Chiyoung Ahn

B.S. Pharmacy, Seoul National University, 2012
M.S. Pharmacy, Seoul National University, 2014

Chiyoung was born and raised in Seoul, South Korea. He went to Seoul National University (SNU) and earned a B.S in Pharmacy with honors along with a pharmacist license. During his undergraduate studies, Chiyoung was particularly interested in the way how small molecules can be synthesized and how they exert a variety of bioactivities in the human body. So, he decided to further pursue a master’s degree working on a total synthesis of a bioactive natural product, Nardostachysin, using Tsuji-Trost type allylic cyclization as a key step under the supervision of Prof. Young-Ger Suh. After his master’s degree, Chiyoung worked on Dong-A ST drug discovery team for three and a half years as a medicinal chemist. In 2017, he made one of the biggest life decisions: leaving his home country and pursuing a Ph.D in chemistry at UIUC (which he doesn’t regret so far). Currently Chiyoung is exploring a manganese-catalyzed highly chemoselective C-H oxidation method in the White group.

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Fun Facts

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• Chiyoung trained kumdo (Korean sword martial art) for almost four years when he was in elementary school
   

• Chiyoung is a founding member and the first lead guitarist/band leader of SNU college of pharmacy rock band Prozac founded in 2011 (although that fact seems to be completely unknown to the current band members). The band still exists, which makes him feel accomplished: https://www.facebook.com/snupharmprozac
   

• Chiyoung’s current hair is the longest that it has ever been (as of Jun 2021). It is now long enough to be tied into a ponytail