Randy Poon 潘逸才

Professor Randy Poon is a Chair Professor at the Division of Life Science of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). Professor Poon received a MA in Natural Sciences from St. Catharine’s College, University of Cambridge. He completed his PhD in Biochemistry with Sir Tim Hunt FRS, 2001 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine, at the University of Cambridge and Cancer Research UK. Professor Poon then conducted postdoctoral training at the Salk Institute at La Jolla, San Diego, California with Tony Hunter FRS, before joining HKUST in 1996.

Professor Poon’s group has published over 100 papers in international journals and made pivotal discoveries in the field of cell cycle control and genome stability. By leveraging the power of modern technologies in genetics and cell biology, one area of their research is to understand the proteins that governs the entry and exit of mitosis. Another focus of Professor Poon’s research is to interrogate the molecular mechanisms that ensure the stability of the genome during the cell cycle. As these processes play fundamental roles in both normal and abnormal cell division and are intricately linked to many anticancer therapies, understanding of how they are choreographed in the cell will have broad implications in heath and disease.