Kyung Chan (KC) Park

My longstanding interest in the biology of the heart led me to focus on a range of topics pertaining to cardiovascular science during my undergraduate degree (Biomedical Sciences, King’s College London; First Class Honours). Under the supervision of Professor Michael Marber, my dissertation considered cardiac troponin as a commonly used biomarker, but an imperfect, index of myocardial injury (review). After graduating in 2015, I subsequently joined the laboratory of Professor Michael Shattock at the Rayne Institute (BHF Centre of Research Excellence, King’s College London) on a Physiological Society Studentship.

In 2016, I commenced the British Heart Foundation 4-Year Non-Clinical PhD Studentship in Cardiovascular Science at the University of Oxford, as a Postgraduate Student of The Queen’s College. After a rotation project with A/Prof. Craig Lygate, I joined the Department in 2017 as a DPhil student of Prof. Pawel Swietach and the Proton Transport Laboratory (co-supervised by A/Prof. Nicola Smart). My doctoral research investigated the effects of dysregulated propionate metabolism on cardiac physiology.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, I volunteered to pause my PhD project in order to carry out research on COVID-19. In August 2021, I completed my DPhil and continued working under Prof. Swietach as a Postdoctoral Research Scientist. This position is funded by the Propionic Acidemia Foundation (PAF; United States) and a Career Development Award provided by the Oxford BHF Doctoral Training Programme, to widen my skillset. From this funding, I began training in epigenetics under A/Prof. Thomas Milne at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine.

In addition to my research activities, I was recently appointed as a Stipendiary Lecturer in Medicine at Trinity College, and I also teach undergraduates through a position with Corpus Christi College. In March 2022, I was certified as an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (accredited by Advance HE).