Ferdinand Xiankeng Choong

Ferdinand Xiankeng Choong

Coordinator
Telephone: +46852486646
Visiting address: Nobels väg 15 A, 17165 Solna
Postal address: GVS Gemensamt verksamhetsstöd, GVS RSO EEO, 171 77 Stockholm
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About me

  • My initial training from my undergraduate duration in Singapore is that of a
    microbiologist with a focus on antimicrobial chemicals and peptides. It was a
    rigorous training and an excellent degree. During this period, I gained a
    wealth of technical knowledge and personal capabilities that enabled me to
    function effectively as a research scientist.
    Since then I have been branched out from my microbiological foundations,
    constantly exposed and tested at various occasions as I entered Karolinska as
    a Ph.D student, mentored by Professor Agneta Richter-Dahlfors. During this
    interview I have attended and presented my work at numerous international
    seminars and conferences, supervised 5 students and branched out beyond
    microbiology into translational research.
    My research now integrates several disciplines, covering the live study of
    host pathogen interactions with a focus on infections of the upper urinary
    tract, the study of biofilm development, and the development and validation
    of research tools necessary for such studies. In so doing, I have authored /
    co-authored several original research manuscripts, review articles and patent
    applications.
    1. Löffler S, Antypas H, Choong FX, Nilsson KPR, Richter-Dahlfors
    A., Conjugated Oligo- and Polymers for Bacterial Sensing. Front Chem. 2019
    Apr 18
  • 7:265
    2. Choong FX, Lantz L, Shirani H, Schulz H, L, Nilsson KPR, Edlund U,
    Richter-Dahlfors A. Stereochemical identification of glucans by a
    donor–acceptor–donor conjugated pentamer enables multi-carbohydrate
    anatomical mapping in plant tissues. Cellulose, May 2019, Volume 26, Issue 7,
    pp 4253–4264.
    3. Antypas H, Choong FX, Libberton B, Brauner A, Richter-Dahlfors A. Rapid
    diagnostic assay for detection of cellulose in urine as biomarker for
    biofilm-related urinary tract infections. NPJ Biofilms Microbiomes.
    4. Choong FX, Bäck M, Schulz A, Nilsson KPR, Edlund E &
  • Richter-Dahlfors A,
    Stereochemical identification of glucans by oligothiophenes enables cellulose
    anatomical mapping in plant tissues,
    Scientific Reports, 2018 (8), 3108
    5. Choong FX, Tissue microbiology: an integrated approach for intravital
    studies of host-pathogen interactions, Karolinska Institutet library, 2017,
    ISBN: 978-91-7676-710-8
    6. Choong FX, Bäck M, Fahlén S, Melican K, Rhen M, Nilsson KPR,
    Richter-Dahlfors A, Real-time optotracing of curli and cellulose in live
    Salmonella biofilms using luminescent oligothiophenes, npj Biofilms and
    Microbiomes, 2016, 16024
    7. Choong FX, Bäck M, Steiner SE, Melican K, Nilsson KPR, Edlund U,
    Richter-Dahlfors A, Nondestructive, real-time determination and visualization
    of cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin by luminescent oligothiophenes,
    Scientific Reports, 2016 (6), 35578
    8. Choong FX, Antypas H, Richter-Dahlfors A, Intergrated pathophysiology of
    pyelonephritis. Microbiol Spectr, 2015, 3(5): UTI-0014-2012.
    doi:10.1128/microbiolspec.UTI-004-2012
    9. Choong FX, Richter-Dahlfors A, Intravital two-photon imaging to understand
    bacterial infections of the mammalian host, Methods in Molecular Biology,
    2014, 1197: 87-100
    10. Choong FX, Regberg J, Udekwu KI, Richter-Dahlfors A, Intravital models of
    infection lay the foundation for tissue microbiology. Future Microbiol, 2012,
    7:519-533.
    11. Choong FX, Sandoval RM, Molitoris BA, Richter-Dahlfors A, Multiphoton
    microscopy applied for real-time intravital imaging of bacterial infections
    in vivo. Methods in Enzymol, 2012, 506:35-61.
    12. Melican K, Choong FX, Richter-Dahlfors A, Host-pathogen interactions
    and host defence mechanisms. In: Coffman TM, Falk RJ, Molitoris BA, Neilson
    EG, Schrier RW (eds). Schrier’s diseases of the kidney 9 ed, 2012,
    1:673-688.

Research

  • Bacterial infections are accompanied by dynamic alterations in tissue
    homeostasis in infected organs. What starts as a local bacterium-host cell
    interaction at the site of infection, changes over time to include distant
    signaling and engagement of multiple cell types in the host’s effort to
    eradicate the intruders. Hence, bacteria are being exposed to a continuously
    changing microenvironment during the time-course of infection. My research
    focuses on i) bacterial population behaviour in infection, ii) probing the
    microenvironment during infection using bacteria as biosensors, iii) studying
    the role of virulence factors in vivo, and iv) the analysis of long-term
    consequences of infection. Work to this extent is based on intravital
    imaging technologies, classical microbiological techniques and nanoprobes to
    increase our understanding of the delicate interplay between the microbe and
    the host. Utilizing the live organ as our test tube, my work contibutes to
    forming the foundation of the new field termed “Tissue microbiology”.

Articles

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Employments

  • Coordinator, Karolinska Institutet, 2024-
  • Coordinator, Central Administration, Karolinska Institutet, 2024-2025

Degrees and Education

  • Degree Of Doctor Of Philosophy, Department of neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, 2018

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