Carmen Wong

  • Innovation Award in 2017 at University of Hong Kong
  • Fellowship in 2009 at Johns Hopkins University

Dr Wong received her B.Sc. degree in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of British Columbia (Canada) and her M.Sc. degree in Biotechnology from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. She completed her PhD degree in the Department of Pathology, the University of Hong Kong, where she developed strong interests and passion in cancer research. Her PhD study has brought her the best PhD thesis awards (Li Ka Shing Prize and Dr KP Stephen Chang Gold Medal). She was awarded the Hong Kong Young Scientist Award from the Hong Kong Institution of Science. After her PhD study, she received the Croucher Foundation Fellowship and obtained her post-doctoral training from a renowned scientist, Professor Gregg Semenza, in the Johns Hopkins University, studying the roles and molecular mechanisms of hypoxia (oxygen deprivation) in breast cancer progression. Hypoxia is a common pathological feature in many diseases including cardiovascular diseases, ischemia (e.g. stroke, limb and retinal ischemia), and cancer. Hypoxia, through the stabilization of hypoxia-inducible factors (HIFs), stimulates a wide repertoire of events that promote cancer growth. Two hypoxia-mediated events that caught her attention include metabolic reprogramming and tumour microenvironment formation. Dr Wong is currently an assistant professor in Department of Pathology, the University of Hong Kong. Her research team is intensively studying these two research areas in a fatal cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), which is especially prevalent in hepatitis B virus endemic regions including Hong Kong. More excitingly, Dr Wong’s research team is beginning to unravel the tight relationship between metabolic reprogramming and tumour microenvironment formation in cancer development.


Currently

  1. Understanding the metabolic reliance in cancer cells for therapeutic targeting
  2. Unraveling the interplay of various stromal components (extracellular matrix and immune cells) and cancer cells in the tumor microenvironment
  3. Discovering new roles and molecular mechanisms of hypoxia in cancer development
  4. Identification of new diagnostic markers and molecular targets in HCC