Wonsik Lee completed his doctoral degree in the microbiology program at Cornell University (Lab of David Russell) in the sunny city of Ithaca. His PhD research focused on lipid and carbon metabolism in Mycobacterium tuberculosis, a bug with a 16 hour doubling time, and he was awarded a Fulbright Graduate Student Program to support his study. After completing his PhD, eager to work with faster growing bacteria, he moved to the Staphylococcus aureus field by joining Suzanne Walker’s lab at Harvard Medical School. His postdoctoral research focused on identifying antibacterial compounds, elucidating their mechanisms of action, and applying transposon sequencing (TnSeq) for genomic profiling. He was awarded a Charles A. King Trust Fellowship to support his research. In 2019, he started his own research group at Sungkyunkwan University as an assistant professor. His lab explores antibiotic resistance, persistence, bacterial signaling, and microbial proteases.

Email : wonsik.lee(at)skku(dot)edu

JuOae Chang completed her PhD at Northeastern University in Boston, MA under the mentorship of Dr. Jonghan Kim. There she studied how iron-related disease states change the kinetics and dynamics of iron and iron-related proteins. For her postdoc, JuOae is interested in studying the genes essential for bacterial survival in various host environments utilizing high-density transposon libraries and in vitro and in vivo models.

Email: joc123(at)skku(dot)edu

YuJin Shin completed her PhD at Inha University in Incheon, Republic of Korea under the mentorship of Dr. Jae-Seong So. There she studied how we can use and improve lactic acid bacteria in various applications as potential probiotics. For her Postdoc, YuJin is interested in understanding how cadmium influences mechanisms of survival to antibiotics, and a genetic mechanism underlies persister formation using S. aureus.

Email : kayas(at)skku(dot)edu

Subin joined Wonsik Lee`s lab in 2020 to pursue a doctoral degree, and she completed her degree in 2025. For her thesis research, Subin is interested in cell wall homeostasis in S. aureus, and in the development of novel compounds targeting bacterial peptidoglycan synthase and viral protease.

Email : tnqls970(at)g.skku(dot)edu

Jihoon joined Wonsik Lee`s lab in 2022 to pursue a doctoral degree, and he completed his degree in 2025. For his thesis research, Jihoon is interested in uncovering the mechanisms by which metabolic regulation enables antibiotic evasion in S. aureus and in discovering compounds that restore antibiotic susceptibility.

Email : jhkimgo(at)skku(dot)edu

Inseo joined Wonsik Lee`s lab in 2021 to pursue a doctoral degree. For his thesis research, Inseo is interested in understanding how antibacterials act against S. aureus by leveraging multi-omics data and machine learning to discover novel antibiotics.

Email : ins329(at)g.skku(dot)edu

Jihyeon joined Wonsik Lee`s lab in 2022 to pursue a doctoral degree. For her thesis research, Jihyeon is interested in understanding the genetic mechanisms required for S. aureus to survive in host endothelial environments and to form cell wall-free state, L-form.

Email : ziiiii2022(at)g.skku(dot)edu

Jinbeom joined Wonsik Lee`s lab in 2023 to pursue a doctoral degree. For his thesis research, Jinbeom is interested in identifying how S. aureus adapts during intracellular infection and in understanding the host-pathogen interaction.

Email : tjwlsqja97(at)g.skku(dot)edu

Taegwan joined Wonsik Lee’s lab in 2023 to pursue a doctoral degree. For his thesis research, Taegwan is interested in discovering new drug targets of bacteria and identifying mechanisms of action.

Email : taegwan916(at)g.skku(dot)edu

Seonmin Lee joined Wonsik Lee`s lab in 2024 to pursue a PhD degree. For her thesis research, Seonmin is interested in understanding the molecular mechanism of c-di-AMP signaling in antibiotic resistance using S. aureus and in discovery of novel drug targets.

Email : dltjsals0207(at)g.skku(dot)edu 

Hyesoo Kwon joined Wonsik Lee's lab in 2024 to pursue a MS degree. For her thesis research, Hyesoo is interested in understanding the structural basis of the enzymatic mechanism of a S. aureus peptidase.  

Email : tnrdl2121(at)g.skku(dot)edu

Junggyeong Jang joined Wonsik Lee's lab in 2025 to pursue a Ph.D. degree. For his thesis research, Junggyeong is interested in transposon sequencing  to identify essential genes and genetic interactions under specific conditions. He also applies data science techniques and computational tools to analyze sequencing data and extract meaningful biological insights.

Email : ruby0000(at)g.skku(dot)edu

Minhee Oh joined the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology as a researcher, then began doctoral studies in 2025 in Wonsik Lee’s laboratory. For her thesis research, Minhee is interested in developing novel antibiotics against Gram-negative bacteria by evaluating the  antimicrobial activity of candidate compounds and identifying new essential protein targets involved in antibiotic resistance. 

Email : mhoh(at)krict.re(dot)edu