Jooyoung developed his interest in protein structure and function as an undergraduate student at DePauw University, a small liberal arts college in Greencastle, Indiana. Working with Drs. Jackie and Dave Roberts, he gained his first exposure to X-ray protein crystallography. He then went on to obtain his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Washington University in St. Louis – School of Medicine, where he further developed his structural biology interests in Dr. Niraj Tolia’s lab, studying antimicrobial resistance and structure-guided drug development.