So Hyung Kim graduated from Ghent University Global Campus in South Korea in 2021, majoring Molecular Biotechnology with magna cum laude. Her Bachelor's project was conducted in the lab of Prof. Dr. Hoo Sun Chung, focusing on unravelling a novel suppressor in MAP kinase signalling network. Followed by working as a full-time research assistant in Chung lab after graduation, So Hyung has participated in the project 'Reprogramming Stem Cell Niches', gaining expertise in protoplasting and marker-assisted microscopy screening of Arabidopsis chemical mutants. After having a fruitful exchange semester in UGent, So Hyung continued her passion in plants by commencing master programme in Biochemistry & Biotechnology, focusing on plant biotechnology and bioinformatics. Master projects and thesis were conducted in PSB Bio-Energy lab and Cell Cycle lab, delving into plant regeneration potentials in Arabidopsis and poplar to improve regeneration efficiency of poorly-propagating species.
After obtaining her Master's degree, So Hyung embarked on a Ph.D. journey in Advanced Live Cell Imaging lab, under mentorship of Prof. Dr. Daniël Van Damme. So Hyung is part of the GOA consortium 'Microspore embryoGENESIS', collaborating with lab of Programmed Cell Death (Moritz lab), Oxygen Stress Signalling (Van Breusegem lab), Inter-organelle Signalling (De Clercq lab) and Horticell (Geelen lab). Within the project, So Hyung aims to elucidate the role of autophagy in microspore embryogenesis to enhance double haploid production in crops, using Brassica napus (oilseed rape) as a model plant.
