Suryang Kwak, Ph. D.

Personal Statement

My longstanding research aim is to develop nutraceutical and precision medicinal applications of engineered microorganisms and their fermentation products. My research experience and academic training put me uniquely positioned to design engineered microorganisms and assess their effectiveness with a sound base over microbiology, molecular biology, and multiomics.I received my first graduate training from Seoul National University under the mentorship of Dr. Jin-Ho Seo in advancing bacterial cell factories for value-added biochemicals, and diversified the research direction into pharmaceutical and nutraceutical purposes under the mentorship of Dr. Yong-Su Jin at the University of Illinois. I further expanded my research capacity toward metagenomics and pathology under the mentorship of Dr. Gautam Dantas at Washington University School of Medicine. Now I lead an interdisciplinary research group with expertise in synthetic biology, computational biology, biomedical engineering, and precision fermentation.

Education

2012.08 - 2017.05 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Graduate College / Energy Bioscience Institute
Laboratory of Professor Yong-Su Jin
PhD in FSHN2007.03 - 2009.02 Seoul National University
Interdisciplinary Program in Bioengineering, College of Engineering
Laboratory of Professor Jin-Ho Seo
MS in ChemEng2003.03 - 2007.02 Korea University
Division of Life Science, College of Life Sciences and Biotechnology
BS in Biology

Employment History

2022.09 - Present Kookmin University
Department of Bio and Fermentation Convergence Technology
Assistant Professor2018.01 - 2022.08 Washington University School of Medicine
Department of Pathology & Immunology /
Center for Genome Sciences and Systems Biology
Laboratory of Professor Gautam Dantas
Postdoctoral Research Associate2017.06 - 2017.12 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology
Postdoctoral Research Associate2009.02 - 2012.04 Lotte Chemical
Daeduk Research Institute
Research Engineer

Honors and Awards

2017 Swagger Foods Corporation Award2014 ACES RAP II Outstanding Scholarship Award by University of Illinois2007 Honored Scholarship by Korea Biotechnology Industry Association2003-2006 National Scholarship by Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development, South Korea

Contact Information

{Lab} Science Building 204-4, 77 Jeongneung-Ro, Seongbuk-Gu, Seoul 02707, Republic of Korea{Office} Hwirang Hall 503, 77 Jeongneung-Ro, Seongbuk-Gu, Seoul 02707, Republic of Korea{Phone} (+82) 2-910-5735{Email} skwak [at] kookmin.ac.kr