1. 18 19KBLA Community
You’ve had a very diverse career, spanning medicine,
writing, business, and more. Please share with us a brief
self-introduction of yourself and an overview of your life’s
journey so far.
I am the CEO of a new venture, NovumWaves, dedicated
to developing terahertz technologies for novel applications,
and through this we aim to revolutionize
medicine. I also serve as Innovation
Ambassador at the Korean Business Leaders
Alliance and hold academic appointments at
the Samsung Advanced Institute of Health
Sciences and Technology, the University of
Melbourne, and Libera Accademia Belle Arti
in Brescia, Italy.
hroughout my life, two things have
endlessly fascinated me: biology and
innovation. How life works—and in the
disease, how it doesn’t—is truly amazing,
though much remains a mystery. Einstein
once said, “he most beautiful thing we can
experience is the mysterious. It is the source
of all true art and since,” adding that absent mystery one “is as
good as dead.” And growing up in New York City, I’ve always
sought to imagine new, diferent, and better ways of doing
things—that is to say, innovation. One seems more alive when
you are sensitive to the world and try to make it better. So I
would add to Einstein: “So long as you’re not moving forward
in this world of mystery, you are not quite alive.”
hese twin interests led to studying biochemistry at Harvard,
then medical school and graduate school at Columbia, around
which time I developed the scientiic idea, the one that
underlies NovumWaves, which in turn motivated a transition
to business, including consulting (at Booz, Allen, Hamilton
and Sg2), executive management, the Samsung Advanced
Institute of Technology (SAIT), various other roles, and
eventually where I am now.
Before we talk about that, you’ve no doubt come across
some very interesting people. Who would you describe as
having had a particularly signiicant impact on your life
and career?
I’ve had the good fortune to meet many remarkable igures—
there’s no way to count them all. Back in college, often the
time for one’s most formative experiences, I
came across many wonderful people, but three
have had an especially lasting inluence.
here was Bruce Beall, coach of the varsity
lightweight crew. Harvard crew is a serious
sport with Olympians and other elite athletes
always passing through the boathouse. Bruce
Beall was one such Olympian and he kindly
agreed to write a letter of recommendation to
medical school on my behalf. Paraphrasing, he
wrote that “Ogan is one of the most dedicated
persons I’ve ever met. And I should know, since
Olympic competition epitomizes dedication.”
Truly humbled, these words have continued
to inspire, as I think to myself, “An Olympian
once praised my dedication, so dedicated I must be!” Bruce’s
recommendation was more than that: they were the words of a
master coach, one who to this day still guides me from afar.
Another inluence would be Derek Bok, former President of
Harvard. At the Baccalaureat address she exhorted to the newly
graduated: “Go International!” Taking up his advice, I went
out into the world, working in France, Germany—many other
locales—and now Korea.
And then there is Martin Karplus, in whose research group
I did my senior thesis at Harvard. Prof. Karplus won the
Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2013 and his pioneering work in
protein dynamics has been inspired me ever since, essentially
the fundamental idea behind NovumWaves. Basically,
protein dynamics means that proteins, the machinery of life
and the targets for most drugs, are actually not solid objects
but are vibrating—like living and breathing. hese motions
are essential to protein function—indeed, what makes life
happen—and much of what I have done over the past 30 years
has revolved around exploring the implications of this fact.
Fascinated by the
Undulations of Life
Medical Doctor, Technologist, Writer, CEO, International Man of Mystery,
Dr. Ogan Gurel tells us why he won’t stand still and neither should you.
people read and enjoy it. It’s a wonderful feeling to be able,
simply through one’s writing, to touch someone from a afar.
Tell us about your goals for the KBLA Innovation Series.
Innovation is deined as bring new ideas to reality, usually
through the combination of such ideas. So, simply put:
in addition to bringing some of the leading
thinkers and doers to our KBLA membership,
I hope that the seminar series itself can spark
new innovation among those participating. So
the KBLA Innovation Series is not just about
innovation, it is innovation. Now in practical
terms, that means we bring together not just
the thought leaders, expert in the “idealities” of
innovation, but also those who grapple with its
everyday “realities.” We recently hosted Philipp
Kristian Diekhöner from Singapore, who has
launched several large and small corporate
innovation initiatives. Last month, we had
Karyn and Eric Schroeder, joint leaders of the
Kimberly-Clark Global Innovation Center,
present their experiences and best practices.
