Keun-young (kevin) Park, PhD

Patent prosecution and counseling in a wide range of chemistry-based technologies

Keun-Young (Kevin) Park, PhD, received his PhD in Chemistry from the University of Minnesota. Kevin’s interdisciplinary doctoral research involved organic chemistry, chemical biology, polymer chemistry, and materials chemistry. Specifically, Kevin focused on modified therapeutic protein-polymer conjugates for targeted drug-delivery and tumor-imaging, and stimuli-responsive hydrogels to study the mechanism behind glioblastoma migration. Kevin also investigated site-specific immobilization of biofilm suppressing enzymes via photochemistry. He employed several techniques for this work including protein expression and purification, enzymatic protein modification, enzyme kinetic assays, small molecule synthesis, macromolecule synthesis through controlled radical polymerization, multiple chromatography methods, mass spectrometry, confocal microscopy, flow cytometry, and various cell-based assays.

During his master's at Sungkyunkwan University, Kevin studied novel porous nanomaterials for various energy-storage or catalytical applications. He synthesized novel mesoporous materials based on carbon, silica, and silica-titania composites, and researched their applicability for hydrogen gas storage, battery materials, and substitutes for platinum catalysts in solar cells. Kevin’s master's research had an emphasis on materials science and physical chemistry.

Prior to joining McNeill Baur PLLC, Kevin was an intern at the Office for Technology Commercialization at the University of Minnesota, assisting IP officers in assessing the patentability of new technologies developed by university research labs.

Kevin served in the Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF). He served as Operations Officer (1st Lieutenant) of CBRN Defense and Disaster Management at a command-level base. He utilized his expertise in chemistry to set up an integrated defensive strategy against weapons of mass destruction.

Kevin is natively fluent in both Korean and English.

Select Publications

“ Directed cell migration towards softer environments,” Nat. Mater. (2022) (coauthor).

“A Not-So-Ancient Grease History: Click Chemistry and Protein Lipid Modifications,” Chem. Rev. (2021) (coauthor).

“Recent Progress in Enzymatic Protein Labeling Techniques and Their Applications,” Chem. Soc. Rev. 2018, 47, September 27, 2018 (coauthor).

“Mesoporous Thin Films of Nitrogen-Doped Carbon with Electrocatalytic Properties,” J. Phys. Chem. C 2012, 116 (32), July 3, 2012 (coauthor).