معرفی
Min-Jong Kang is an Associate Professor of Medicine in the Department of Pulmonary, Critical Care & Sleep Medicine at Yale School of Medicine. He holds appointments in the CPIRT Center for Pulmonary Injury, Inflammation, Repair and Therapeutics. His research focuses on mitochondrial dysfunction and innate immunity in aging-related lung diseases like COPD and IPF, with a particular interest in the MAVS protein's role in host resilience. He earned his MD from Seoul National University (1991), PhD (2002) and MPH (1999) from the same institution.
Research Interests: Dr. Kang investigates how mitochondrial biology intersects with aging and immune dysregulation. His work explores mechanisms linking mitochondrial antiviral signaling proteins (MAVS) to chronic lung diseases, including how cellular senescence and mitochondrial dysfunction drive disease progression. Current projects include studying MIF-CD74 signaling in pulmonary fibrosis and mitochondrial non-coding RNAs' protective roles against cigarette smoke injury.
Laboratory: The Kang Lab focuses on translational research to identify novel therapeutic targets for COPD and IPF. Recent work highlights the potential of targeting VISTA immune regulators and mitochondrial retrograde signaling pathways. Dr. Kang collaborates with leading researchers like Naftali Kaminski and Maor Sauler on multi-disciplinary studies.
Future Directions: His team aims to bridge aging biology with pulmonary medicine, developing interventions that improve mitochondrial health to combat age-related lung pathologies. Ongoing studies explore senescence markers and mitochondrial quality control mechanisms in lung aging.