Tan Hwei Ee

Dr. Tan Hwei Ee is a Nanyang Assistant Professor (NRF Fellow) at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University. His research focuses on the gut-brain neurobiology, investigating bidirectional neural circuits in mice to understand interactions between microbes, gut, and brain. He holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University, with prior training at University of California – Berkeley, Osaka University, Fudan University, and A*STAR.

Key research areas include the neural basis of sugar and fat cravings, gut-brain axis mechanisms, and microbiome medicine. He has published landmark studies in Nature elucidating how gut-brain circuits drive preferences for sugars and fats. Dr. Tan is a recipient of prestigious awards including the NRF Fellowship and NTU Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship.

He actively mentors students in molecular, cellular, and systems biology projects and teaches courses in neurobiology at NTU and Columbia University. His lab explores topics such as optogenetics, germ-free mice, and gnotobiotic animals to study microbial influences on behavior.