Many more outstanding events are coming up: Ben Chung,
Innovation Center Lead at Cisco, Dr. YoungHwan Kim,
the CTO of Samyang Holdings and previous EVP leading
So would that be your current mission in life?
My overall mission—both past and present—is to impact
positively on this world. As the saying goes, “Nothing is
more important that one’s health,” healthcare has been my
focus. More speciically, I’ve sought to explore and develop,
scientiically and practically, the implications of what I call
protein electrodynamics. Launching NovumWaves is the latest
incarnation of that.
Can you tell us about your Korea experience so far. When
did you come? Why did you come? How long do you plan
to stay?
By the way, this idea of “Protein Electrodynamics and
Terahertz Medicine” represents a form of “Bioelectronics”,
something which is gaining increasingly attention. For
example, GlaxoSmithKline launched a multi-million dollar
bioelectronics initiative. Korea is certainly one of the world’s
leading centers in electronics. Hence the connection to Korea.
So I arrived here over ive years ago—November of 2010,
joining as a Director (부장) in the CTO oice in the Samsung
Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT). I accomplished
quite a bit at SAIT, advising them generally on biohealthcare
technologies, writing research papers, even a few patents. And
while in the Open Innovation oice at SAIT, in collaboration
with leading researchers around the world (for example, at
MIT, Ohio State University, University of Southampton,
University of California–Irvine, University of Texas–Dallas
and others), we actually advanced the protein electrodynamics
idea quite a bit. How long will I stay? I plan to stay for as long
as necessary to get this idea to the next level. But as President
Bok, told us, “Go International,” so I will work wherever is
best to make this reality. But for now, Korea is the place.
Tell us about your book Waves. Why did you write it? What
were your goals? What role does it play in your life?
Waves is essentially the literary embodiment of the protein
electrodynamics and terahertz medicine idea. As mentioned,
this idea has medical applications, for both
diagnosis and therapy. But it can also be used
for military purposes. Like any technology,
there are many sides, many possibilities, and
the novel explores such wider dimensions.
his is, in my own mind—and to share with
others—is what I wished to accomplish. here
are other aspects to Waves. Published back
in February of 2009, the book also serves an
intellectual property purpose, making public
this core idea of terahertz radiation being used
to detect and modulate proteins for diagnostic
and therapeutic purposes. NovumWaves, or
anybody for that matter, can enter freely into
this ield with the winners in this industry
being those who succeed with its various
technical and market implementations. But
ultimately Waves is entertainment. I loved writing it—though
not at all easy—and it gives me great pleasure to hear when
So what exactly is “protein dynamics, “protein
electrodynamics” and “terahertz medicine?” The idea is
actually quite simple:
1. We know that proteins vibrate. This is protein dynamics
and what Martin Karplus (and others) pioneered.
2. We also know that proteins have charges and dipoles.
This is a fact.
3. And vibrating charges and dipoles emit and absorb
electromagnetic radiation, which simply arises out of the
laws of electromagnetism, what are often called Maxwell’s
equations. This, also, a fact, one which makes radios
smartphones and all our electronics possible.
4. So therefore, proteins should emit and absorb
electromagnetic radiation—I call this protein
electrodynamics—and there have been many studies,
including some I have been involved with, showing that this
is, indeed, the case.
5. Therefore, proteins are like radios.
6. Radios can be detected and can be modulated. That’s
just the way they work.
7. And so proteins can be detected and modulated.
8. This “detection” and “modulation” becomes a new form
of diagnosis and therapy respectively,
9. It turns out that frequency of these vibrations lie in
the terahertz range, which is between the microwave on the
low frequency side and the infrared on the high frequency
side of the electromagnetic spectrum.
10. Hence this leads to the possibility of terahertz
medicine, namely new ways of achieving diagnosis and
therapy in a non-invasive and biologically speciic way.
NovumWaves is a venture that aims to bring all this—protein
electrodynamics and terahertz medicine—to reality.

2. 20 21
the Materials R&D Center at Samsung, Chungha Cha,
Co-founder and Chair of the KGBC “Re-Imagining Cities”
Foundation, and others. So I hope all KBLA members will
participate in this informative, engaging, and very well-
received seminar series.
