Prof. Heesun Chung is a distinguished professor at the Department of Forensic Science at SungKyunKwan University since 2020. She obtained her PhD in Pharmacy from Sookmyung Women’s University, Korea in 1987 and subsequently received a Foreign Commonwealth Office Scholarship from the UK government for postdoctoral study at King’s College, London.
From 2008 to 2012, she served as the President of the National Forensic Service (formerly National Institute of Scientific Investigation) in Korea, where she also held various key forensic positions, including Head of the Department of Forensic Science, Director of the Narcotics Analysis Division, and Director of Drug and Toxicology.
Internationally, Prof. Chung was the 22nd President of the International Association of Forensic Sciences (IAFS) from 2011 to 2014 and hosted the IAFS 2014 in Korea.
She also served as the 13th President of the International Association of Forensic Toxicologists (TIAFT) from 2014 to 2017 and was an executive board member from 2002 to 2022.
Since 2019, she has been a member of the International Panel of Forensic Experts for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
In academia, she was the dean and professor of the Graduate School of Analytical Science and Technology at Chungnam National University from 2013 to 2020.
Nationally, she was a member of the President's Advisory Council on Science and Technology and served on the National Bioethics Committee since 2018. She is also the chair of the Committee of DNA Database Management since 2022. Additionally, she was the 10th President of the Korean Federation of Women’s Science and Technology Associations (KOFWST), serving from 2020 for two years.
Prof. Chung has received numerous awards and honors, including the Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) from the UK government, a medal for distinguished service from the Korean government, and a medal for excellence in forensic science from the Mongolian government. She was named the Most Outstanding Woman Scientist by the Korean Ministry of Science and Technology in 2007 and received the Bichumi Award from Samsung Life Insurance Company. In 2022, she received the highest TIAFT distinction, the Alan Curry Award.
Prof. Chung has presented her scientific findings at numerous international meetings and symposia and has published 60 articles in international and national journals over the last five years. Her research interests focus on the analysis of abused drugs in biological fluids and the development of detection kits for drug-facilitated crimes. She also serves as a reviewer for Forensic Science International, the Journal of Toxicology, and Forensic Science Research.