I am interested in innate immune systems, particularly insect
immunity. Among the insect immune systems, my major interest is
host-parasitoid interactions because this field has various
opportunities to discover previously unknown physiological mechanisms.
For my Ph.D research, I used Plutella xylostella, diamond back moth (DBM), as my research system. Because there was little genomic data for this insect, I made an EST database to collect the genomic information about P. xylostella and its response against bacteria. As a result of the EST, I identified various immune related genes and then made a cDNA microarray from these ESTs. The ESTs and microarray results revealed valuable information about reciprocal interactions.

During my postdoctoral fellowship in Mike Strand's laboratory, I hope to characterize the function of prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH). PTTH is the brain neuropeptide that stimulates the prothoracic glands to synthesize ecdysone. Although PTTH's functions at the physiological and molecular level are well defined, its effects on parasitism are not well known. So, I hope to define the novel functions of PTTH during parasitism.