(2iq) Integrated Functional Polymer Engineering Pipeline for Next-Generation Biotechnologies

Background and overview
Polymer engineers have been creating and applying new soft materials and devices for not only traditional purposes but also emerging fields such as biomedicine. Since the performance of final products is intrinsically intertwined with their physicochemical and micro/nanostructure characteristics, an integrative, multi-disciplinary approach is indispensable for generating novel functional polymeric materials and systems. In light of this, my research group will focus on developing advanced polymer hydrogel-based biotechnologies for processing, staining, and imaging of intact human-organ scale tissues and others so as to unveil their healthy and diseased states at cellular, subcellular, and molecular levels.

Past research experience
I have cultivated a diverse background in interdisciplinary fields, such as chemistry (B.S.), biotechnology (B.E.), materials engineering (Ph.D.), medical engineering, chemical engineering, and neuroscience (postdoc.). My graduate research focused on engineering novel micro/nanostructured polymeric materials and devices, which encompass three main areas: (i) design, synthesis and nanopatterning of smart polymers, (i) multi-scale modelling and fabrication of porous polymers, and (iii) engineering hydrodynamic metamaterials. These materials have potential applications in transport manipulation (cloaking, concentration, and rotation of fluid flow), biometrics (nanopattern-assisted impedance matching), anti-reflection (sustainable moth’s eye nanostructures), sound absorption (ultra-lightweight foams with optimum microcellular structures), thermal insulation and flame retardancy (ecofriendly nanocellulose composite foams), particle valve (shape-programmable microfluidic devices), and energy storage (graphene/phase-change-materials composites).
Building on my solid foundation in chemistry and materials engineering, I pursued my postdoctoral research at MIT, where I strived to integrate polymer engineering and biomedical sciences. At this juncture, I developed a bioengineering platform for multi-scale mapping of the human brain, harnessing my expertise in polymer processing, biochemistry, transport phenomena, and materials mechanics (under review at Science). The platform offers scalable, fully integrated structural and molecular imaging, along with unparalleled cellular and subcellular-level phenotyping of human-brain-scale tissues, at unrivaled resolution and speed. The platform’s seamless integration of novel chemical, mechanical, and computational techniques facilitates (i) precision slicing of human-organ-scale tissues with minimal information loss (MEGAtome), (ii) transformation of biological tissue into a tough-elastic, macromolecule-permeable, transparent, and reversibly expandable material using a highly entangled superabsorbent polymer hydrogel (mELAST), and (iii) computational reconstruction of sliced tissue blocks and deep learning-based axon tracing (UNSLICE). Our research, using this pioneering platform, showcases its ability for exceptional protein preservation, ultra-fast slab-scale immunostaining, high-throughput multiplexed multiscale imaging, and multicolor single axon-level projectome mapping in intact human brain tissues. Additionally, it facilitates comparative multi-scale phenotyping of the human brain tissue in Alzheimer’s disease (vs. non-demented control tissue), contributing significantly to our understanding of this neurodegenerative disorder.

Research Interests
My research interests are intended to build a cutting-edge research program in Chemical Engineering that enables development of pioneering biotechnologies to illuminate human health. My doctoral and postdoctoral research findings underscore the advanced processing methods of tissue-hydrogels, functional smart polymers, metamaterials, and porous materials. Yet, it is evident that a vast expanse of untapped potential remains, ripe for further innovation to cater to increasingly complex real-world requirements, such as better scalability, cost-effectiveness, and throughput of the tissue processing and phenotyping pipeline. The high cost of preparing devices and molecular probes for labeling, coupled with the lengthy duration required for overall processes, introduces hesitation in the endeavor to map the entire human organs. Materials parameters of tissue-hydrogel hybrids such as porosity, permeability, transparency, modulus, toughness, phase transition temperature, among others, are crucial to understand for further optimization of macromolecular and nanoporous structure of the tissue-hydrogel for advanced performance and novel applications, yet, we lack comprehensive knowledge in these areas.
With these challenges in mind, I am poised to pursue a line of research aimed at developing next-generation tissue processing biotechnologies. As the innovator behind the pioneering technologies, I will melt a unique spectrum of interdisciplinary knowledge and prowess that straddles multiple domains, including polymer processing, tissue biochemistry, materials mechanics, transport processes, and computational modelling. My vision is to transcend the aforementioned limitations via (i) multi-scale modelling of nanostructure in tissue-gels, (ii) molecular design and synthesis of novel polymer hydrogels based on the modelling, (iii) engineering transformative tissue-gel processing technologies using the novel hydrogels, (iv) developing active methods to accelerate chemical infusion for fast tissue processing, ultimately enabling (v) rapid, machine-free, cost-effective labeling and multi-scale, multi-omic, high throughput imaging of intact tissues (Fig. 1).
I believe this pipeline will revolutionize the precision, speed, and efficiency in tissue processing by significantly curtailing the time and cost involved in molecular labeling and imaging, thereby paving a way for comprehensive interrogation of human disease. The technologies will only truly come into their full potential when they are designed and employed in harmony with existing indispensable techniques. With this understanding, I am dedicated to cultivating a collaborative atmosphere that will enable my group to effectively tackle the emerging engineering challenges and answer biological questions through close collaboration with exceptional faculty members at the institute I will be affiliated and beyond.
Topics including:
- Polymer hydrogels for tissue engineering and clearing
- Molecular labeling and imaging of biological tissues
- Polymer processing for functional micro/nanostructures
- Multiscale engineering of smart polymers
- Hydrodynamic metamaterials
- Lightweight porous polymeric foams

