Taejoo Hwang, PhD

Taejoo joined the lab in August 2025 as a postdoctoral fellow. He earned his B.S. in
Biological Sciences and Computational Engineering at Ulsan National Institute of
Science and Technology (UNIST) and completed his M.S./Ph.D. in Professor Semin
Lee’s laboratory at UNIST. His graduate research specialized in the computational
analysis of somatic mutations and their roles in cancer and aging. During his doctoral
studies, he analyzed large-scale whole-genome sequencing data to identify
mutational signatures associated with DNA repair deficiencies, revealing a link
between POLQ activity and specific mutational signatures in BRCA-mutated
cancers. He also investigated aging-related mutational signatures that contribute to
temozolomide resistance in glioblastoma, uncovering a key role of polymerase zeta.
With expertise in computational genomics, large-scale NGS data analysis, and
machine learning, his primary research interest in the Lee lab is to explore the
relationship between transposable elements and mutational signatures, and to
advance understanding of the impact of somatic mutations on aging,
neurodegeneration, and human health.