual U.S.-Korea Conference on Science, Technology, and Entrepreneurship. The award praised Jo as a leader who “exemplifies scientific excellence, international collaboration, and community leadership.” 

Reflecting on the award, Jo expressed deep gratitude, “I am humbled and honored to receive this prestigious award. This recognition would not have been possible without the dedication and brilliance of my team over the past three decades. I share this achievement with former and current members of my team. I am also grateful to my family for their unwavering love and support, which have inspired and sustained me throughout my career.”

Jo is an internationally recognized leader in vascular mechanobiology, whose pioneering work has revealed how blood flow and mechanical forces drive the development of atherosclerosis and related cardiovascular diseases. His team’s discoveries have identified flow-sensitive genes and proteins as novel therapeutic targets to prevent and treat these diseases.

As a Korean-born American biomedical engineer, Jo has worked to establish a thriving network of biomedical engineers between the United States and Korea. He has been an active leader in the KSEA, serving as Vice President and in various leadership positions. He also served as the Founding President of the Korean-American Biomedical Engineering Society. During the 2014 Biomedical Engineering Society meeting, Jo organized a U.S.-Korea joint workshop, which has become a featured special session in the annual BMES meeting.

Established in 1971, the Korean-American Scientists and Engineers Association represents over 30,000 members engaged in science, engineering, and entrepreneurship.