SUNGKYUNKWAN UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

Dr. Kong is a molecular parasitologist interested in fundamental questions of how and why parasites adapt to the sophisticated mammalian immune system and how the parasite exploits their bioactive systems to ensure their long-term survival in the unfavorable host environments. His laboratory focuses on the tissue-invasive helminths that cause fatal outcome in the victims. The central questions his group addresses are (i) which molecules manipulate the host immune system to invoke specific antibody responses? (ii) what parasite molecules are responsible for adaptation into the host? (iii) action mechanism of parasitic bioactive molecules in the host and molecular interaction between parasite molecules and host cells. Most of his publications dealt with these issues. His group has deep interests in characterizing biological and pathophysiological roles of antioxidants and proteolytic enzymes during host-parasite interplay.