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Center for Dioxygen Chemistry Led by Professor Wonwoo Nam Selected for the “Research Leader Program of the National Rese

  • NATURE

Center for Dioxygen Chemistry Led by Professor Wonwoo Nam Selected for the “Research Leader Program of the National Research Foundation of Korea” in 2021



Center for Dioxygen Chemistry (CDC) led by Professor Wonwoo Nam at the Department of Chemistry & Nanoscience has been awarded for a new project under the 2021 “Research Leader Program (Creative Research Initiatives Program) of the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF).”


With the aim to develop Korea’s indigenous science technology and new technologies for future, NRF selects world-leading scientists for the Research Leader Program (Creative Research Initiatives Program) to foster global leading researchers by providing intensive support on in-depth research by researchers who have been leading world-class performance. Professor Nam was selected for this project in 2003 and 2012, and has been conducting research to identify the generation, reactivity, and reaction mechanism of oxygenase intermediates in biomimetic reaearch area for the past 18 years. In recognition of his outstanding research achievements, he has been selected for the Research Leader Program this year and will be supported by a research fund amounting to a total of 7.2 billion KRW for the next nine years to carry out a study titled “Dioxygen Chemistry: Dioxygen Formation-Activation-Catalysis.”


Professor Nam has achieved world-class performance in the field of Bioinorganic/Biomimetic Chemistry through his outstanding research to gain the knowledge in understanding dioxygen activation formation reactions we well as in developing artificial enzymatic systems. He has published more than 370 papers over the past two decades in world-renowned academic journals including Nature, Science, Nature Chemistry, Nature Reviews Chemistry, Accounts of Chemical Research, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, and Chemical Science.


Expressing his aspirations for the future, Professor Nam stated, “I hope this project leads to an unprecedented breakthrough in oxygen chemistry research, while at the same time identifying an answer to the difficult problem of the ‘Oxo Wall,’ which remains unsolved in the field of Bioinorganic Chemistry. By producing results that encompass basic research to practical application, I hope to promote Ewha’s excellent research capabilities to the world.”


  • 2021.06.04. EWHA NEWS