September 21, 2023
Sonny TM Lee to present Division of Biology Seminar
Submitted by Division of Biology
Sonny TM Lee, assistant professor in the Division of Biology at K-State, will present his research, "The Good, the Bad, and the (Not so) Ugly," as part of the Division of Biology Seminar Series at 3:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 25, in 221 Ackert Hall.
Recognition of the ubiquity and importance of microbial communities not only advances the ecological view of microbial life but also raises intriguing questions about succession and competition between groups of microbial populations that have significant consequences on the host and environment. Lee's lab's work integrates across multiple disciplines, including microbial ecology, microbiology, bioinformatics and immunology, to resolve microbial diversity and functional shifts under abiotic and biotic stresses in the host or environment; resultant host gene expressions as a result of interactive effect between host-microbe and microbe-microbe; and microbial mechanistic studies to improve host well-being under abiotic and biotic stressors. Specifically in the lab's work, using high-resolution sequencing with traditional culturing and molecular microbiology techniques to examine host-microbiome interaction affecting Inflammatory Bowel Disease, we propose several bacterial mechanisms that can affect the host's health and recovery. Lee will review several highlights from his lab, as well as outline projected plans to expand the investigation beyond microbial diversity and function and continue into the mechanistic explanation of how these bacterial populations can have an impact on host health.
Lee received his doctorate in environmental microbiology from the University of Auckland. Sonny is currently a candidate for promotion to associate professor with tenure.