Cholsoon Jang
Biography
Cholsoon Jang, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Chemistry at the University of California, Irvine, and Director of the High-end Metabolomics Core. Jang received a Ph.D. in Biological and Biomedical Sciences from Harvard University, where he trained under cardiologist Zoltan Arany, followed by postdoctoral training in analytical chemistry and quantitative biology at Princeton University with Joshua Rabinowitz. His research focuses on organismal metabolism and interorgan communication using animal models and chemical biology tools, particularly mass spectrometry-based stable isotope tracing to map metabolite exchange between organs.
Since establishing his independent laboratory in May 2020, Jang has published 73 papers over five years, including 21 as corresponding author in journals such as Cell, Nature, Nature Metabolism, Cell Metabolism, and Journal of Clinical Investigation. His work has elucidated the intestine-liver-gut microbiome axis in dietary fructose catabolism and fatty liver disease, identified circulating metabolites inducing insulin resistance, and characterized differential nutrient usage by healthy versus failing human hearts. He has secured independent funding from the NIH (R01, R21) and foundations including the Edward Mallinckrodt Jr. Foundation, AASLD, ACS, and Geneen Trust.
Jang was named a 2024 Pew Biomedical Scholar and received the 2024 Outstanding Early-Career Faculty Research Award from UC Irvine School of Medicine. He was a finalist for the NIH Director's Transformative Research Award in 2023 and the Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award in 2020. Jang serves as Section Editor-in-Chief of Metabolites and founded the Annual SoCal Metabolism Symposium in 2022. He has served as an ad hoc reviewer for NIH study sections and is a member of the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease, American Diabetes Association, and American Heart Association.
Return to topEducation
- BS in Biological Sciences, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 2004
- MS in Biological Sciences, KAIST, 2006
- PhD in Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Harvard University, 2015
Distinctions
- Pew Biomedical Scholar, 2024
- NIH Director's Transformative Research Award Finalist, 2023
- NIH Director's New Innovative Award Finalist, 2022
- Postdoctoral Fellowship, American Diabetes Association, 2017-2019
- William Guy Forbeck Forum on Diet, Metabolism, and Cancer, 2022
- The Helmholtz Young Investigator in Diabetes (HeIDi) Award Nominee, 2021
- Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award Finalist, 2020
- Edward Mallinckrodt Jr Foundation Award, 2020-2023
- Geneen Trust Award Program for Coronary Heart Disease Research, 2024
- Pinnacle Research Award, American Association for the Study of Liver Disease, 2020-2023
Areas of Expertise
- Organismal Metabolism
- Fructose Hepatic Steatosis
- Stable Isotope Tracing
- Arteriovenous Metabolite Gradients
- Gut Microbiome Dietary Interactions
- Circulating Biomarkers
- Interorgan Metabolic Communication
Recent Publications
- Jung S, Bae H, Song WS, Chun Y, Le J, Alam Y, Verlande A, Chun SK, Kelly ME, Lopez ML, Park SH, Onofre D, Jang KH, Rubtsova VI, Anica A, Masri S, Lee G, Jang C, “Inulin-adapted gut microbiome clears dietary fructose and reverses hepatic steatosis and fibrosis” (opens in new tab), Nature Metabolism, vol. 7, pp. 1801-1818, 2025.
- Bae H, Jung S, Le J, Tamburini I, Kim J, Wang E, Song WS, Choi W, Jang KH, Kang T, Lopez ML, Ramirez C, Mohanty I, Kelly ME, Kim J, Kim R, Park SH, Baek J, Mendez B, Petrus P, et al., “Cross-organ metabolite production and consumption in healthy and atherogenic conditions” (opens in new tab), Cell, vol. 188, pp. 4441-4455.e16, 2025.
- Ramirez CB, Ahn IS, Rubtsova VI, Cely I, Le J, Kim J, Jung S, Kelly ME, Kim Y, Bae H, Song WS, Alam YH, Zhang G, Diamante G, Chao A, Hoffner L, Anica A, Le I, Lopez ML, Tamburini IJ, et al., “Circulating glycerate predicts resilience to fructose-induced hepatic steatosis” (opens in new tab), Cell Metabolism, vol. 37, no. 5, pp. 1223-1234.e5, 2025.
- Jang C, Li MD, “Career pathways, part 16” (opens in new tab), Nature Metabolism, vol. 7, no. 2, pp. 231-233, 2025.
- Kelly ME, Martinez TF, Jang C, “The landscape of fetus metabolism in maternal hyperglycemia” (opens in new tab), Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism, vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 282-284, 2024.
- Cholsoon Jang, “Dietary fructose and fatty liver disease”, Nature Metabolism, 2022.
- Flam E, Jang C, Murashige D, Yang Y, Morley MP, Jung S, Kantner DS, Pepper H, Bedi KC Jr, Brandimarto J, Prosser BL, Cappola T, Snyder NW, Rabinowitz JD, Margulies KB, Arany Z, “Integrated landscape of cardiac metabolism in end-stage human nonischemic dilated cardiomyopathy” (opens in new tab), Nature Cardiovascular Research, vol. 1, no. 9, pp. 817-829, 2022.
