Research
Team
Research Team
Principal Investigator
Originally from Hong Kong, Dr. Leung received his B.Sc in Human Genetics from University College London and his M.Sc. in Human Molecular Genetics from Imperial College London. He subsequently conducted his Ph.D. research at the University of British Columbia, where he began to delve into the field of epigenetics. Dr. Leung then conducted a post-doctoral fellowship at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in San Diego. Dr. Leung is the lead investigator for the Hong Kong Epigenome project and serves as director of the HKUST Center for Epigenomics Research. He is currently an associate professor in the Division of Life Science, HKUST.
Lab Manager
Originally from Malaysia, Julie did her undergraduate studies in University Putra Malaysia and received her degree in 2010. She then pursued her master studies in The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). She graduated in 2013 and continued as a research assistant in the same lab for a year and left Hong Kong for home. She now returns to Hong Kong to join the Leung Lab in HKUST.
Gigi Lam
Technician
Originally from Hong Kong. Gigi received her BSc in Biochemistry and MSc in Biotechnology from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2000 and 2002. She subsequently worked as a research assistant and then transferred to technical officer in the Division of Life Science. She now serves as the technical officer of the Leung Lab.
Ignacio Riquelme Medina
Research Assistant
Originally from Spain, Ignacio completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Granada in Biology in 2014. He then pursued a Master’s degree in Bioinformatics at the University of Skövde in Sweden. Later, he joined the McInerney lab to pursue a PhD in evolutionary biology at the University of Manchester. Currently, he has joined the Leung Lab to work as a Research Assistant at HKUST. His research interests are applying novel bioinformatic methods, especially those related to biological networks and evolutionary and pathological biology.
Phoebe Tam
Graduate Student
Phoebe graduated from HKUST in 2017 with a B.Sc in Biochemistry and Cell Biology and a double minor in Bioengineering and Humanities. She joined the Leung Lab for her undergraduate research, where she developed her interest in epigenetics. Phoebe then pursued her MPhil study on exploring the roles of histone modifications in disease and development under the supervision of Dr. Leung. She now continues as a PhD student and is currently focusing on how histone modifications regulate the higher-order chromatin structure.
Sabrina Tam
Graduate Student
A Hongkonger, Sabrina received her Bachelor’s and MPhil degrees from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2017 and 2019. She joined the Leung Lab since her Final Year Project during undergraduate study. She now stays in the Lab to pursue her PhD research and explore more about epigenetics.
Jacqueline Aw
Graduate Student
Jacqueline, a Malaysian, obtained her BSc in Biochemistry and Cell Biology at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2017. She obtained her MPhil degree in the Leung Lab in 2019 and now continues as a PhD student. Her work revolves around the role of repetitive elements in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, multiple sclerosis and ataxia-telangiectasia.
Lin Gao
Graduate Student
Lin is a PhD candidate in the Leung Lab. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in biology from the City University of Hong Kong in 2016. She then joined the Leung Lab as a research assistant, during which she developed her interest in epigenomics and developmental biology. She decided to pursue an MPhil degree in the Leung lab in 2018, followed by PhD training. Lin is fascinated by the epigenetic regulation of noncoding genomic sequences, specifically transposable elements, in human trophoblast development and placental disorder.
Clooney Cheng
Graduate Student
Clooney received his BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Hong Kong in 2018 and MPhil in Life Science from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2020. He is a PhD candidate in the Leung Lab. Clooney’s research focuses on the epigenetic dysregulation of retrotransposons in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the primary form of liver cancer. Integrating multi-omics datasets from publicly available cancer data repositories, he identified the aberrant expression of a retrotransposon-derived long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) that might be functionally relevant in HCC development. Clooney now attempts to (1) delineate the molecular mechanisms underlying the cryptic activation of the retrotransposon/lncRNA in HCC, (2) characterize the functional implications of the lncRNA in hepatocarcinogenesis and (3) evaluate the clinical significance of the lncRNA.
Qinghong Jiang
Graduate Student
Qinghong received her BSc in Life Science from China Agricultural University in 2016, then came to HKUST to continue her study in the MSc Biotechnology and raised the interest in studying epigenetics and retrotransposons via bioinformatics in the Leung Lab. From 2017-2019, she worked as a research assistant focusing on bioinformatic analyses and thereafter continued her studies as an MPhil student. Her previous work (Jiang et al., 2020) revealed the enrichment of retrotransposons at increased cohesin binding loci along with enhanced chromatin interactions in G9a mutant mESCs, which brings her research interest into the role of retrotransposons in regulating chromatin architecture. Additionally, she is attentive to mining the data from assays that overlooked retrotransposons, like single-cell RNA-seq.
David Liu
Graduate Student
Originally from Hong Kong, David received his BSc in Biotechnology and BBA in General Business Management from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2019. He finished his Final Year Project in the Leung Lab and now continues as an MPhil research student. His research focuses are cancer biology and the non-coding genome. Given the insight into the potential role of transposable elements in cancer development from recent research, David is currently working on delineating the regulatory role of retrotransposons in glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), one of the most deadly and aggressive types of cancer today.
Geena Wai
Graduate Student
A local Hong Konger, Geena completed her undergraduate studies at HKUST and received her B.Sc in Biochemistry and Cell Biology. To continue her research interests in epigenomics and neuroscience, she is now pursuing an MPhil degree in the Leung laboratory.
Vrinda Mathur
Graduate Student
Vrinda is originally from India but lived most of her life in Indonesia. She came to Hong Kong in 2016 and completed a BSc in Biotechnology from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2020. She did her final year project with the Leung Lab and now is continuing her research as an MPhil student.
Kit Ying Hei Kan
Graduate Student
Kit graduated from HKUST with a BSc in Biochemistry and Cell Biology and a minor in Social Science in 2021. She completed her final year project in the Leung Lab and now continues as an PhD student.
Amelia Tsz Kwan LAm
Graduate Student
Amelia obtained her BSc in Biochemistry and Cell Biology at HKUST in 2023. After developing her interests in epigenetics and neurodegenerative diseases during her 3rd year as an undergraduate student, she conducted her Final Year Project on the role of retrotransposons in Alzheimer’s disease in Leung Lab. She is currently continuing her studies as an MPhil student, with a focus on neuroepigenetics.
Andrew Juwon Kang
Graduate Student
Originally from Korea, Andrew graduated from HKUST with a BSc in Biotechnology in 2023. He completed his final year project in the Leung Lab where he developed his interest in the field of epigenetics. He now continues as a Mphil student and is interested in exploring melanoma epigenetics.
Undergraduate Student
Siufung Ng
Alumni
Eftychis Fragedakis
Isaac Wong
Brian Lai
Terence Tang
Prativa Sapkota
Angelo Chan
Jason Chin Soon Chee
Jacky Chan
Sarah Oh
Lili Wilson
David Lu
Tsz Wing Sam
Andy Yui On Wong
Heming Xu
Oscar Wong
Hui Jeong Jung
Muyang Cheng
Xuemeng Zhou
Sirius Yeung Lee
Jessie Jeesoo Song
Christy Hiu Man Wong
Raissa Gavrila Dani
Coral Run Sun