Teaching Interests
My goal as an instructor is to promote students to have the qualities of leaders in their respective fields by giving them multidisciplinary knowledge, problem-solving skills, creativity, and independence. In order to enhance my academic teaching skills, I attended and completed the Kaufman Teaching Certificate Program (KTCP) through the MIT Teaching & Learning Laboratory (TLL), including course design, planning for learning, teaching for belong, and microteaching practices and others.
Based on my educational and research experiences in Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Biotechnology, Materials Engineering, and Medical Engineering, I am enthusiastic about sharing my knowledge and expertise through engaging lectures including but not limited to Polymer processing, Polymer physics, Polymer Chemistry, Organic Chemistry, Biochemistry, Materials Rheology, Transport Processes, and introduction courses in Chemical, Materials, and Medical Engineering.
Over the course of my teaching experiences and active participation in the KTCP, I have prepared special topic classes covering recent advances in the state-of-the-art applications in "Multi-scale Functional Polymer Processing" which covers molecular design, synthesis, fabrication, and applications of the functional micro/nanostructured polymers and their composites and "Tissue Processing Biotechnologies" which encompasses fundamentals of tissue biochemistry, tissue processing/clearing, labeling/imaging physics, and recent advances in spatial omics approaches, when required by the institute I will be affiliated.

Selected Publications (16 first-authored papers in total)
- Juhyuk Park†, Ji Wang†, Webster Guan†, Lars A. Gjesteby, Dylan Pollack, Lee Kamentsky, Nicholas B. Evans, Jeff Stirman, Xinyi Gu, Chuanxi Zhao, Slayton Marx, Minyoung E. Kim, Seo Woo Choi, Michael Snyder, David Chavez, Clover Su-Arcaro, Yuxuan Tian, Chang Sin Park, Qiangge Zhang, Dae Hee Yun, Mira Moukheiber, Guoping Feng, X. William Yang, C. Dirk Keene, Patrick R. Hof, Satrajit S. Ghosh, Matthew P. Frosch, Laura J. Brattain, and Kwanghun Chung* “Integrated platform for multi-scale molecular imaging and phenotyping of the human brain”, BioRxiv 484171 (2022)
- Juhyuk Park, Jae Ryoun Youn*, and Young Seok Song*, “Hydrodynamic Metamaterial Cloak for Drag-Free Flow”, Physical Review Letters 123, 074502 (2019)
- Juhyuk Park, Hyung Min Kim, Jae Ryoun Youn*, and Young Seok Song*, “Smart Noise Control Using Shape Memory Sound Absorber”, Advanced Materials Technologies 4(2), 1800410 (2019)
- Juhyuk Park, Jae Ryoun Youn*, and Young Seok Song*, “Carbon Nanotube Embedded Nanostructure for Biometrics”, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 9(51), 44724-44731 (2017)
- Juhyuk Park, Sei Hyun Yang, Hyung Rae Lee, Cheng Bin Yu, Seong Yul Pak, Chi Sung Oh, Yeon June Kang*, and Jae Ryoun Youn*, “Optimization of low frequency sound absorption by cell size control and multiscale poroacoustics modeling”, Journal of Sound and Vibration 397, 17-30 (2017)