- Bae H, Lam K, Jang C, “Metabolic flux between organs measured by arteriovenous metabolite gradients” (opens in new tab), Experimental and Molecular Medicine, vol. 54, no. 9, pp. 1354-1366, 2022.
- Alam YH, Kim R, Jang C, “Metabolism and Health Impacts of Dietary Sugars” (opens in new tab), Journal of Lipid and Atherosclerosis, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 20-38, 2022.
- Le J, Jang C, “Genetic Variation in Sugar Metabolism Confers a Protective Metabolic Profile” (opens in new tab), Gastroenterology, vol. 162, no. 4, pp. 1033-1035, 2022.
- Mathur L, Jung S, Jang C, Lee G, “Quantitative analysis of m6A RNA modification by LC-MS” (opens in new tab), STAR Protocols, vol. 3, pp. 100724, 2021.
- Park G, Jung SH, Wellen KE, Jang C, “The interaction between the gut microbiota and dietary carbohydrates in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease” (opens in new tab), Experimental and Molecular Medicine, vol. 53, pp. 809-832, 2021.
Most Cited Publications
- Jang C., Chen L., Rabinowitz J.D., “Metabolomics and Isotope Tracing” (opens in new tab), Cell, vol. 173, pp. 822-837, 2018.
- Jang C., Hui S., Lu W., Cowan A.J., Morscher R.J., Lee G., Liu W., Tesz G.J., Birnbaum M.J., Rabinowitz J.D., “The Small Intestine Converts Dietary Fructose into Glucose and Organic Acids” (opens in new tab), Cell Metabolism, vol. 27, pp. 351-361.e3, 2018.
- Jang C., Oh S.F., Wada S., Rowe G.C., Liu L., Chan M.C., Rhee J., Hoshino A., Kim B., Ibrahim A., Baca L.G., Kim E., Ghosh C.C., Parikh S.M., Jiang A., Chu Q., Forman D.E., Lecker S.H., Krishnaiah S., Rabinowitz J.D., et al., “A branched-chain amino acid metabolite drives vascular fatty acid transport and causes insulin resistance” (opens in new tab), Nature Medicine, vol. 22, pp. 421-426, 2016.
- Murashige D, Jang C, Neinast M, Edwards JJ, Cowan A, Hyman MC, Rabinowitz JD, Frankel DS, Arany Z, “Comprehensive quantification of fuel use by the failing and nonfailing human heart” (opens in new tab), Science, vol. 370, pp. 364-368, 2020.
- Zhao S., Jang C., Liu J., Uehara K., Gilbert M., Izzo L., Zeng X., Trefely S., Fernandez S., Carrer A., Miller K.D., Schug Z.T., Snyder N.W., Gade T.P., Titchenell P.M., Rabinowitz J.D., Wellen K.E., “Dietary fructose feeds hepatic lipogenesis via microbiota-derived acetate” (opens in new tab), Nature, vol. 579, pp. 586-591, 2020.
- Neinast M.D., Jang C., Hui S., Murashige D.S., Chu Q., Morscher R.J., Li X., Zhan L., White E., Anthony T.G., Rabinowitz J.D., Arany Z., “Quantitative Analysis of the Whole-Body Metabolic Fate of Branched-Chain Amino Acids” (opens in new tab), Cell Metabolism, vol. 29, pp. 417-429.e4, 2019.
- Kim B., Li J., Jang C., Arany Z., “Glutamine fuels proliferation but not migration of endothelial cells” (opens in new tab), EMBO Journal, vol. 36, pp. 2321-2333, 2017.
- Jang C., Hui S., Zeng X., Cowan A.J., Wang L., Chen L., Morscher R.J., Reyes J., Frezza C., Hwang H.Y., Imai A., Saito Y., Okamoto K., Vaspoli C., Kasprenski L., Zsido G.A., Gorman J.H., Gorman R.C., Rabinowitz J.D., “Metabolite Exchange between Mammalian Organs Quantified in Pigs” (opens in new tab), Cell Metabolism, vol. 30, pp. 594-606.e3, 2019.
- Jeon B.-H., Jang C., Han J., Kataru R.P., Piao L., Jung K., Hye J.C., Schwendener R.A., Kyu Y.J., Kim K.-S., Alitalo K., Gou Y.K., “Profound but dysfunctional lymphangiogenesis via vascular endothelial growth factor ligands from CD11b+ macrophages in advanced ovarian cancer” (opens in new tab), Cancer Research, vol. 68, pp. 1100-1109, 2008.
- Jang C, Wada S, Yang S, Gosis B, Zeng X, “The small intestine shields the liver from fructose-induced steatosis” (opens in new tab), Nature Metabolism, vol. 2, pp. 586-593, 2020.
This profile was created with the help of AI.
Last updated on 2/19/2026.