Dongjin Park

　　Title: Assistant Professor

　　Address: Department of Biological Sciences, Keimyung University

　　1095 Dalgubeol-daero, Dalseo-Gu, Daegu 42601 South Korea

　　Tel: +82-53-580-5181

　　Email: djpark247@gmail.com

　　Education Background:

　　2005  Ph.D.,      University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, U.S.A.

　　1999  M.Sc.,      University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, U.S.A.

　　1990  B.Sc.,       Chung-Nam National University, Daejeon, S. Korea

　　Working Experiences:

　　2014-present        Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences,

　　Keimyung University, Daegu, S. Korea.

　　2009-2013         Research Associate, Department of Bacteriology,

　　University of Wisconsin, Madison, U.S.A.

　　2005-2009         Research Associate, Department of Biological Sciences,

　　University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, U.S.A.

　　Research Interests:

　　My research is primarily focus on the transmission, genetic diversity, and pathogenicity of Enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC), a prominent foodborne pathogen that is capable of causing serious illness in humans. EHEC is a common member of the intestinal flora in cattle, which accounts for its farm-to-fork transmission. Shiga toxin (Stx)-mediated cytotoxicity is central to pathogenesis of  this bacterium. My research aims to characterize the genetic basis underlying heterogeneous virulence potentials of EHEC, which is largely determined by evolutionary lineages and differential expression of Stx subtypes. Over the past few years, we have developed prophage polymorphism-based genetic markers and an Insertional sequence (IS)-based subtyping scheme that can distinguish different phylogenetic strains of E. coli O157:H7. Using the collective information, I am also interested in the development of a time- and cost-effective high-throughput screening system that can help effective controlling of the pathogen transmission at both preharvest and postharvest stages of food production.