معرفی
Chris Koon Ho WONG is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Macau. He leads a research group investigating fungal pathogenesis and transcriptional regulation, with the dual aims of developing new antifungal therapies and understanding conserved eukaryotic gene-control mechanisms. He teaches genetics & epigenetics to undergraduates and mentors a vibrant team of six PhD candidates and two research assistants.
Education
- PhD, Department of Genetics, University of Melbourne, Australia (2007)
- BSc (First Class Honours), Department of Genetics, University of Melbourne, Australia (2002)
- BSc, Faculty of Science, University of Melbourne, Australia (2001)
- Diploma, Biotechnology, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore (1999)
Research Interests
Prof Wong’s laboratory pursues two complementary themes:
1. Fungal Pathogenesis – dissecting how medically important fungi such as Candida spp. and Aspergillus fumigatus cause life-threatening infections in immunocompromised patients and leveraging this knowledge to discover novel antifungal targets.
2. Transcriptional Regulation – elucidating the conserved molecular machinery that governs gene expression in eukaryotes, using fungi as tractable models to inform human biology and disease.
Publication Trends
Since 2016 his work has appeared regularly in Nature Microbiology, Nature Communications, Cell Research and Nucleic Acids Research. The papers demonstrate a progressive shift from mechanistic studies of fungal transcription toward translational applications including antifungal drug discovery, chromatin-level regulation of virulence, and the development of bioinformatic tools for fungal genomics.
Scientific Awards
- Marine Biological Laboratory Scholarship, USA (2013)
- Croucher Postdoctoral Fellowship, Hong Kong (2009–2010)
- International Postgraduate Research Scholarship, Australian Government (2003–2006)
- Melbourne International Research Scholarships (2003–2006)
- Howitt Natural History Scholarship (2001–2003)
- Department of Genetics Postgraduate & Honours Scholarships (2002–2003)
- Dean’s Honours List – B.Sc.(Hons), University of Melbourne (2002)
Advising & Research Team
Prof Wong currently supervises six PhD students—Zhengqiang Miao, Qing Lan, Weng In Chong, Pin Wu, Shen Li, Lin Bi and Xiaofeng Liu—and employs two research assistants, Yiwen Huang and Zhiqiang Dong. His laboratory is located in rooms E12-2075/2077 at the University of Macau.
