South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT and the Federation of Korean Science and Technology Societies said on Sunday they selected Yonsei University Underwood Distinguished Professor Cheon Jin-woo (천진우) as the 2026 winner of the Korea Top Scientist and Technologist Award.

The Korea Top Scientist and Technologist Award is a presidential award presented since 2003 to introduce scientists and technologists with representative research achievements to the public and to raise their honour and pride. A total of 48 people have received the award through last year.

The ministry and the federation selected the final winner through a three-stage process: specialist review, field review and integrated review. Candidates were recommended through an open call and scouting starting late last year. The evaluation comprehensively assessed research and development achievements as well as contributions to South Korea's economic development and the impact on improving people's lives.

Cheon was recognised for pioneering nanomedicine by combining nanochemistry with biotechnology and presenting medical approaches that go beyond the limits of existing medicine, including disease diagnosis, cell therapy and brain circuit correction. Nanomedicine is regarded as an innovative technology for disease diagnosis and drug delivery. It is expected to play a key role in brain-computer interfaces, or BCI, and in solving difficult problems in neuroscience.

Cheon developed nano-magnetogenetics technology and proved that magnetic fields can be used to wirelessly and remotely control neuronal activity in living animals. The achievement simultaneously addressed wireless control and biological selectivity at the molecular level, which have been considered challenges in the BCI field.

The technology presented a new treatment paradigm that can safely and precisely control specific neural circuits in the brain without surgery. Related research results were published in Nature Materials in 2021 and in Nature Nanotechnology in 2024.

Cheon received bachelor's and master's degrees from Yonsei University's chemistry department and earned a doctoral degree at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He has served as a professor in Yonsei University's chemistry department since 2002 and is currently an Underwood Distinguished Professor, training junior researchers.

He also contributed to international research cooperation and strengthening South Korea's research foundation by establishing the Center for Nanomedicine at the Institute for Basic Science in early 2015 and attracting an International Max Planck Research Center in 2025. He is a fellow of the American Chemical Society and the Royal Society of Chemistry, and also serves as an associate editor of the international academic journal JACS.

The ministry will present Cheon with a presidential citation and 300 million won in prize money at the Korea Top Scientist and Technologist Award ceremony at the 2026 World Congress of Korean Scientists and Engineers on July 7.