About PI

LOH Yuin-Han Jonathan is the Deputy Executive Director and Research Director at  the A*STAR Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB). In addition, he is a  Professor (Adjunct) at the National University of Singapore (NUS) Yong Loo Lin School  of Medicine and a faculty member of the NUS Graduate School of Integrative Sciences  and Engineering. Jonathan graduated with First Class Honours in Molecular Biology  from NUS and completed his PhD in Integrative Sciences and Engineering at the NUS  Graduate School, supported by the A*STAR Scholarship, where he earned the Philip Yeo Prize for the best paper. He furthered his training with a Postdoctoral Fellowship  in Hematology and Oncology at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s  Hospital. Working with Prof George Daley, he pioneered the methods for cellular reprogramming from human blood and modelling of hematopoietic diseases using iPSCs. He was also a member of Prof. Derrick Rossi’s project team that used synthetic, modified mRNA for cell‑fate engineering, the technology that became the basis for the spin‑off company Moderna Therapeutics.

His current research focuses on understanding the mechanisms that regulate  cell fate changes, particularly how: 1) epigenetic factors interact with regulatory  elements to coordinate gene expression; 2) transcription factors drive  transdifferentiation and somatic cell reprogramming; and 3) epitranscriptomic  regulation influences cell states. He is ranked by ScholarGPS among the top 0.07%  of scientists globally in the field of stem cell research, based on quality metrics, with  his publications cited over 25,224 times (Google Scholar) by peers worldwide.

Jonathan’s contributions have been recognized with several prestigious accolades,  including the MIT TR35 Asia Pacific Award, Singapore Young Scientist Award, Singapore Youth Award, World  Technology Network Fellowship, the Stem Cell Society Singapore Outstanding  Investigator Award, Entrepreneurship World Cup and the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) Public Service Award and the Singapore Public Service Award (COVID-19).  Jonathan serves as the President of the Stem Cell Society Singapore (SCSS), as Council member of the Singapore National Academy of Science (SNAS), as member of the Education  Committee of the ISSCR, and is a Board member of the Asian Alliance for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine (AASCRM). Additionally, Jonathan founded  two biotech start-ups, InnoCellular and Genovn, and is a board member of Nasdaq- listed Cytomed Therapeutics (GDTC).

Over the years, Jonathan has trained and served as mentors for many students in Research, many of whom went on to win scholarships to further their studies and training at top institutions worldwide, including National University of Singapore, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Stanford University School of Medicine, the University of Cambridge, the University of North Carolina, and UC San Diego.