Dec A visiting Master's student Marianna Gimenes e Silva (DDS), from the Federal University of Santa Catarina, joined our lab. Welcome!

Nov Dr. Hwang was invited to the G-LAMP (Global-Learning & Academic Research Institute for Masters, Ph.D. Students, and Postdoctoral Researchers) Fall Academic Conference hosted by Kangwon National University and the Leaders in Industry-university Cooperation (LINC) 3.0 program hosted by Jeonbuk National University in South Korea.

Oct A new postdoctoral scholar Dr. Pratik Nag, a D3 student Elyse Alexandria, and an undergraduate student Sajni Patel from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill joined our lab. Welcome!

Aug A rotational Ph.D. student Alina Dong and a Master's student Manasa Vempati joined our lab. Welcome!

Aug Our former PURM recipient, Jeewoo Lee, got admitted to Penn Dental Medicine. Congratulations!

Jul Dr. Hwang was promoted to Associate Professor (with Tenure).

Jun High School students Claudia Kim (from PA), Jithendra Marupudi (from VA), Sophia Kim (from NJ), and Betty Li (from NY) joined our lab's Summer Internship Program. Welcome!

May A D1 student, Adam James Bouhamdan, and three undergraduate students, Ryan Ong, Loza Markos (PURM), and Jayden Shin (PURM), joined our lab. Welcome!

May Our student, Frank (Fu-Yu) Tsai, earned his master's degree. Congratulations!

May Our lab is featured in Penn Dental Medicine Journal Spring 2024 (pages 28-32).

Apr Ms. Geovanna Peter joined our lab as a visiting Ph.D. student. Welcome!

Mar "Photobiomodulation of gingival cells challenged with viable oral microbes" has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Dental Research.

Mar Our D2 student, Manuel Ricardo Acuna, received AADOCR Student Research Fellowships. Congratulations!

Mar Dr. Hwang received the IADR Innovation in Oral Care Awards. 

Mar Our lab is relocated to 235 and 245.

Mar Our former high-school intern, Claudia Kim, won 2nd place in the Pennsylvania Junior Academy of Science competition. Congratulations!

Feb Our master's student, Frank (Fu-Yu) Tsai, got admitted to Penn Dental Medicine. Congratulations!

Feb Ms. Hyejoo (Jc) Kim joined our lab as a lab manager. Welcome!

Jan Our former high-school intern, Anna Ye, got admitted to the University of Pennsylvania. Congratulations! 

Dec Dr. Fahad Thwayeb Almutairi joined our lab as a DScD student.

Oct Prof. Rafael Guerra Lund and Prof. Patricia da Silva Nascente from the Federal University of Pelotas in Brazil joined our lab.

Oct A master's student, Frank (Fu-Yu) Tsai, of the Graduate Oral Health Science program joined our lab.

Sep A master's student, Felicity Zhang from the Department of Bioengineering, joined our lab.

Aug A new National Institute of Health grant (R01; Translational Multimodal Strategy for Peri-Implant Disease Prevention) was awarded to Dr. Hwang, Dr. Kim at U of South Florida, and Dr. Schaer at Penn Vet Medicine. Congratulations!

Jul A new National Science Foundation grant (BMAT; Collaborative Research: Novel Hybrid Metal-Piezoelectric Biomaterials for Anti-infectious Implantable Medical Devices) was awarded to Dr. Hwang and Dr. Kim at U of South Florida. Congratulations!

Jul Two high school students (Claudia Kim and Anna Ye) joined our lab for the inaugural Summer Internship Program.

Jul Four DMD students (Kevin Tao, Manuel Acuna, Michelle Joung, Tiffany Min) joined our lab for the Summer Research Program.

May Amanda Reisman and Madeline Stein joined our lab.

Apr "Addition of cariogenic pathogens to complex oral microflora drives significant changes in biofilm compositions and functionalities" has been accepted for publication in Microbiome.

Apr Dr. Meghana Rachapalli Veera Prathap joined our lab as a research intern.

Apr Dr. Junjira Tanum joined our lab as a postdoc researcher.

Feb A new National Institute of Health grant (R21; Bacterial Adhesion Inhibition and Biofilm Disruption by Adaptive Piezoelectric Biomaterial) was awarded to Dr. Hwang and Dr. Kim at U of South Florida. Congratulations!

Feb "Cerium oxide nanozymes confer a cytoprotective and bio-friendly surface micro-environment to methacrylate based oro-facial prostheses" has been accepted for publication in Biomaterials.

