Steve Cho

MD / PhD Student

Steve likes to say he grew up in “New England.” This is false. Steve, in fact, grew up in South Korea, Toronto, and Connecticut, but most strongly identifies with the state he went to college in: Maine.

After earning an A.B. in Music Theory & Composition and Marine Biology at Bowdoin College, he worked at Boston Children’s Hospital studying retinal neovascular diseases such as retinopathy of prematurity with Dr. Lois Smith. It was there that Steve realized that a career as a composer-pianist-marine biologist-physician-scientist was impractical and decided upon just the latter two.

In a rather impetuous pandemic decision, Steve moved cross-country to attend the University of Utah for his MD-PhD training. In the Elde lab he studies retroCHMP3, a retrogene that selectively inhibits HIV budding via the ESCRT pathway while sparing host functions.

Steve is an ardent admirer of baroque counterpoint and French cookware. Although he is unable to continue his college sport of rowing, he has found joy in running, cross-country skiing, biking, and backpacking in the Wasatch Front.