About

Hyun Joon Kong is the Robert W.. Schaefer Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Illinois. He also holds positions as a Professor in Bioengineering, Micro and Nanotechnology Lab, Biomedical and Translational Sciences, Pathobiology, Neuroscience Program, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology, and the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. His research focuses on the development of biomaterials and bioengineering approaches, including hydrogels, neural tissue models, and tumor-stroma models, with applications in neural networks, cancer research, and regenerative medicine. He has contributed to understanding the structure-functionality relationships of hydrogels, neural glia tissue models, and tumor microenvironments, and his work often involves interdisciplinary collaborations. Dr. Kong has received multiple honors, including being an AIMBE Fellow and an IAMBE Fellow, and has been recognized with awards such as the NSF CAREER Award and the KIChE President Young Investigator Award.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Materials science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Chemistry
• Cancer research
• Biology
• Genetics
• Cell biology
• Distributed computing
• Physics
• Computer architecture
• Nanotechnology
• Computer hardware
• Embedded system
• Optics

Selected publications

• Scalable temporal-spatial frequency contrast in single-shot quantitative Zernike phase contrast microscopy

  2026-03-05

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Scattering-enabled epi-quantitative phase imaging reveals subcellular detail in organoids and deep mouse brains

  bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) · 2026-01-21

  articleOpen access

  Abstract Imaging subcellular structures deep within thick, turbid biological tissues remains fundamentally limited by light scattering, which distorts optical wavefronts and degrades contrast, resolution, and sensitivity. These limitations hinder quantitative interrogation of complex biological systems where resolving dynamic microenvironments at subcellular resolution is critical. Here, we introduce scattering-enabled epi-quantitative phase imaging (SEEQPI), a label-free method that leverages tissue scattering and provides subcellular spatial resolution, nanometer-scale spatiotemporal phase sensitivity, and millimeter-scale imaging depth in murine brains. SEEQPI is enabled by common-path phase-shifting confocal epi-interferometry with near-infrared illumination and the scattering-enabled phase reconstruction algorithm. SEEQPI requires low illumination power, minimizing tissue damage while enabling high-speed imaging of biological dynamics. We demonstrate simultaneous, colocalized imaging of subcellular structures with SEEQPI, third-harmonic generation, and three-photon fluorescence microscopy in liver cancer spheroids and in vivo mouse brains. SEEQPI enables quantitative, longitudinal studies of dry mass dynamics in intact, living biological systems.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Near-infrared quantitative phase imaging for deep tissue imaging

  2026-03-05

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Data from: Optogenetic neuromuscular actuation of a miniature electronic biohybrid robot

  DRYAD · 2025-08-11

  datasetOpen access

  Neuronal control of skeletal muscle function is ubiquitous across species for locomotion and doing work. Especially, emergent behaviors of neurons in biohybrid neuromuscular systems can advance bioinspired locomotion research. Although recent studies have demonstrated that chemical or optogenetic stimulation of neurons can control muscular actuation through the neuromuscular junction (NMJ), the correlation between neuronal activities and resulting modulation in the muscle responses is less understood, hindering the engineering of high-level functional biohybrid systems. Here, we develop NMJ-based biohybrid crawling robots with optogenetic mouse motor neurons, skeletal muscles, 3D-printed hydrogel scaffolds, and integrated on-board wireless micro light-emitting diode (μLED)-based optoelectronics. We investigate the coupling of the light stimulation and neuromuscular actuation through power spectral density (PSD) analysis. We verify the modulation of the mechanical functionality of the robot depending on the frequency of the optical stimulation to the neural tissue. We demonstrate continued muscle contraction up to 20 minutes after a 1 minute long pulsed 2 hertz optical stimulation of the neural tissue. Furthermore, the robots were shown to maintain their mechanical functionality for over 2 weeks. This study provides insights into reliable neuronal control with optoelectronics, supporting advancements in neuronal modulation, biohybrid intelligence, and automation.

  PublisherDOI

• Computationally enhanced quantitative phase imaging for label-free organoids and in vivo mouse brains

  2025-03-19

  article

  We propose a label-free deep-imaging method, known as scattering-enabled epi quantitative phase imaging (SEEQPI), for studying 3D organoids and in vivo mouse brains. SEEQPI is a custom-built laser-scanning, common-path, phase-shifting interferometor using long-wavelength illumination. SEEQPI has superior stability and sensitivity in phase measurement and reduces photodamage or heating to living systems. With the proposed method, we will demonstrate the working principle on standard samples, and the phase imaging of cancer spheroids and in vivo mouse brains, compared to colocolized multiphoton imaging.

