Jessie Ho Professorship in Neuroscience

Professor Michael Huen Shing Yan, the Jessie Ho Professor in Neuroscience at the School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Hong Kong (HKU), is a specialist in the field of genome instability. He runs a focused research programme to decipher the molecular details that underlie cellular responses to genotoxic stress, and to elucidate how defective DNA damage responses is consequential to human diseases, including cancer and neurodevelopmental disorders. His seminal work includes the discovery of novel factors that participate in Ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) kinase-dependent DNA damage detection and repair processes, the uncovering of the molecular basis that link defective genome duplication with the inherited disorder Seckel syndrome, and how DNA double-strand break responses are tempospatially coupled to regulation of gene expression programmes.

Following his post-doctoral research training at Mayo Clinic / Yale University (2006-2009), Professor Huen established his independent research team in 2009, and rose to the rank of professor in 2019. In addition to receiving the inaugural Early Career Award (2012-2013) from the University Grants Committee of Hong Kong and the Outstanding Young Researcher Award (2014-2015) from HKU, Professor Huen was elected to co-chair the Gordon Research Conference in Genomic Instability at Ventura US in 2022. His work is internationally recognised, and is routinely published in leading and rigorously peer-reviewed scientific journals. As one of a few parameters that underscores his contributions to the scientific community, Michael Huen Laboratory has shared via Addgene its research tools to over 400 research laboratories world-wide.

Aside his personal milestones, Professor Huen is devoted to training the next generation of scientists. His trainees are recipients of the most prestigious prizes and scholarships, including the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Young Scientist Fund, the AXA Research Fund, HK PhD Fellowship (HKPF), LKS Thesis Prize, Yu To Sang and Yu Shing Keung Memorial Fund Scholarship, Dr KP Stephen Chang Gold Medal, and YS and Christable Lung Postgraduate Scholarship.