News
Hong Lab News
November 2022
Jiacheng presents biofilm-electrode research at the AIChE annual meeting in Phoenix, AZ.
Fatima presents an overview of CFPS optimization at the Pharmaceutical Engineering Workshop.
August 2022
Jiacheng receives Illinois Tech Outstanding Graduate Research Award at the Welcome Week Student Research Poster Day.
June 2022
Krite (Special Project) and Quincy (NSF REU) join the Hong Lab for summer research.
May 2022
Dr. Hong receives the 2022 Dean's Award for Excellence in Research at the Associate Professor level!
February 2022
Dr. Hong's research story of colicin genetic circuit engineering is highlighted in Illinois Tech Research News.
January 2022
Tejaswini's story is published in Illinois Tech's alumni story. After graduating with a MAS degree in Pharmaceutical Engineering in 2021, she has worked at Moderna, a pharmaceutical company that manufactures a Covid-19 vaccine. Tejaswini studied cell-free protein synthesis in our lab.
The book "New Frontiers and Applications of Synthetic Biology" which includes our review of "Cell-free protein synthetic biology as an emerging technology" (Chapter 24) has been published. Congrats to Ana!
December 2021
AIChE's CEP magazine highlights the AIChE Journal Fourth Future Issue that quotes our research of colicin genetic circuit - designing the E. coli strain to selectively produce and secrete colicins with antibiofilm properties.
November 2021
Jiacheng presents at AIChE annual meeting 2021.
Jiacheng's genetic engineering study for bisphenol A degradation is published in I&EC Research as Dr. Hong is being among the 2021 Class of Influential Researchers. Congratulations!
October 2021
Colicin genetic circuit paper is published in AIChE Journal as a part of the AIChE Future Issue. Congratulations to Xing, Sungjun, and Jiacheng!
NSF supports synthetic cell research in collaboration with Dr. Jang lab at U of Florida.
September 2021
Fatima joins the Hong lab.
Jiacheng passes the PhD comprehensive exam.
August 2021
Dr. Hong becomes an Associate Professor with tenure.
Kimberley participates in fall research.
May 2021
Huiyi participates in summer research
February 2021
Gabrielle participates in a NSAA incorporation study.
January 2021
Ogechi and Tejaswini participate in a cell-free protein synthesis study for difficult-to-express protein production.
December 2020
Dr. Hong teaches “Bacterial detection” in the KSEA Chicagoland Science Camp.
October 2020
Kuili has passed his Ph.D. Thesis defense. Congrats Dr. Fang!
Xing has passed his Ph.D. Thesis defense. Congrats Dr. Jin!
Xing and Jiacheng’s manuscript on fatty acid screening for persister formation has been accepted for publication in Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology.
August 2020
Jiacheng’s manuscript on nisin and fatty acids co-treatment effect has been accepted for publication in LWT – Food Science & Technology!
April 2020
Dr. Hong has been selected as a recipient of the Sigma Xi Excellence in Research Award.
Dr. Hong has been selected by the United States chapter of the Korean Institute of Chemical Engineers (KIChE) as the recipient of its 2020 KIChE President Young Investigator Award.
March 2020
Kuili, Xing, Jiacheng, and Riya present at AIChE MRC 2020, IIT, Chicago, IL.
February 2020
Sungjun joins the lab for synthetic biology research.
January 2020
The book “Cell-Free Synthetic Biology” edited by Dr. Hong has been published. (This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue Cell-Free Synthetic Biology that was published in Methods and Protocols.)
Jiacheng continues his research as a Ph.D. student.
A synthetic biofilm review paper has been accepted for publication in Biotechnology Advances.
Maria and Ana participate in the CFPS project.
December 2019
Listeria control using probiotics is published in Journal of Food Safety.
Kuili passes Ph.D. proposal exam.
November 2019
Kuili, Xing, Jiacheng, and Dr. Hong present the research progress at AIChE Meeting 2019, Orlando, FL.
October 2019
Ogechi and Tejaswini join the lab for biofilm and plant extract study.
Hieu joins the lab for a cell-free protein synthesis study.
Xing passes Ph.D. proposal exam.
September 2019
NSF supports biofilm-electrode interaction study in collaboration with Sanchez lab at the University of Pittsburgh!
Sandra joins the lab for biofilm study.
Dr. Hong serves as an Editorial Board Member of Methods and Protocols journal.
August 2019
Dr. Hong presents cell-free colicin production and optimization at UKC2019, Chicago, IL.
Jiacheng receives an M.S. degree.
July 2019
Brian and Jay join the lab for summer research.
Dr. Hong teaches “Living Microbial Paintings” at the 2019 Youth Summer Science Camp.
May 2019
Yashwant (PURE), Gabriella (NSF REU), Kevin (SPARK), and Dziyana (SPARK) join the lab for summer research.
