Jun-Yong Choe

Jun-Yong Choe is an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of New Mexico (UNM). His research focuses on structural biology, carbohydrate-related proteins, and drug discovery, with a particular emphasis on glucose transporters (GLUTs) and their roles in cancer, diabetes, and metabolic disorders. He employs high-throughput methodologies including X-ray crystallography, membrane protein biochemistry, and computational modeling.

Education: B.S. in Biophysics (1997, Iowa State University), M.S. in Biochemistry (1998, Iowa State University), Ph.D. in Biophysics (2001, Iowa State University), and postdoctoral training at Caltech (2004). His career includes prior roles at the Structural Genomics Consortium (Toronto), UCLA, Chicago Medical School, and East Carolina University.

Research interests include:

• Structural basis of GLUT function and ligand specificity
• Salicylic acid storage mechanisms in plants (collaboration with DePaul University)
• Cofactor-independent decarboxylases for industrial applications (collaboration with Goethe University)

Key contributions: Discovery of GLUT-selective inhibitors (e.g., MSNBA for GLUT5), structural elucidation of plant glucosyltransferases (UGT74F1/2), and yeast-based screening systems for drug development. His work bridges fundamental structural biology with translational applications in medicine and biotechnology.

Labs/Teams: Collaborations involve Dr. Mislav Oreb (yeast engineering), Dr. John Dean (plant metabolism), and Dr. Ramaa Chennareddy (cancer pharmacology). Current efforts focus on anticancer GLUT inhibitors and metabolic pathway engineering.