JS research group
Gut microbiota & host-microbe interactions in metabolic diseases
Associate Editor
Ph.D. in Chemical & Biomolecular Eng., HKUST
Interests: Host-microbiota interactions, bacterial evolutionary adaptations, gut microbiome, metabolic diseases
Principal Investigator
Jordy Evan Sulaiman
Research Assistant Professor
Department of Health Technology & Informatics, PolyU
Member, Research Institute for Microbiology (RIM)
Member, Research Institute for Future Food (RiFood)
Member, Research Institute for Smart Ageing (RISA)
Member, Research Centre for Chinese Medicine Innovation (RCMI)
Member, Hong Kong Society of Mass Spectrometry (HKSMS)
Member, Hong Kong Society of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Reproduction (HKSEMR)
Before joining PolyU, Jordy was a Research Assistant Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (2024-2025). Jordy did his postdoctoral training in the Venturelli group at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (2022-2024), focusing on the bottom-up construction of synthetic human gut communities for therapeutic applications. Jordy received his B.Eng., M.Phil., and Ph.D. (advised by Prof. Henry Lam) in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in 2017, 2019, and 2022, respectively, at HKUST. During his graduate studies, Jordy utilized proteomic approaches to study antibiotic tolerance and resistance in bacterial pathogens.
Team Members
Feng Xue
Research Assistant,
Co-supervised with Prof. Kenneth Cheng
Department of HTI, PolyU
Feng Xue earned her Bachelor of Science degree from Gansu Medical College and her Master of Medicine degree in Basic Medical Sciences from Shenzhen University. Prior to joining PolyU, she had research experience in food allergy and immune regulation, including studies on gut barrier function and microbiota‑related immune modulation. She has five journal publications, with three as first‑author, in the field of food allergy and immunology. She will join the Shenzhen Research Institute of PolyU as a Research Assistant in September 2026, and will pursue her PhD at PolyU in January 2027.
Yiming Chen
Ph.D. student,
Co-supervised with Prof. Kenneth Cheng
Department of HTI, PolyU
Yiming earned her Bachelor’s degree in Forest Sciences from University of British Columbia (QS Ranking 45), and Master’s in Public Health from Shanghai Jiao Tong University (Project 985 & 211, QS Ranking 36). Yiming had research experience in microbiology (e.g. probiotics), gut microbiota and nutrient metabolism. Yiming has three first-author journal publications in the field of biomedical sciences.
Xin Cao (Cassie)
Ph.D. student,
Co-supervised with Prof. Alvin Ma & Prof. Kenneth Cheng
Department of HTI, PolyU
Cassie earned her Bachelor's degree in Medicine from Southeast University (Project 985 & 211) and Master's in Medicine from Central South University (Project 985 & 211). Cassie then joined The University of Hong Kong (HKU) as a research assistant for one year before joining PolyU. Cassie has five journal publications (3 as first authors) in the field of medicine and immunology.
Yating Cheng
Ph.D. student,
Co-supervised with Prof. Kenneth Cheng
Department of HTI, PolyU
Yating earned her Bachelor's degree in Animal Sciences from Southwest University and Master's in Animal Sciences from the Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Before joining PolyU, Yating had research experience in nutrient metabolism and supplementation in pigs, and worked in the First Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine. Yating has five first-author journal publications in the field of nutrition and animal science.
Shan Su
Research Assistant,
Co-supervised with Prof. Kenneth Cheng
Shenzhen Research Institute (SZRI), PolyU
Shan earned her Bachelor's degree (Medicine in Traditional Chinese Medicine and Science in Applied Psychology) from Binzhou Medical University and Master of Medicine in Integration of Chinese & Western Medicine from Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine (GZUCM). Shan then joined PolyU Shenzhen Research Institute as a research assistant and has 8 journal publications (1 as first author) in the field of biology and medicine.
Xinyu Zhang
Ph.D. student,
Co-supervised with Prof. Renyou Gan
Department of FSN, PolyU
Xinyu earned her Bachelor’s degree in Animal Science from Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University (Project 985 & 211) and her Master’s degree in Biology and Medicine from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, specializing in synthetic biology and microbial metabolic engineering. Xinyu has 3 journal publications (1 as co-first author) in the field of microbiology and animal science.
Alumni
Qian Yu, Research Assistant, 2025-2026.
Zhong Yi, Exchange MSc student, 2026.
Guangtao Yan, Research Assistant, 2024-2025.
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