Dr. Woosuk Chung, M.D., Ph.D., is a physician scientist and anesthesiologist at Chungnam National University (Daejeon, South Korea). His work centers on the neurological consequences of perioperative stress. His research examines how anesthesia and surgical trauma affect the brain across the lifespan, with particular emphasis on cognitive vulnerability, postoperative delirium, stroke, mitochondrial dysfunction, and anesthesia-related neurotoxicity. Through the CNU NeuroAnesthesia Lab, which he has led since 2013, he integrates preclinical models with clinical cohorts to advance predictive biomarkers and mitochondria-targeted strategies for perioperative brain health.
Dr. Chung received his M.D. and M.S. from Chungnam National University and completed his internship and residency in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at Chungnam National University Hospital. He then earned his Ph.D. in Medical Science from KAIST, where he studied synaptic transmission and autism-related behaviors. In 2018, he was a Visiting Scholar in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Toronto under Professor Beverley Orser.
In addition to his academic and research roles, Dr. Chung has held multiple leadership positions in Korean anesthesiology societies. He has served in academic, legislative, public relations, and research support roles across several national societies, including the Korean Society of Anesthesiologists, the Korean Society of Neuroscience in Anesthesiology and Critical Care, the Korean Society of Pediatric Anesthesiologists, and the Korean Society of Obstetric Anesthesiologists. He also serves on editorial boards and, since 2026, has been Associate Editor-in-Chief of the Korean Journal of Anesthesiology.
His overall academic mission is to better understand perioperative brain vulnerability and to translate mechanistic insights into clinically meaningful strategies that protect brain health before, during, and after surgery.
