Seokyungbae Foundation Selects Four Emerging Scientists for 2026 Grant Initiative

The Seokyungbae Foundation (Chairman: Seokyungbae) has selected four emerging scientists through its 2026 research support program. The foundation was established in 2016 by Seokyungbae, Chairman of Amorepacific Group, with a personal endowment of 300 billion won. Operating under the principle of ‘Heaven beyond heaven’ (천외유천), the foundation seeks to discover and support emerging scientists in the life sciences annually.

As it marks its 10th anniversary this year, the Seokyungbae Foundation has supported a total of 35 emerging life scientists to date, with total funding amounting to 91 billion won. Following a three-step support framework introduced in 2026, the foundation will provide the newly selected scientists with a total of 900 million won in research funding over three years. Depending on research progress, they may receive an additional 1.6 billion won over four years, and if they continue to deliver excellent research outcomes, they could obtain up to 2.5 billion won over an additional five years.

The four scientists selected for 2026 are: Professor Jungtae Kwon from KAIST, who proposed a study on how the brain distinguishes imagination from reality through cortical gating; Professor Soomyung Jeong from Sungkyunkwan University, who is exploring the non-cold adaptive phenotype of brown fat in a normal temperature environment; Professor Hyunsoo Cho from Seoul National University, who examined the pathological mechanisms of chronic inflammation in hematopoietic cells; and Professor Seungwon Choi from the University of Texas Southwestern, who investigates the sensory nerve circuit development in the body.

Professor Kwon's research aims to elucidate the mechanisms that allow mammals to differentiate between real and imagined stimuli. By designing scenarios in which animals either experience or imagine a specific sound and detecting neural activity with advanced equipment, his work could not only reveal principles behind complex cognitive functions but also contribute to the treatment of psychiatric disorders such as hallucinations and schizophrenia.

Professor Jeong investigates how brown fat operates in a room temperature environment, which opposes its traditional role of heat generation in cold conditions. The research intends to understand how brown fat malfunctions in this unfamiliar environment, providing new insights into the effects of ubiquitous heating and cooling in our daily environments on metabolic health.

Professor Cho studies the phenomenon whereby pathological chronic inflammation leaves lasting changes on hematopoietic cells, leading to an unhealthy immune state. His research aims to identify the critical point at which temporary inflammation transitions into a difficult-to-reverse condition, with a focus on analyzing bone marrow in lymphoma patients to clarify the transformation processes of hematopoietic and immune cells and find pathways to restore normal immune function.

Professor Choi is focused on unveiling the mechanisms underlying the development of touch sensory nerve circuits. Using cutting-edge anatomical and electrophysiological methods, he seeks to find out which mechanisms operate during normal development of these circuits, potentially linking unknown developmental processes of sensory nerve circuits to abnormal tactile experiences and autism.

Additionally, the Seokyungbae Foundation is set to hold the ‘SUHF Symposium 2026’ at the Amorepacific headquarters on the 29th. Celebrating its 10th anniversary, this academic event will revolve around the theme ‘Resonant Patterns of Life’, featuring a keynote lecture by Professor Michael Hall from the University of Basel in Switzerland, along with a special talk by Professor Jung-ho Lee, the first emerging scientist supported by the foundation, discussions on researchers' graduation, poster sessions, and graduation research presentations.