Jiwoon Park, Ph.D.

Postdoctoral Associate

Weill Cornell Medicine · Harvard Wyss Institute

"Mapping the human body at subcellular resolution to decode disease and transform precision medicine."

About

Jiwoon Park, Ph.D. is a Postdoctoral Associate at Weill Cornell Medicine and the Harvard Wyss Institute, and founder of the Spatial Atlas of Human Anatomy (SAHA) — an initiative to generate the largest high-resolution, multi-omic maps of human organs. Her research bridges experimental and computational biology, integrating engineered organ models, spatial multi-omics, and AI to decode how cellular microenvironments drive health, disease progression, and therapeutic responses.

She develops experimental and computational platforms for high-plex spatial profiling (spatial transcriptomics, proteomics, and imaging) and their integration with genomic, proteomic, and clinical datasets. She is particularly interested in how organ systems respond to genetic and environmental risk factors over time, and how these processes vary across individuals, tissues, and disease states — from cancer to immune-mediated diseases.

During her Ph.D. at Cornell University and The Rockefeller University (advisors: Christopher Mason and Charles Rice), she developed a stem cell–derived multicellular liver model to study the PNPLA3 genetic variant, uncovering a novel injury-responsive stellate cell subtype with "epigenetic memory" that accelerates fibrosis. She also conducts space biology research through NASA GeneLab, the Inspiration4 mission, and the SOMA atlas project.

News

2026 Elected to Sigma Xi, the scientific research honor society.
2026 Joined the Brains Accelerator Fellowship Program, Speculative Technologies.
2025 Orbital Launch Funding Winner, Boryoung Human In Space Challenge.
2025 Selected for Reviewers' Choice Abstracts at ASHG 2025.
2025 SAHA preprint published on bioRxiv: The Spatial Atlas of Human Anatomy — A Multimodal Subcellular-Resolution Reference Across Human Organs.
2024 Ten papers published in Nature, Nature Communications, and Cancer Cell as part of the Inspiration4 / SOMA space biology atlas.
2024 Joined the NASA Spaceflight Technology, Applications, and Research (STAR) Program.

Research

Combining engineered organ models, spatial multi-omics, and AI to map disease and transform precision medicine.

Spatial Multi-Omics & Human Tissue Atlases

Leading SAHA, a subcellular-resolution multi-omic initiative spanning 30+ human organs. Develops integrated spatial transcriptomics, proteomics, and imaging workflows for biomarker discovery and AI-driven diagnostics.

Disease Microenvironments

Dissecting cellular niches in liver fibrosis (PNPLA3/STAT3), pancreatic cancer (KRAS), and inflammatory bowel disease. Uncovering epigenetic memory in injury-responsive stellate cells and immune-stromal crosstalk.

Space Biology & Extreme Environments

Profiling molecular adaptations in astronauts via the Inspiration4 mission and SOMA atlas. Characterizing spaceflight-induced changes across skin, immune, and multi-organ systems through NASA GeneLab and SOMA.

Publications

Selected publications. first author marks first-authorship.

In Revision The Spatial Atlas of Human Anatomy (SAHA): A Multimodal Subcellular-Resolution Reference Across Human Organs first author

Park J et al. · (2025) · doi:10.1101/2025.06.16.658716

Standardized metrics for assessment and reproducibility of imaging-based spatial transcriptomics datasets co-first author

Plummer J, Segato Dezem F, Cook D, Park J et al. · Nature Biotechnology (2025) · doi:10.1038/s41587-025-02811-9

Distinct clinical outcomes and biological features of specific KRAS mutants in human pancreatic cancer second author

McIntyre CA, Grimont A et al. · Cancer Cell 42, 1614–1629 (2024) · doi:10.1016/j.ccell.2024.08.002

The Space Omics and Medical Atlas (SOMA) and international astronaut biobank

Overbey EG et al. · Nature 632, 1145–1154 (2024) · doi:10.1038/s41586-024-07639-y

Spatial multi-omics of human skin reveals KRAS and inflammatory responses to spaceflight first author

Park J et al. · Nature Communications (2024) · doi:10.1038/s41467-024-48625-2

IL-6/STAT3 axis dictates the PNPLA3-mediated susceptibility to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease first author

Park J et al. · Journal of Hepatology 78(1), 45–56 (2023) · doi:10.1016/j.jhep.2022.08.022

System-wide transcriptome damage and tissue identity loss in COVID-19 patients first author

Park J et al. · Cell Reports Medicine 3(2), 100522 (2022) · doi:10.1016/j.xcrm.2022.100522

View all publications on Google Scholar

CV Highlights

Education

2019–2023 Ph.D., Physiology, Biophysics & Systems Biology
Cornell University / The Rockefeller University — Advisors: Christopher Mason, Charles Rice

2013–2017 M.Eng. + B.Eng., Chemical Engineering
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art — Advisor: Ruben Savizky

Selected Awards & Fellowships

2026Elected Member, Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society

2026Brains Accelerator Fellowship Program, Speculative Technologies

2025Orbital Launch Funding Winner, Boryoung Human In Space Challenge

2025Reviewers' Choice Abstracts, ASHG 2025

2025K Early Career Academic Training (KECAT) Program, Weill Cornell Medicine

2024–25Life Sciences Technology Innovation Fellowship, Cornell University

2023–25Postdoctoral Fellowship, Bumrungrad International Hospital

2023–24NASA Spaceflight Technology, Applications, and Research (STAR) Program

2022MOGAM Science Fellowship

2016William H. Nichols Fellowship, American Chemical Society