Minkyu Lee

Ph.D. Student, CBE

Born and raised in Seoul, South Korea, Minkyu originally trained as a chemical engineer at Seoul National University. Over time, he found himself drawn toward the curiosity-driven nature of bioengineering and its potential for deep impact. After contributing to interdisciplinary projects—from developing supercritical fluid drying process for mRNA vaccines to synthesizing tissue-mimicking scaffolds—he sought to pivot toward fundamental biological questions. Now in the Brangwynne lab, Minkyu utilizes C. elegans to study aberrations in the nucleolus and ribosome biogenesis in the context of organismal aging. He hopes his research will eventually yield insights to help address the aging population crisis in his homeland. When he isn’t at the bench, Minkyu is a devoted Pokémon fan, whether he’s playing the games or performing the soundtrack on the piano, and enjoys spending time with his girlfriend near the Psychology building.