Invited Speakers

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Prof. Dr. Lo Kwok-Wai

Lo Kwok-Wai received his PhD degree from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Hong Kong in 1997. Since 2014, he is a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists, UK (FRCPath). Currently, he is a Professor of Department of Anatomical & cellular Pathology and a key investigator of the State Key Laboratory of Translational Oncology of CUHK. He received the awards of Outstanding Fellow of CUHK on 2013 and 2018. His long-term research interest is to unveil the molecular basis of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Over the past three decades, his research group has focused on characterization of the key driver genes and elucidation of the viral-host interaction in this Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) associated epithelial cancer. Through exploiting the new genome findings and NPC models, his research group is also pursuing the development of novel biomarkers and innovative therapeutic strategies. He is the Project Coordinator of Hong Kong Research Grant Council (RGC) funded 3rd round Theme Based Research Scheme project for systematically discovering molecular targets for NPC (2014-2018) and Collaborative Research Fund for targeting Epstein-Barr virus in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (2019-2022). He has more than 210 publications to his credit.

Prof. Dr. Edmund Sim Ui-Hang

Dr. Edmund Sim Ui Hang is a Professor in Cancer Genetics at the Faculty of Resource Science and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS). He has been an academic since 2000. Prof. Sim obtained his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Queensland (Australia) in 2000, where he studied the molecular biology of Wilm’s Tumour (a childhood kidney cancer). Professor Sim has been active in cancer research since the start of his career as an academic and researcher at UNIMAS. His studies covered colorectal, bladder, and nasopharyngeal cancers. Currently, his main research focus is on the molecular genetics of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Professor Sim has published over 160 academic papers, and has been the principal investigator of 12 projects funded by various agencies including the Ministry of Health (Malaysia), Ministry of Education (Malaysia), and the Sarawak State Government. He is a member of the national grant evaluation panel of the Ministry of Education (Malaysia), and also in the review panel of the Cancer Research United Kingdom grant. Professor Sim is a lifetime member of the Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Society of Malaysia since 2013, and was a member of its Executive Committee from 2013 to 2015.

Prof. Dr. Zeng Mu-Sheng

Prof. Dr. Zeng Mu-Sheng is a vice president and professor of Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center. He gained his Ph.D. degree at Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Sciences in 1998 and had his Post-doc training in Tennessee State University and New England Medical Center, Tufts University from 1999 to 2003. Prof. Dr. Zeng Mu-Sheng moved back to China to start his lab in 2003. He was granted the funding of “National Distinguished Young Scholar” in 2010, and was honored as “Yangtze Scholar Distinguished Professor” in 2014. He was invited to give a talk in various international conference including Gordon Research Conference (NPC) in both 2016 and 2018. Dr. Zeng’s laboratory majorly engages in the etiology, pathogenesis of Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (NPC). He characterized the epithelial cell receptors for EBV infection, and illustrated the mechanism of EBV infection and transformation in nasopharyngeal epithelial cells.

Clin. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Joseph Wee Tien Seng

Associate Professor Wee is a Senior Consultant at the National Cancer Centre Singapore with a subspecialisation in head and neck oncology (NPC) and a Clinical Associate Professor at Duke-NUS Medical School. He initiated the Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy (IMRT) programme for NPC in Singapore. He was awarded the National Medical Research Council Clinician Scientist Award (Senior Investigator), from 2009-2013. He was also the Principal Investigator for 2 Randomised Phase 3 trials for NPC. He sits on the Editorial Board of several Oncology journals.

Prof. Dr. Tang Ing Ping

Professor Dr. Tang is a Consultant Surgeon at the Sarawak General Hospital with a subspecialisation in endoscopic and lateral skull base surgery, otology, neurotology and ear implants. He is also a Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, UNIMAS. Since his clinical residency days, he has won numerous awards and prizes at state, national and regional meetings especially in head and neck surgery. One of his works on ontological implants and endoscopic skull base surgery was selected for an exhibition on Translational Research: Beyond Conventional ENT Surgery in Sarawak. He is currently the Immediate Past President of Malaysian Society of Otorhinolaryngologists Head & Neck Surgery (MSOHNS). He has co-edited The Surgical Manual of Common Otological Implants, a concise, illustrated guide to the surgical placement of ear implants. As an academic, he served as the project leader of an international research collaboration for non-communicable diseases and has published actively on head and neck surgery.

