Richard JUNG

Biography

Year of Entry:  2015

PhD Supervisor:  Dr. Benjamin Hibbert

Personal Background: 

I was born in South Korea and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. I completed my Biochemistry Honours degree at the University of Manitoba in 2015. During my undergraduate degree, I had the opportunity to research under Dr. Pelka to use adenoviruses to study regulation of cells to circumvent roadblocks to replication. My passion for regulation of cell signaling mechanisms in various diseases had expanded to understanding these processes in cardiovascular disease. In my spare time, I was involved with Let’s Talk Science at the University of Manitoba and Ottawa to share my passion for science to Kindergarten to Grade 12 students. I also enjoy watching and playing soccer and baseball.

Research Focus:

I had the opportunity to study various proteins involved with cell cycle regulation with Dr. Pelka and learned molecular biology techniques to apply to my current thesis topic. I am in Dr. Hibbert’s lab at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute where we focus on vascular biology and experimental medicine. Atherosclerosis and diabetes affects a great portion of our population. This same population of diabetics appears to have less therapeutic benefit from our current anti-platelet regimen after intervention and have platelet hyperreactivity. In this population, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1) appears to be elevated and is associated with adverse outcomes. We wish to study the mechanism as to why it is elevated and identify novel therapeutics to reverse these levels.

Scholarship Support:

2017 – CIHR Vanier Scholarship

2015-2016 - CIHR MD/PhD Grant