Jung Kwon

Jung Kwon serves as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Food Science & Technology at Oregon State University, where he leads the Nutritional Pharmacology Lab (Kwon Lab). His research focuses on nutritional, nutraceutical, and biological impacts of dietary resources at cellular and physiological levels, with particular emphasis on developing applications for human health promotion and disease prevention. The lab operates in facilities at Wiegand Hall and Linus Pauling Science Center.

Dr. Kwon's educational background includes:

• B.S. (2004) - Seoul National University, Food Science & Technology
• M.S. (2006) - Seoul National University, Food Science & Technology
• Ph.D. (2012) - Purdue University, Food Science
• Postdoc (2012-2013) - UC Berkeley, Nutritional Sciences & Toxicology
• Postdoc (2014-2016) - UMass Medical School, Program in Molecular Medicine

His research interests center on identifying bioactive compounds with metabolic regulatory effects and exploring the nutritional applications of food processing byproducts. Kwon Lab's work particularly investigates marine-derived compounds, seaweed proteins, and bioactive peptides from fish byproducts, with applications ranging from obesity management to skin health and sustainable food systems. His approach integrates cellular and physiological studies with computational methods for peptide discovery.

Analysis of Dr. Kwon's recent publications reveals a strong focus on marine resources, particularly seaweeds and fish byproducts, for health applications. His work spans nutritional biochemistry, molecular mechanisms of bioactive compounds, and sustainable utilization of underutilized dietary resources. Key themes include obesity and metabolic health interventions, skin photoaging prevention, and innovative extraction methods for marine bioactives.

Dr. Kwon has received numerous scientific awards including multiple PFT Student Oral Presentation Competition Awards, Top Reviewer Award from the American Society for Nutrition, and Innovation Day Award from OSU Advantage Accelerator. His professional affiliations include the American Society for Nutrition and Institute of Food Technologists.

As a mentor, Dr. Kwon currently advises PhD students Woojae Jung, Trenton Reed, and Sagarika Shahriar in the Department of Food Science & Technology. His research has been supported through various grants that enable investigations into marine bioactive compounds, sustainable food systems, and metabolic health applications. The Kwon Lab maintains active collaborations across disciplines to advance nutritional pharmacology research.

The Nutritional Pharmacology Lab operates across Wiegand Hall and Linus Pauling Science Center facilities at Oregon State University. The lab team focuses on experimental approaches ranging from cellular and animal studies to computational analysis of bioactive compounds, with particular emphasis on translating research findings into practical applications for human health and sustainable food systems.