How has coming to Korea changed your life? How has the
country and its people shaped your thinking?
Being in Korea, deeply embedded in Asian culture, has ofered
profound learning experiences. I would say that among all the
developed nations, Korea is probably among those that are
most culturally diferent for Americans and other westerners.
hese cultural diferences are certainly challenging and one is
often outside ones comfort zone. But I am a better, smarter
person being exposed to such new and diferent kinds of
thinking and living. here is a word in Korean (틀리다), which
has two meanings: one being “diferent”, the other being
“wrong.” For me, diferent is often right.
If you could give policy makers in Korea a single piece of
advice, on any subject, what would it be?
For policy makers and business leaders, it is important to
encourage openness to new and diferent ideas. here are
tremendous pressures, some of it subconscious, to conform, to
resist change and outside inluence. his is not just a Korean
problem, but it is especially extreme here. Consider the
language inluence cited above, witness that all cars here are
either black, silver, or white—and so on. And inally, there’s
North Korea, whose entire national psyche is about self-
reliance and resistance to all things foreign. hey call it 주체.
I call it failure. South Korea, acutely dependent on an export-
driven economy, categorically must be open to the outside
inluences and ideas.
If you could give business leaders in Korea a single piece of
advice, on any subject, what would it be?
My advice to business leaders in Korea, again, is to be open to
new ideas, and in particular to be globally minded. I’ve advised
many startups while here and I would say that the single
biggest factor holding back their success is not being globally
minded. Notwithstanding recent pressures, no one can deny
that Samsung has been enormously successful. Part of the
reason for that was the Chairman’s insistence back in the mid-
1990s that even if the company was best in Korea that meant
nothing. hey must be the best globally. Like Derek Bok told
us, “Go International!”
With respect to expat business leaders, my advice would be
similar. Western companies should likewise not believe that
their way is the best way. Insisting to “Do it the American
Way” is similarly close-minded. [Back in the 1980s, everyone
thought the Japanese had developed the best management
system. You can see where that led.] Anyway, we can learn a
lot from Korea, and likewise Korean business leaders can learn
much from others. Such is the mission and spirit of KBLA,
bringing together leaders from diferent backgrounds for
mutual learning and advancement. As mentioned before, “If
we are not innovating, we are just as good as dead.”
You have done a lot in your life already. What’s next for
you?
I’m involved in many projects here in Korea and globally,
including at KBLA as well as serving as President of the Board
at the Camarata Music Company. But my main mission, my
life’s work, will be to launch and drive forward NovumWaves.
As mentioned, it is a terahertz technology holding company
/ “venture builder” with the goal of revolutionizing medicine
through what one might call the “radiation of life.” We have a
three-stage execution model (all initiated in parallel) involving
a near-term industrial applications “roll-up”, a mid-term
wellness/cosmetic startups, and longer-term medical projects
aimed at cancer, Alzheimer’s, diabetes and other serious
conditions. Above all, I hope to have fun and make a little
progress in understanding that mystery we call life.
How did you both end up in Korea? How did you meet
each other?
A Samsung advertisement set in hailand was in fact indirectly
responsible for the serendipitous startup alliance. While
working as an Executive Producer with a leading Korean
advertising ilm production company, Carlo met Alina, who
at the time was doing some research for a ilm industry related
startup she considered embarking on. During an animated
conversation, he presented her with the opportunity to join
his project team in Korea which, at the time, was developing a
project very similar to the one that she was considering.
After about a year of negotiations and discussions, the
original team had broken up due to a disagreement between
the founders about the vision and execution of the project.
However, because Alina and Carlo had developed a strong
working relationship during that time, they decided to explore
opportunities together. One of the dissolved project’s service
providers, a leading Netherlands based Cloud Computing
Corporation, invited the pair to join them on an internal
project. his later led to a partnership in a jointly founded VC
focusing on cloud computing related investments.
But Carlo’s nascent interest in the Korean startup scene
began long before then, during his time in the advertising
ilm industry (TVCs) while working with some of the best
advertising creatives, agencies and directors in Korea. At
Accelerate Korea
Taking Korea’s Startups
to the World
Korea’s startups face a unique set of challenges to making their
way in the world. This is how one team aims to help them.
KBLA Community