Yaoqin Hong

Dr Yaoqin Hong is a Lecturer in Microbiology at James Cook University, based in Townsville, Australia. His research explores how bacteria construct and maintain their complex cell envelopes—structures that underpin microbial survival, adaptation, and pathogenicity—and how these systems can be exploited for novel antimicrobial strategies.

Yaoqin completed his PhD in Microbiology at the University of Sydney in 2014 under Professor Peter Reeves FAA, where he uncovered the role of membrane flippases as fidelity checkpoints in lipid-linked oligosaccharide biosynthesis, advancing how the diversity of bacterial surface polysaccharides is evolved. He then undertook postdoctoral training in bacterial lipid metabolism with Professor John Cronan NAS at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, before establishing his independent research program at Queensland University of Technology with Associate Professor Makrina Totsika FASM.

His current work focuses on the biosynthesis and stability of the Gram-negative cell envelope, with particular interest in biofilm formation, membrane lipid homeostasis, and surface polysaccharide assembly. He also investigates innovative antimicrobial approaches that target these crucial pathways required for survival or virulence.

Yaoqin has published ~ 30 research papers, in leading journals such as PNAS, Molecular Microbiology, EcoSal Plus, mLife, iScience, and multiple ASM and SGM society journals. He is a Fellow of the Australian Society for Microbiology, serves on the editorial role of Microbiology Spectrum, and invited reviewer board for international funding bodies. 

He maintains active collaborations in Australia and internationally, including with the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (USA), the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (Germany), the National University of Singapore, and several Chinese institutions such as South China Agricultural University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.