Elizabeth Chung is an MD-PhD student at the University of California, San Francisco, where she harnesses medical insights and systems biology to develop novel therapeutics for neuroimmune diseases.
Driven by her late father’s diagnosis with multiple sclerosis, Chung’s research integrates large-scale epidemiological data with mechanistic insights into how the immune system interacts with the nervous system. She has presented her work at more than 10 national and international conferences and workshops and delivered a TEDx talk on her research.
Chung earned a bachelor’s degree in biology magna cum laude from The Ohio State University, where she began full-time collegiate studies at age 14 and graduated from both university and high school simultaneously. As an undergraduate, she led and contributed to projects engineering phage therapy for treating antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections as a member of the Ohio State iGEM team and performed research on cellular reprogramming of motor neurons for regenerative medicine at MIT.
She completed summer research programs at the Harvard Chan School of Public Health and MIT. In her post-baccalaureate research, she published a first-author study in Nature identifying a novel role for psychedelics in modulating the immune system to treat neuropsychiatric disorders.
A native of Delphos, Ohio, Chung is committed to science education in underresourced communities. She mentors students through the Lowell Science Program and the ImmunoExplore camp in San Francisco and hosted the DocTalkwithLiz podcast bridging scientific research and public understanding.
In addition to her research and clinical training, Lizzie enjoys running, making stained glass pieces, playing the piano, and painting along to Bob Ross videos. As a self-proclaimed foodie, she also spends her free time exploring the culinary arts through cooking and discovering new restaurants.
