Hyejeong Hong, PhD, FNP-BC

Hyejeong Hong, PhD, FNP-BC

Assistant Professor

Dr. Hong is a family nurse practitioner with PhD training in TB research. She is dedicated to using her academic training, clinical practice, and research experience to develop diagnostics and preventive strategies for TB. Her passion for improving TB care started in 2006 when she traveled to Cambodia. She visited a TB center in Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s busy capital, and found that tremendous numbers of people were dying from TB—an easily treatable and preventable disease in developed countries—because of inadequate public health resources. She came to understand that extensive community health care can save a large number of lives; since that time, she has been very interested in discovering sustainable ways to help large numbers of people obtain the care they need to thrive.

To reduce the risk of infectious disease and optimize treatment outcomes, I will continue to chase where we believe the cutting edge of the science is.

Education

  • PhD, Johns Hopkins University, 2018
  • MSN, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2013
  • BSN, Pusan National University, 2006

Teaching

Dr. Hong’s teaching philosophy is focused on supporting each student as an individual adult learner and building a respectful relationship with the learner. Since she is one of few scientists in the area of genetics in innate immunity to infectious pathogens with a nursing perspective, she wishes to share this unique expertise as a mentor to the next generation of nurses and scientists in omics-based precision health and translational research.

Research

Dr. Hong’s research is focused on defining the mechanisms of innate immunity against bacterial infection, mainly Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) and how genetic variation is associated with clinical outcomes. She believes that increasing our understanding of how the immune system fights infections, novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets for infectious disease may be developed in the future.

Opportunities to Learn and Collaborate at Penn Nursing

Sputum-based Single-Cell RNA Sequencing Approaches to Elucidate Molecular Determinants and Predictors of Post-TB Treatment Lung Disease [PI: Hong]

Selected Career Highlights

  • 2021, Tuberculosis Research & Training Center Junior Investigator Award
  • 2017-2018, Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F31), National Institute of Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health
  • 2017, International 3MT® Exhibition at the USETDA/NDLTD Symposium, Third Place

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