Soomin Jin
Program: Molecular Genetics and Genomics
Current advisor: Aayushi Uberoi, PhD
Undergraduate university: Rutgers University-New Brunswick
Research summary
My research investigates host–microbe interactions at the skin barrier using synthetic skin commensal communities and human-derived experimental models. I am developing a platform that spans differentiated keratinocyte monolayers and reconstructed human epidermis (RHE) to systematically dissect how individual microbes and microbial communities influence host gene expression. Using strain-dropout experiments and host transcriptomic profiling, I seek to identify keystone species that disproportionately drive epithelial responses and uncover the molecular pathways through which microbial communities shape skin biology. These findings will be validated in more physiologically relevant RHE systems and ultimately extended to in vivo mouse models to understand how microbial community structure regulates tissue homeostasis and wound repair.
Graduate publications