Yu Myeong-Hee

After moving back to Korea, Yu worked at Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology until 2000.[7] After that, she has been working at Korea Institute of Science and Technology, holding a position of a principle research scientist.[7] Much of Yu's work has focused on unlocking the structure and folding of the protein alpha-1 antitrypsin, which is a serpin protein.[9] Yu and her research team have worked to discover what amino acids can suppress certain types of mutations, such as the tsf mutation which is a protein folding error.[10] She has also patented the alpha-1 antitrypsin mutein with a disulfide bond and the method for preparing it along with her research group.[11]

Her work has appeared in Nature,[12] The Journal of Proteome Research,[13] the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America,[14] the Journal of Molecular Biology,[15] the Journal of Biological Chemistry,[16] the BMB Reports,[17] and others. Her work is highly cited in the fields of biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, immunology and microbiology.[18]

Yu served as the Director of the Functional Proteomics Center, a part of the 21st Century Frontier R&D Program, at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology from July 2002 to July 2010.[6][7][19] In 2010, she was appointed to a new post in the South Korean government: senior officer for national future.[19] Her responsibilities included overseeing government communications regarding science and technology and to help promote low-carbon and green technologies.[20] She also served as the president of the Korean Biophysical Society from 2009 to 2010, and the president of the Korea Genome Organization in 2010.[21][22]