Plenary

Dr. Dennis Hong is a Professor and the Founding Director of RoMeLa (Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory) of the Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Department at UCLA. His research focuses on robot locomotion and manipulation, autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots. His work has been featured on numerous national and international media. Washington Post magazine called Dr. Hong “the Leonardo da Vinci of robots.”

Dr. Hong has been named to Popular Science’s 8th annual “Brilliant 10”, “Forward Under 40” by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Alumni Association, and also honored as “Top 40 Under 40” alumni by Purdue University. Hong’s other past awards include the National Science Foundation’s CAREER award, the SAE International’s Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award, and the ASME Freudenstein / GM Young Investigator Award to name a few.

Dr. Hong received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1994), his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University (1999, 2002).

Tae Hyun Hwang, Ph.D., serves as the Endowed Chair in the Department of Artificial Intelligence and Informatics, Cancer Biology and Immunology at the Mayo Clinic, focusing on AI driven cancer research to ultimately deliver precision oncology care. He leads the AI in Oncology program, dedicated to harnessing AI to enhance cancer diagnosis, treatment, therapeutic development and patient care. As a co-founder of Kure.ai Therapeutics, Dr. Hwang is at the forefront of developing innovative therapeutic targets, biomarkers, and CAR-T cell products for stomach cancer. His work, accessible at HwangLab.org, is at the intersection of AI and oncology, aiming to revolutionize cancer care through cutting-edge research and technology. Dr. Hwang's contributions have positioned him as a key figure in the application of AI in cancer research, showcasing his commitment to improving patient outcomes through innovation.

I was born and raised in Korea until moving to California at sixteen due to my father's position. I got both of my degrees, a bachelor's and a doctorate, at UC Berkeley. My scientific training areas include molecular, cell biology, biochemistry, minor in music and biophysics through my graduate school and postdoctoral years. I started my independent position at the University of Illinois Bioengineering Department in 2009, moved to Johns Hopkins Biophysics in 2015, and recently relocated to Boston Children's Hospital at Harvard Medical School. My research interest involves developing and applying single molecule approaches to acquire a quantitative understanding of biology and to find ways to improve human medicine. The current directions of our research include investigations of G-quadruplex mediated gene expression, telomere regulation with a focus on oxidative damage, and molecular mechanisms underlying liquid-liquid phase separation implicated in neurodegenerative diseases, ALS/FTLD. We employ biochemical, biophysical, cellular, and genetic tools in conjunction with single molecule detection platforms to gain a comprehensive understanding of the biological pathways, with an emphasis on elucidating molecular mechanisms.