Kuili & Xing’s paper ‘Probiotic Escherichia coli inhibits biofilm formation of pathogenic E. coli via extracellular activity of DegP’ was selected as one of the top 100 read microbiology papers for Scientific Reports in 2018.
April 2019
Jiacheng passes Master’s Thesis Defense. Congratulations!
Daniel won the 1st place in the Armour R&D Expo. Congratulations!
Riya won the 2nd place in the poster competition in the AIChE Local Section meeting. Congratulations!
Xing’s study on colicin optimization in CFPS is accepted for publication in Methods and Protocols.
March 2019
Kuili, Xing, Jiacheng, Riya, and Kaixi present at AIChE MRC 2019, UIC, Chicago, IL.
February 2019
NSAA incorporation review paper is accepted for publication in Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology.
January 2019
Dr. Hong presents cell-free colicin work at ICBE 2019, Newport Beach, CA.
October 2018
Kuili and Xing present at AIChE 2018, Pittsburgh, PA.
September 2018
ConA biofilm control paper is accepted for publication in Journal of Applied Microbiology.
Daniel continues the probiotic-Listeria biofilm interaction study.
Kaixi, Vasanti, and Riya join the lab for biofilm study.
Dr. Ohjin Park joins the lab as a visiting professor.
August 2018
NIH supports our colicin engineering research!
Wesley joins the lab for a colicin engineering study.
July 2018
Menyga’s fatty acid study to control persister cell formation is accepted for publication in Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology.
CFPS review paper (difficult-to-express proteins) by Xing is published in Biochemical Engineering Journal.
June 2018
Hong lab participates in the NSF REU program.
Daniel through the Summer Immersion Program and Lindsey through the REU program join our lab for biofilm studies.
May 2018
Prof. Hong serves as a guest editor for a Special Issue: Cell-free Synthetic Biology in Methods and Protocols. We are looking for contributions from researchers.
April 2018
Xing is selected as a recipient of Gidaspow Fellowship!
Xing’s colicin CFPS paper is published for publication in Synthetic Biology.
Kuili passes Ph.D. Comprehensive Exam. Congratulations!
March 2018
Two papers are published in Nature-based journals.
Kuili’s first paper studying dual-species biofilm interaction is published in Scientific Reports!
CFPS genome engineering working with Jewett lab is published in Nature Communications!
Xing, Kuili, and Mengya present their research results at the AIChE Midwest Regional Conference 2018 at Illinois Tech.
February 2018
Xing passes Ph.D. Comprehensive Exam. Congratulations!
January 2018
Srinidhi, Moksha, and Alejandro join the lab for biofilm engineering studies.
October 2017
Prof. Hong presents dual biofilm research at AIChE 2017, Minneapolis, MN.
Mengya passes Master’s Thesis Defense. Congratulations!
September 2017
Alex continues his research through the Fall 2017 PURE R&D program.
Jiacheng, Kumar, and Xinhao join the lab.
August 2017
Prof. Hong presents dual biofilm research (invited) at UKC 2017, Washington, D.C.
July 2017
Prof. Hong teaches 7-9th-grade students at the Hanul Summer Science Camp.
Shweta and Alex present their Summer research progress at Armour R&D Expo.
WISER supports our research through Interdisciplinary Seed Funding Grants.
June 2017
Prof. Hong presents at ASM Microbe 2017, New Orleans, LA.
May 2017
Shweta and Alex join the lab through Armour R&D Summer Research Immersion Program.
April 2017
Kuili passes the preliminary exam. Congratulations!
Sung Min presents his research at Armour R&D Expo and at CAURS 2017.
March 2017
Prof. Hong presents at ASM MICC 2017, Washington, DC.
February 2017
Kuili, Xing, Mengya, Inwha, and Sung Min present at AIChE Midwest Regional Conference 2017 at UIC.
January 2017
Sung Min continues his persister cell research through the Spring 2017 PURE R&D program.
November 2016
Vesna presents her research at Armour R&D Expo.
September 2016
Vesna continues her research through the Fall 2016 PURE R&D program.
August 2016
Undergraduates Brian, Nathan, and Sung Min join the lab.
Vesna presents her research at Armour R&D Expo.
May 2016
Kuili joins the lab as a graduate student.
Vesna joins the lab as a researcher of the Summer 2016 PURE R&D program.
April 2016
Xing passes the preliminary exam. Congratulations!
January 2016
Inwha, Mengya, and Xing join the lab as graduate students.
Olga, Bader, and Pujan join the lab as undergraduate researchers. Welcome!
Dr. Hong in collaboration with Dr. Juarez (Biology) receives Illinois Tech’s Educational and Research Initiative Fund.
August 2015
Hong lab is open. Our research includes biofilm engineering, cell-free protein synthesis, and their applications.