Hi, I’m Sanghyuk. I’m a physician, university professor, and preventive medicine specialist who somehow decided that studying air pollution and climate change would be my life’s work. As an environmental epidemiologist, I spend my time researching how the world around us impacts our health—because nothing says “fun” like crunching data about fine particulate matter.
I earned my medical degree (M.D.) at the College of Medicine, Yeungnam University in Daegu, Korea, and my Ph.D. in Medical Science at Seoul National University in Seoul, Korea. During my Ph.D. studies, I learned that humans are deeply interconnected with their environment and can be significantly affected by even subtle changes, such as temperature fluctuations. This realization shaped my research focus, driving me to study the impact of environmental factors on human health.
Currently, I serve as a professor in the Department of Preventive Medicine at the College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea. My research team and I are dedicated to studying the health effects of air pollution and climate change. We’ve published original articles that we hope will change the world.
Here is some information you may or may not want to know.
- I was born in Daegu, Korea, and lived there until I graduated from Yeungnam University. After graduation, I moved to the Seoul area, where I have been residing ever since. Daegu is one of the warmest cities in Korea, often nicknamed “Dae-frica” for obvious reasons. It seems I was destined to study climate change!
- I worked in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Dankook University College of Medicine in Cheonan before joining the Department of Preventive Medicine at The Catholic University of Korea College of Medicine.
- I’m a marathoner—or at least that’s what I like to tell myself while wishing I could run more regularly. My current marathon time is 4 hours and 27 minutes. I think 4:15 might have been possible with better pacing, but I’ll save that experiment for next time.
- I once tried my hand at birding—I even got a nice pair of binoculars and everything. But these days, I don’t do much bird watching; turns out it’s pretty hard to focus on birds when you’re running.
- I’m married and have a daughter and a son, both of whom are much older than you might expect (which, naturally, means I’m older than you might think too). Here’s hoping I can keep saying that for as long as possible.
If you want something more formal
See my CV or my university research profile.