My lab investigates how the gut microbiome modulates immune responses to tumors during cancer therapies. The human intestine is home to trillions of bacteria that profoundly and continuously influence our immune system through their molecules. My research focuses on decoding the interactions between these microbial molecules and the immune system through mechanistic approaches. My lab develops diverse tools to manipulate gut microbes and determine the functional consequences of their genetic manipulation on the tumor microenvironment and immune responses. Our approach is holistic and highly interdisciplinary, integrating microbiology, synthetic biology, chemistry, and conventional immunology approaches to decode microbiome-immune interactions in cancer, from molecular mechanisms to organism-wide immunity. Ultimately, we aim to develop innovative therapeutic strategies by unlocking the power of the microbiome to treat cancer.

Prior to my faculty appointment at the University of Chicago, I trained as an immunologist at Weill Cornell, The Rockefeller University, and Harvard Medical School. As an undergraduate student at Yonsei University in Korea, I was deeply impressed by a lecture given by Dr. Jim Allison on immune checkpoint blockade and its potential to cure cancer, which led me to pursue my PhD in New York City. After completing my PhD studying T cell receptor signaling in Dr. Alexander Tarakhovsky’s lab at the Rockefeller University, I moved to Boston for postdoctoral training in Dr. Arlene Sharpe’s lab at Harvard Medical School, where I studied the role of gut microbiome in regulating responses to immune checkpoint blockade. I identified novel microorganisms from human fecal microbiome and uncovered a causal mechanism by which a gut commensal enhances responses to cancer immunotherapy. Through this work, discovered a new way to overcome resistance to immunotherapy by uncovering a previously unknown immune receptor pathway in cancer. Since starting my own lab, I have expanded my research to investigate a diverse array of microbial molecules involved in cancer immunity. My work has been recognized with several awards, including the V Scholar Award and the Cancer Research Foundation Breakthrough Board Young Investigator Award. Beyond academic research, I have contributed to the broader scientific community by serving as President of the New England Bioscience Society and working as a consultant for the pharmaceutical industry.