Dr Yu Suk Choi

Dr Yu Suk Choi is a senior lecturer and researcher in the School of Human Sciences, investigating ways to fight disease by manipulating stem cell growth. His research aims to discover how tissue micro-environment controls the fate of cells, with his investigations used to improve biomedical outcomes in stem cell therapy.

Along with his team, Dr Choi is developing a holistic platform to biomimic the biomechanical micro-environment of healthy and disease-like human tissue. The platform will further scientific understanding of the interaction between cells and their surroundings. It will include 3D in space as well as 1D in time to show the dynamic interaction before, during and after disease progression.

Dr Choi’s academic career commenced in South Korea where he completed his master’s degree at Yonsei University before moving to the University of Melbourne to study cardiac tissue engineering. During his postdoctoral training at the University of California, he expanded his expertise to mechanobiology.

Dr Choi believes current understanding in the field is limited by technologies at the level of 2D in space, which is far from the 3D of human tissues. Through the development of a 4D tool, knowledge of human tissue and stem cells can be expanded for better clinical outcomes.