  PublisherDOI

• Artificial confocal microscopy for deep label-free imaging

  2024-03-12

  article

  We present artificial confocal microscopy (ACM) to achieve confocal-level depth sectioning, sensitivity, and chemical specificity non-destructively on unlabeled specimens. ACM is equipped with a laser scanning confocal microscopy with a quantitative phase imaging module, which provides optical path-length maps of the specimen colocalized with the fluorescence channel. Using pairs of phase and fluorescence images, a convolution neural network was trained to translate the former into the latter. The ACM images hold much stronger depth sectioning than the input (phase) images, enabling us to recover confocal-like tomographic volumes of microspheres, hippocampal neurons in culture, and three-dimensional liver cancer spheroids.

  PublisherDOI

• Deep quantitative phase imaging using confocal gradient light interference microscopy for studying spheroids and in vivo mouse brains

  2024-01-26

  article

  We present a deep label-free quantitative phase imaging method using confocal gradient light interference microscopy (CGLIM) for studying ex vivo three-dimensional cellular clusters and in vivo mouse brains. CGLIM is a custom-built confocal reflectance differential interference contrast (DIC) microscope with phase-shifting interferometry using long-wavelength (~1.7 μm) illumination. As a laser-scanning common-path interferometric technique based on linear scattering, CGLIM has superior stability and sensitivity in phase measurement and reduces photodamage, or heating to living systems. With the proposed method, we will demonstrate the working principle on standard samples, and the phase imaging of cancer spheroids and in vivo mouse brains.

  PublisherDOI

• Dried Blood Matrix as a New Material for the Detection of DNA Viruses (Adv. Healthcare Mater. 29/2024)

  Advanced Healthcare Materials · 2024-11-01

  articleOpen access

  DrieD BlooD MatrixA new approach for diagnosing viruses like Hepatitis B Virus addresses the limitations of traditional methods by employing a drying process of whole blood.This technique creates a porous dried blood matrix that enhances DNA recovery and simplifies instrumentation, achieving a detection limit of 10 IU/mL in under 1.5 hours, making it ideal for use in low-resource settings.More details can be found in article 2402506 by Rashid Bashir and co-workers.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Dried Blood Matrix as a New Material for the Detection of DNA Viruses

  Advanced Healthcare Materials · 2024-07-29 · 5 citations

  articleOpen access

  Abstract The gold standard for diagnosing viruses such as the Hepatitis B Virus has remained largely unchanged, relying on conventional methods involving extraction, purification, and polymerase chain reaction (PCR). This approach is hindered by limited availability, as it is time‐consuming and requires highly trained personnel. Moreover, it suffers from low recovery rates of the nucleic acid molecules for samples with low copy numbers. To address the challenges of complex instrumentation and low recovery rate of DNA, a drying process coupled with thermal treatment of whole blood is employed, resulting in the creation of a dried blood matrix characterized by a porous structure with a high surface‐to‐volume ratio where it also inactivates the amplification inhibitors present in whole blood. Drawing on insights from Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET)‐ Barrett–Joyner–Halenda (BJH) analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and fluorescence recovery after photobleaching (FRAP), detection assay is devised for HBV, as a demonstration, from whole blood with high recovery of DNA and simplified instrumentation achieving a limit of detection (LOD) of 10 IU mL −1 . This assay can be completed in <1.5 h using a simple heater, can be applied to other DNA viruses, and is expected to be suitable for point‐of‐care, especially in low‐resource settings.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Artificial confocal microscopy for deep label-free imaging

  Nature Photonics · 2023 · 62 citations

  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Computer Science
  • Optics
  PublisherOA PDFDOI

Recent grants

• Engineering Neuron-Innervated Muscle with Stimulus-Responsive Contraction and Myokine Secretion

  NSF · $390k · 2019–2023

Frequent coauthors

• David Mooney

  66 shared

• Susan X. Hsiong

  Harvard University

  36 shared

• Nathaniel Huebsch

  Washington University in St. Louis

  34 shared

• Claudia Fischbach

  Cornell University

  32 shared

• Chan-Joong Kim

  9 shared

• Rashid Bashir

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  9 shared

• David Weitz

  9 shared

• Gabriel Popescu

  7 shared

Labs

• Kong groupPI

Awards & honors

• Centennial Scholar, Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of…
• Engineering Dean's Award for Excellence in Research, 2012
• Korean Institute for Chemical Engineers Presidential Young I…
• NSF CAREER Award, 2009