About Myself

Hello, I am David Zong. I am currently a Ph.D. Student at Rice University in Houston, Texas.

I was born in Seattle, Washington and grew up in the greater Seattle area. I went to school at the University of Washington and majored in Bioengineering. I focused on synthetic biology research and was a member of the Washington iGEM team (check out our projects: 2010, 2011-Winner!, 2012). I was also an undergraduate researcher in the Klavins Lab where I worked on a project about engineering E. coli to eat plant matter.

I moved to Houston to attend Rice in the Systems, Synthetic, and Physical Biology Ph.D. program. At Rice, I've continued to research synthetic biology with Prof. Matt Bennett in the Biodesign Lab. My current research focuses on how to put parts together when designing and building synthetic biological systems. My most recent efforts have been focused on engineering multicellular systems in E. coli.

In my time off, I usually watch anime or the Seattle Mariners. I dream that one day I'll see them win a World Series. I practice yoga, aikido, and kendo. I like playing Guilty Gear Xrd, though I am still a novice. Whenever I have extended time off, I like to travel the world. My favorite country to visit is Japan. The food is great and it's really easy to get around! I also enjoy camping and hiking with friends so whenever I make the trip back to Washington in the summer I always try to get a outdoors trip in.