Jan Dr. Beibei Gao joined our lab as a postdoc researcher.

Nov "A Dental Implant-on-a-Chip for 3D Modeling of Host-Material-Pathogen Interaction and Therapeutic Testing Platform" has been accepted for publication in Lab on a Chip.

Oct "Effect of surface stiffness in initial adhesion of oral microorganisms under various environmental conditions" has been accepted for publication in Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces.

Sep A new National Science Foundation grant (ECCS; Collaborative Research: Smart Dental Implant for Ambulatory Dental Care) was awarded to Dr. Hwang and Dr. Kim at U of South Florida. Congratulations!

Sep Prof. Kyunghee Park joined our lab as a visiting scholar.

Jul Two DMD candidates Stephanie Dominguez and Teny Odaimi joined the summer research program in our lab.

Mar "A 3D-Printed Customizable Platform for Multiplex Dynamic Biofilm Studies" has been accepted for publication in Advanced Materials Technologies.

Feb "In it together: Candida-bacterial oral biofilms and therapeutic strategies" (invited review) has been accepted for publication in Environmental Microbiology Reports.

Jan Kevin Tao joined our lab as a volunteer.

Aug "Bimodal nanocomposite platform with antibiofilm and self-powering functionalities for biomedical applications" has been accepted for publication in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

Jul Dr. Hwang's application (with Dr. Kim at Temple U) has been selected as a finalist for the 14th round of the Science Center research accelerator (QED Proof-of-Concept program). Congratulations!

Jul Dr. Atul Dhall was selected as a finalist in AADR Hatton Competition at the 2021 IADR/AADR general session. Congratulations!

Jun Two DMD candidates Cerjay Lugtu and Brett Kim joined the summer research program in our lab.

Jun Two Penn undergraduate students Ravikiran Ramjee and Tiffany Lee joined the summer research program in our lab.

May Dr. Hye-Eun Kim and Dr. Atul Dhall received an AADR Travel Award. Congratulations! 

Apr Our previous lab member Sherry Zheng got admission to NYU College of Dentistry. Big congrats!

Apr "Intervening in symbiotic cross-kingdom biofilm interactions: A binding mechanism-based non-microbicidal approach" has been accepted for publication in mBio.

Mar Prof. Kirim Kim joined our lab as a visiting scholar.

Feb "Diagnosis of Biofilm-Associated Peri-Implant Disease Using a Fluorescence-Based Approach" has been accepted for publication in Dentistry Journal.

Jan "Implication of surface properties, bacterial motility, and hydrodynamic conditions on bacterial surface sensing and their initial adhesion" has been accepted for publication in Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology.

Dec "Synergism of Streptococcus mutans and Candida albicans reinforces biofilm maturation and acidogenicity in saliva: an in vitro study" has been accepted for publication in Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology.

Aug Dr. Minjun Oh joined our lab as a postdoc researcher.  

Jul "Cross-kingdom cell-to-cell interactions in cariogenic biofilm initiation" has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Dental Research.

Jun A research volunteer, Sherry Zheng, and two undergraduate students, Joseph Heo and Le (Helen) He, joined the summer research program in our lab.

Jun "Human Oral Motion-Powered Smart Dental Implant (SDI) for In Situ Ambulatory Photobiomodulation Therapy" has been accepted for publication in Advanced Healthcare Materials.

Mar "Antibiofilm activity of a novel pit and fissure self-adhesive sealant modified with metallic monomers" has been accepted for publication in Biofouling. 

Feb "Dynamics of bacterial population growth in biofilms resemble spatial and structural aspects of urbanization" has been accepted for publication in Nature Communications. 

Dec "A comprehensive analysis of near-contact photobiomodulation therapy in the host-bacteria interaction model using 3D-printed modular LED platform" has been accepted for publication in Advanced Biosystems.

Dec Dr. Marwa Bawazir joined our lab as a DScD student.

Sep Dr. Atul Dhall joined our lab as a postdoc researcher.  

Jul Dr. Hwang was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Preventive and Restorative Sciences. 

May Dr. Hye-Eun Kim received an AADR Travel Award. Congratulations! 

Apr "Catalytic antimicrobial robots for biofilm eradication" has been accepted for publication in Science Robotics.  

Oct Dr. Hye-Eun Kim joined our lab as a postdoc researcher. 

Jul Dr. Hwang received a National Institute of Health R01 grant.

May Dr. Hwang received The Joseph and Josephine Rabinowitz Award for Excellence in Research at The University of Pennsylvania School of Dental Medicine.