Assistant Professor
Department of Pathobiology
2001 South Lincoln Avenue, Urbana, IL, 61802
Profile: Taejoon Won
Social media and Email
Education & Training
- Postdoctoral Fellow, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
- Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, MI
- Ph.D. in Immunology, Chung-Ang University, Seoul, South Korea
My Research
My research focuses on understanding the mechanisms underlying autoimmune disorders in the heart and developing innovative immunotherapies to treat them.
During my PhD program, I acquired extensive expertise in immunology through research on type 1 diabetes, atopic dermatitis, hypersensitivity, and cancer. As a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University, my research focus shifted toward autoimmunity during cardiovascular diseases such as myocarditis, myocardial infarction, and graft-versus-host disease. As a trainee, I published 36 peer-reviewed journal articles (15 as a first or co-first author) and filed 11 international patents. My contributions to cardiac immunology were recognized with the 2018 Rhett Lundy Research Fellowship Grant from the Myocarditis Foundation and the 2022 Grover M. Hutchins, M.D. Memorial Research Award from Johns Hopkins University.
Currently, my lab investigates how pre-existing autoimmune conditions promote the development of autoreactive T cells in the heart and develops novel cell-based therapies to protect the cardiovascular system from inflammation. Our research also expands to autoimmune disorders affecting other organs, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and Sjögren’s syndrome.