Kou-San Ju

Kou-San Ju is an Associate Professor with a joint appointment in the Department of Microbiology (College of Arts and Sciences) and the Division of Medicinal Chemistry & Pharmacognosy (College of Pharmacy) at The Ohio State University. He holds additional memberships in the Infectious Disease Institute, Center for Applied Plant Sciences, and Molecular and Cellular Developmental Biology Graduate Program.

Dr. Ju earned his Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of California, Davis (2009), followed by postdoctoral research at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (2010-2016). His research integrates chemistry, bioinformatics, and systems biology to discover novel natural products from microorganisms, with a focus on phosphonic acid-based compounds. Key areas include genome mining for bioactive molecules, antibiotic discovery, and engineering biocatalysts for industrial applications.

His work bridges microbial metabolism and chemical biology, aiming to address challenges in human health (e.g., drug-resistant pathogens) and environmental sustainability (e.g., herbicides, biocontrol agents). Recent studies highlight phosphonate biosynthetic pathways, metabolomics-driven discovery, and the ecological roles of natural products in microbiomes.

Dr. Ju’s lab employs cutting-edge techniques such as mass spectrometry, CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing, and computational tools for metabolite analysis. His publications emphasize phosphonate diversity, enzyme mechanisms, and microbial genome-phenome correlations, with applications in drug development and green chemistry.