Our research article, “Comparative analysis of the Streptococcus pneumoniae competence development in vitro versus in vivo during pneumonia-derived sepsis“, by Celina Sook Yin Chong has been published in Frontiers in Microbiology, shedding light on the differences in pneumococcal competence development between lab settings and host infections. Additionally, our review paper, “Modulation of Pulmonary Immune Functions by the Pseudomonas aeruginosa Secondary Metabolite Pyocyanin“, by Johnny Shi Qian Lew is published in Frontiers in Immunology, exploring how bacterial metabolites influence host immune responses in respiratory infections.

https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2025.1540511

https://doi.org/10.3389/fimmu.2025.1550724

-March 2025-

Shanny Hsuan Kuo defended her thesis on October 28 and started a Comparative Anatomic Pathology Fellowship at the University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle.

Our joint paper with labs of Drs. Ling Peng (Aix-Marseille University) and Leo Lee (University of Macao) has been published in Science Advances: “Targeting the phosphatidylglycerol lipid: An amphiphilic dendrimer as a promising antibacterial candidate“. Shanny, Johnny, Whan, and Celina all contributed to the paper. Dr. Lau serves as one of the co-corresponding authors.

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adn8117

-September 2024-

Huge congratulations to Shanny for successfully passing the 2024 American College of Veterinary Pathologists Phase II Certifying Examination in Veterinary Anatomic Pathology!

-September 2024-

Johnny wins Outstanding Full Talk award at the Graduate Student Pathobiology EXPO 2024

Celina wins Outstanding Lightning Talk award at the Graduate Student Pathobiology EXPO 2024

🎉 Congratulations on winning the awards 🎉

-August 2024-

Our research on “Signal recognition particle RNA is critical for genetic competence and virulence of Streptococcus pneumoniae” is published at Journal of Bacteriology!

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/jb.00004-24

-August 2024-

We are excited to announce that both Celina (on March 26, 2024) and Johnny (April 2024) have successfully passed their qualifying exams and are now officially PhD candidates!

Huge congratulations on your PhD defense and welcome to the world of doctors, Myung Whan! Your perseverance and effort have led you to this well-deserved success!

-March 22, 2024-

Check out our latest RNA-seq analysis paper on competence induction in Streptococcus pneumoniae

“Time-resolved RNA-seq analysis to unravel the in vivo competence induction by Streptococcus pneumoniae during pneumonia-derived sepsis”

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1128/spectrum.03050-23

-February 2024-

Check out our publication “Amphiphilic Dendrimer as Potent Antibacterial against Drug-Resistant Bacteria in Mouse Models of Human Infectious Diseases” at the ACS Infectious Diseases which highlights a promising new strategy for tackling antibiotic-resistant infections.

https://doi.org/10.1021/acsinfecdis.3c00425

– January 2024-