Lisa Ng is a Singaporean viral immunologist. In 2008, she became the first Singaporean and the first woman to win the ASEAN Young Scientist and Technologist Award for her work in developing diagnostic kits for Avian Influenza and Sars-CoV. [1] She has been featured as part of the "Beyond Curie" project as a pioneer in viral immunology, as well as being inducted into the Singapore Women's Hall of Fame. [1] [2] Her ongoing research includes endemic tropical diseases and Sars-CoV-19. [3] [4]
Lisa Fong Poh Ng was born as the eldest of two daughters to a father who is a contractor and a mother who is a teacher. [5] In 1989, she enrolled in a biotechnology course at the Singapore Polytechnic after her completion of GCE O levels at Marymount Convent. [5] Her family considered polytechnic studies to be second-rate and did not believe it would help her get into a university afterwards. [5] Lisa pursued a course that would allow her to involve herself in scientific research immediately. She completed her polytechnic studies with good grades but was unable to secure a place at the National University of Singapore afterwards. [5]
In 1995, Lisa graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Biochemistry from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology in the United Kingdom. [6] In 2002, she earned her PhD in Molecular Virology from the National University of Singapore. [6] That same year, she joined the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) as a postdoctoral fellow where she contributed the development of a framework to deliver broad-range capability for preparedness for viral diseases including influenza, SARS, hepatitis, and vector-borne diseases. [6]
She is working at the Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN) where she is the Senior Principal Investigator of a project undertaking research on immunology of viral infections that are epidemic or highly endemic in the tropical region. [4] [7] These include chikungunya virus, dengue virus, Zika virus and other related alpha- and flavi-viruses. She has previously developed diagnostic kits for detecting Avian Influenza H5N1 and Sars. [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] She currently holds the position of Executive Director of the A*STAR Graduate Academy, Senior Principal Investigator at the Singapore Immunology Network, Adjunct Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore, and Professor and Chair of Viral Immunology at the Institute of Infection and Global Health at the University of Liverpool, UK. [12] [3] [2] Her ongoing research includes that of the viral immunology of Sars-CoV-19. [4] [13] Her team's discovery in Sars-CoV-19 is centered around neutralizing antibodies that are able to prevent the virus from infecting and replicating inside human cells. [14]
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the virus SARS-CoV-1, the first identified strain of the SARS-related coronavirus. The first known cases occurred in November 2002, and the syndrome caused the 2002–2004 SARS outbreak. In the 2010s, Chinese scientists traced the virus through the intermediary of Asian palm civets to cave-dwelling horseshoe bats in Xiyang Yi Ethnic Township, Yunnan.
Singapore has taken a series of measures against avian influenza and the potential threat of a pandemic.
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Joseph Sriyal Malik Peiris is a Hong Kong-based Sri Lankan virologist, most notable for being the first person to isolate the SARS virus. He is the current Tam Wah-Ching Professor in Medical Science, and Chair Professor of Virology at the Division of Public Health Laboratory Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Hong Kong. He was a member of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization of the World Health Organization from 2009 to 2010.
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Paola Ricciardi-Castagnoli, is an Italian Immunologist based in Siena, Italy. Paola is the scientific director of Toscana Life Sciences Foundation (TLS) in Siena. She was former scientific director of the Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN).
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Peter Kee Lin Ng is a Singaporean carcinologist and ichthyologist at the National University of Singapore, concurrently working as Director of both the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum and the Tropical Marine Science Institute. He has written extensively with over 510 technical papers, mostly in international journals - his research is primarily on the diversity and biology of marine and freshwater crabs in the Indo-West Pacific. He has many awards, the Singapore National Youth Award, National Youth Movement, People's Association (1993); the National Science Award 1995, National Science & Technology Board, Ministry of Trade and Development; and the ASEAN Young Science and Technologist Award, ASEAN Science and Technology Ministers, 4th ASEAN Science Ministers Meeting, Bangkok (1995).
Dale Andrew Fisher FRACP is an infectious diseases physician who specialises in Infectious Diseases and a Senior Consultant in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the National University Hospital, Singapore. He is also a professor of medicine at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, and the chair of the National Infection Prevention and Control Committee through the Ministry of Health, Singapore. In 2020, he became group chief of Medicine for National University Health Systems.
Leo Poon Lit-man (潘烈文) is the Head of the Division of Public Health Laboratory Science of the University of Hong Kong. In July 2020, Professor Malik Peiris stepped down from the position of co-director of the joint research pole between Hong Kong University and the Pasteur Institute (HKU-Pasteur), and Professor Leo Poon succeeded to this crucial WHO recognized Centre. He is one of the worlds' leading scientists investigating the emergence of viral diseases transferring from animals to humans, such as new strains of Influenza viruses and coronaviruses. Along with colleagues in his Division, he has made major contributions to the understanding of disease causes, diagnostic testing, and epidemiological control of these pandemic viral diseases.
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