Dr. Hwang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Preventive & Restorative Sciences. He received both his B.S. in Chemical Engineering and Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Yonsei University. Before joining Penn Dental Medicine in 2013, Dr. Hwang served as a lecturer in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Seoul National University of Science and Technology.
Dr. Hwang’s research is centered on applying engineering principles and tools to understand the pathogenesis of various biofilm-associated oral diseases, and to develop therapeutic approaches. His research also includes the dynamic interplay between host and microbes in the context of infectious oral disease. He has published extensively in the area of biofilm research using engineering, biochemical/biophysical, confocal imaging methodologies and mathematical modeling.