Prof. Dr. Gary Wong Ka-Leung

Wong Ka-Leung obtained his Chemistry BSc at City University of Hong Kong in 2002 and PhD at The University of Hong Kong in 2006. He pursued this postdoc work in Durham University with Prof. David Parker FRS with the support of Royal Society Incoming Fellowship. He started his independent research group at Hong Kong Baptist University in 2011 and promoted to be a professor in 2017. Since 2018, he starts headship in chemistry department. He has published more than 120 papers, including Nature Sister Journals, LSA, PNAS and JACS (h index = 46, citation >5000) and awarded 2015 ERES Junior award from The European Rare Earth and Actinide Society. His research interests include image guided cancer therapy, photoactivated therapy, lanthanide chemistry and spectroscopy. He is served as an editor in Journal of Luminescence (Elsevier) and international advisory board member in ChemPlusChem (Wiley).

Prof. Dr. Jin Dong-Yan

Dr Jin Dong-Yan did his PhD study with Prof. Yun-De Hou at the State Key Laboratory for Molecular Virology in Beijing in 1986-1991. He received postdoctoral training with Dr. Kuan-Teh Jeang at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in 1994-1999. He joined the University of Hong Kong in 1999 and is now Clara and Lawrence Fok Professor in Precision Medicine. Prof. Jin’s research is focusing primarily on the molecular basis of viral diseases and cancer. His research team uses a combination of biochemical and genetic approaches to conduct basic research in molecular virology and oncology with the aim of applying the knowledge gained to prevention and control of human diseases. He has a long-standing interest in studying oncogenic viruses including human T-cell leukemia virus type 1, hepatitis B virus and Epstein-Barr virus. Areas of special interest include the switch between lytic replication and latency, the regulatory mechanism of viral transcription and the role of genome instability in viral oncogenesis. Their work in 2008 revealed how Epstein-Barr virus uses a viral small RNA molecule to promote the survival of tumor cells in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Currently, one major area of Prof. Jin’s research is in the regulatory mechanism of innate antiviral response. Novel cellular and viral regulatory factors that govern antiviral response will be identified and characterized. Particularly, cellular machinery to sense viral nucleic acids, features of viral nucleic acids being sensed, and enzymes that cleave the second messenger will be dissected. In 2011, they found that the virus sensor RIG-I needs an RNA-binding protein partner called PACT to initiate and sustain host antiviral defense. The team hopes to substantially advance current understanding of viral and cellular regulators of innate antiviral response as well as reveal novel strategies for developing antiviral and immunomodulatory agents including vaccine adjuvants.

Assist. Prof. Dr. Kathy H.Y. Shair

Dr. Kathy Shair obtained her PhD in Virology from University of Cambridge (U.K.) in 2003 and her post doctorate at the University of North Carolina before joining University of Pittsburgh as an Assistant Professor in 2012. Her research group studies the molecular pathogenesis of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection in the nasopharynx with the purpose of understanding the molecular basis of EBV-associated nasopharyngeal carcinoma. A major area of focus in her lab is the principal EBV oncoprotein, latent membrane protein 1 (LMP1). Using cell-based and polarized 3-D epithelial cell cultures, the Shair lab uses cutting-edge experimental models to elucidate EBV oncogenic mechanisms and the molecular determinants of EBV infection in nasopharyngeal carcinoma. Her lab also utilizes clinical specimens to determine biological significance, as well as to uncover cancer biomarkers. By studying 1) EBV oncogenic mechanisms, 2) determinants of EBV pathogenesis and 3) biomarkers, she hopes to understand how virus-associated cancers can arise and learn what aspects of EBV infection could be exploited for cancer therapy.

Assist Prof. Dr. Tsai Ming-Han

Dr. Tsai Ming-Han, graduated from University of Heidelberg; Helmholtz International Graduate School for Cancer Research in Germany, under the supervision of Prof. Henri-Jacques Delecluse who established the elegant system to modify the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) viral genome. Together with Prof. Henri-Jacques Delecluse, they had successfully constructed several standard EBV strains (including several carcinoma EBV strains, such as the widely studied M81 EBV strain) and EBV mutants for EBV researches. He later joined National Yang-Ming University (currently called “National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University” after merging with National Chiao Tung University on Feb 1st, 2021), as an assistant professor in 2018. He is interested in understanding how tumor viruses, especially EBV, causes human carcinomas. His lab uses the state-of-the-art techniques to manipulate and investigate EBV. Currently, one of his major focus is elucidating the pathogenic roles of EBV in EBV-associated gastric carcinoma (EBVaGC). Meanwhile, his group is also interested in genetic modifying the tumor viruses for further applications.