Jong-In Park

Jong-In Park, PhD, is a Professor and Eminent Scholar in the Department of Biochemistry at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW). His research focuses on oncogenic signaling pathways, metabolic reprogramming in cancer, and precision medicine, with a particular emphasis on mitochondrial stress responses and therapy resistance mechanisms. Dr. Park earned his BA and MA in Biochemistry from Yonsei University (1988, 1990), followed by a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics from the University of New South Wales (2000). After postdoctoral training at Johns Hopkins University, he joined MCW in 2006.

His research projects include studying mortalin’s role in MEK/ERK-activated tumor cells, targeting mitochondrial metabolism in RET-mutant cancers, and participating in the NCI-MATCH Precision Medicine Trial. He has held grants from NIH, ACS, and DOD, and received awards such as the ACS Research Scholar Award (2023), DOD New Investigator Award, and FAMRI Young Investigator Award. He is also recognized for teaching excellence at both medical and graduate levels.

Key contributions include elucidating mitochondrial death machinery regulated by mortalin and identifying combination therapies for BRAF/MEK-driven cancers. His lab investigates mitochondrial stress in oncogenic pathways and translational therapies, with findings published in Cell Reports, Oncogene, and Nature Communications.