Sunghun Park, PhD

Biography

Dr. Park is an expert in gene functional analysis and comparative genome-wide transcriptional profiling. During the past 20 years, he has worked on understanding redox-mediated plant adaptation mechanisms to abiotic stresses and physiological disorders in fruits and vegetables that involve calcium regulation and abiotic stress. Dr. Park has successfully established a genetic engineering system using Agrobacterium-mediated transformation in crop species to determine how the genome sequences cause plant phenotypes. He has over 30 years of experience in plant tissue culture and genetic transformation of numerous plant species.

Dr. Park is the department's tissue culture expert, and he teaches an advanced undergraduate and graduate course on the subject. Outside of the lab, Park enjoys traveling to Galveston, Texas to ocean fish.

Education

• Ph.D. Plant Physiology, Texas A&M University (1995)
• M.S. Agronomy, Seoul National University (1989)
• B.S. Agronomy, Seoul National University (1987)

Research

Dr. Park’s research interests include both fundamental studies to address unique questions in the role of ROS and Ca²⁺ in vegetable/fruit cell physiology and applied studies to enhance production and nutritional quality of crops using genomic and plant biotechnology tools.

Currently, he is focusing on redox-mediated plant growth and adaptation mechanisms to abiotic stresses (heat, drought, and combined heat and drought) and understanding the molecular and cellular mechanisms of blossom-end rot in horticultural crops.