Trends in Applied Research using Enzyme Design and Synthetic Biology Systems September 16 (Wed), 2026 9:30–11:30 Room TBA
Synthetic Biology and Bioengineering Approaches for Next-Generation Biomaterial and Biomass
September 16 (Wed), 2026 13:30–15:30 Room TBA
Invited Speakers from the KSBB
Namil Lee (KAIST)
Title: Unlocking the full genetic potential of Streptomyces through synergizing systems and synthetic biology Date & Time: September 16 (Wed), 2026 TBA Presentation No.:TBA Chair: TBA
Prof. Namil Lee joined the Graduate School of Engineering Biology at KAIST, Korea, as an Assistant Professor in 2025. He earned both his B.S. in biological science and Ph.D. in bioengineering from KAIST before conducting postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Prof. Jay D. Keasling at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI). Prof. Lee’s research integrates systems and synthetic biology to unlock the full genetic potential of microbial hosts, particularly soil bacteria. His work focuses on understanding and engineering secondary metabolism, with focus on reprogramming of natural product biosynthetic machinery to produce new-to-nature molecules.
Sungho Jang (Incheon National University)
Title: Development of nucleic acid based gene regulators for biochemical and biomedical engineering Date & Time: September 16 (Wed), 2026 TBA Presentation No.: TBA Chair: TBA
Dr. Sungho Jang currently serves as an Associate Professor in the Division of Bioengineering at Incheon National University, South Korea. His research is centered on redesigning biological systems by integrating principles from synthetic biology and artificial evolution. A core focus of his approach is the development and application of nucleic acid-based tools, particularly synthetic RNA devices like riboswitches, to serve as artificial gene regulators and metabolite sensors. This expertise is applied to develop advanced platforms for the production of valuable chemicals and pharmaceuticals, the manipulation of the microbiome for therapeutic purposes, and the creation of novel tools for the molecular diagnosis of diseases.
Jonghyeok Shin (Sejong University)
Title: A synthetic biology-driven platform for microbial production of human milk oligosaccharides Date & Time: September 16 (Wed), 2026 TBA Presentation No.: TBA Chair: TBA
Jonghyeok Shin, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Food Science & Biotechnology, Sejong University, Korea. His research focuses on synthetic biology-based precision fermentation, biofoundry automation, and biosensor development for the production of functional food ingredients such as human milk oligosaccharides. Before joining Sejong University, he worked at the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the University of Texas at Austin, where he developed automated DNA assembly and microbial consortium engineering strategies for metabolic pathway optimization.
Joongoo Lee (POSTECH)
Title: Cell-free systems for novel biomaterial production Date & Time: September 16 (Wed), 2026 TBA Presentation No.: TBA Chair: TBA
Joongoo Lee is an associate professor in the department of chemical engineering at POSTECH. His lab seeks to build new classes of materials using biological systems for compelling applications in biotechnology. He is the recipient of the ERC Studentship in 2012, the Mogam Science Scholarship in 2012, and the Korean government scholarship for study of overseas in 2011.
He received his Ph.D. in 2015 at the University of Oxford under the supervision of Dr. Hagan Bayley and completed postdoctoral study at Northwestern University with Dr. Michael Jewett in 2020.
Ju Young Lee (KAIST)
Title: Reprogramming yeast organelles for spatially organized control of metabolic reactions Date & Time: September 16 (Wed), 2026 TBA Presentation No.: TBA Chair: TBA
Dr. Ju Young Lee is an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Engineering Biology at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in Korea. Before joining KAIST, she was a Principal Research Scientist at the Research Center for Bio-based Chemistry at the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT). She also worked as a research staff member in the Biomaterials Laboratory at the Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) in Korea. Dr. Lee completed her Ph.D. in the Genome and Peptide Engineering Laboratory at KAIST. Her research focuses on developing efficient cell factories for the sustainable production of high-value chemicals, fuels, pharmaceuticals, and therapeutics through the modification of existing metabolic pathways or the introduction of entirely new ones. More specifically, her recent research interests include engineering yeast cells using organelles to control cellular functions and introduce new functionalities. Dr. Lee is dedicated to the field of yeast synthetic biology and metabolic engineering, where she aims to redesign cellular activity and metabolism to create yeast cells with novel biological properties.
Invited Speakers from the BEST
Chih-Yu Cheng (National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology)
Title: Reprogramming chitosanase specificity via a structure-guided engineering and high-throughput screening platform Date & Time: September 16 (Wed), 2026 TBA Presentation No.: TBA Chair: TBA
Dr. Chih-Yu Cheng is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Marine Biotechnology at National Kaohsiung University of Science and Technology, Taiwan, with extensive experience in microbial enzyme engineering and bioprocess-oriented research.
Her research focuses on structure-guided engineering of chitosanases, integrating rational protein design with screening platforms to reprogram enzyme specificity and regulate chito-oligosaccharide product distributions. Her work emphasizes enzyme robustness, product controllability, and feasibility in reproducible production systems.
Through long-term studies on chitin- and chitosan-degrading enzymes, Dr. Cheng contributes to enzyme-enabled processing strategies relevant to microbial fermentation, biopolymer utilization, and applied bioprocess development.
Yoong-Kit Leong (Tunghai University)
Title: Microalgae under electrical stimulation: Enhanced biomass productivity and metabolites accumulation Date & Time: September 16 (Wed), 2026 TBA Presentation No.: TBA Chair: TBA
Dr. Yoong Kit Leong is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at Tunghai University, Taiwan. He received his Ph.D. in Chemical and Environmental Engineering from the University of Nottingham Malaysia, following a First Class (Hons) MEng degree in Chemical Engineering from the same institution.
His research focuses on the integration of biochemical technology and sustainable bioprocess engineering, with particular emphasis on circular bioeconomy-driven microbial and microalgal biotechnology, microalgal biorefinery systems, carbon capture, waste stream valorization, and biohydrogen and anaerobic digestion technologies. His work aims to develop low-carbon, resource-efficient solutions for energy production, wastewater treatment, and environmental sustainability.
Dr. Leong has been recognized as a Stanford World Top 2% Scientist in 2023-2025, with a strong publication record in high-impact Q1 journals such as “Trends in Plant Science”, “Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews”, and “Bioresource Technology”. His research contributions have achieved significant international visibility, reflected by an h-index of 35 and an i10-index of 59.
