Postdoc
Case Western Reserve University
Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose
I received a Bachelor degree in Pharmacy from the College of Pharmacy at Kyung Hee University in South Korea. After completing the BPharm, I received a MS at the same school. During PhD in University of Florida, under the guidance of Dr. Jürgen Bulitta and my committee members, I identified the target receptor occupancy patterns of β-lactam antibiotics that elicit synergistic bacterial killing of Gram-negative bacteria. I employed latest dynamic in vitro hollow fiber infection models (HFIM) as well as Quantitative and Systems Pharmacology (QSP) modeling in order to identify and prospectively validate optimized combination dosage regimens that can successfully combat carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae. I developed next-generation QSP models that translate mechanistic PBP receptor binding occupancy patterns into synergistic, clinically relevant dosage regimens to combat serious lung infections. Based on this outstanding foundation, I will employ an even larger array of mechanistic studies in as a postdoctoral fellow (and other significant contributor) for Dr. Bonomo’s and Dr. Plummer’s novel γ-lactam pyrazolidinone compounds, which are highly promising PBP-binders in Gram-negatives. I was awarded a highly competitive and prestigious PhD student grant as Principal Investigator from the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) in 2021. Upon completing my PhD, I continued my research in infectious disease and antimicrobial pharmacology in Dr. Bonomo’s lab at Case Western Reserve University as a postdoctoral researcher. As of present, I am conducting research on the mechanisms of β-lactam action and resistant suppression against resistant bacteria through the utilization of latest biochemical approaches. I am combining these new mechanistic skills with my extensive existing skills in in vitro infection models, flow cytometry, confocal microscopy, pharmacokinetics, animal research and translational QSP modeling. Most recently, I won a 5 years postdoc-to-faculty transition award (CFF 006496F223) from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation with Dr. Bonomo as primary mentor.