Research
LO, Yuk Ming Dennis

Name : LO, Yuk Ming Dennis 盧煜明
Title : Associate Dean (Research), Faculty of Medicine
Director of the Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences
Chairman of the Department of Chemical Pathology, Faculty of Medicine
Li Ka Shing Professor of Medicine
Professor of Chemical Pathology
Associate Director, State Key Laboratory in Oncology in South China (CUHK)
Home Department :  Chemical Pathology
Email : loym@cuhk.edu.hk
Website : www.cpy.cuhk.edu.hk/Research/DennisLo.htm

Biography:

Dennis Lo is the Director of the Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences and the Li Ka Shing Professor of Medicine at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He received his undergraduate education from the University of Cambridge, and his Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy degrees from the University of Oxford. His research interests focus on the biology and diagnostic applications of cell-free nucleic acids in plasma. In particular, he discovered the presence of cell-free fetal DNA in maternal plasma in 1997 and has since then been pioneering noninvasive prenatal diagnosis using this technology. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the World Academy of Sciences. He has been awarded the King Faisal International Prize in Medicine in 2014.

Specialised Research Area(s):

Molecular diagnostics, non-invasive prenatal diagnosis, cancer biomarkers

Selected Publications:

1. Lo YMD, Lun FMF, Chan KCA, Tsui NBY, Chong KC, Lau TK, Leung, TY, Zee, BC, Cantor, CR, Chiu, RW. Digital PCR for the molecular detection of fetal chromosomal aneuploidy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2007; 104: 13116-13121.

2. Chim SSC, Shing TK, Hung ECW, Leung TY, Lau TK, Chiu RWK, Lo YMD. Detection and characterization of placental microRNAs in maternal plasma. Clinical Chemistry 2008; 54: 482-490.

3. Lun FM, Tsui NB, Chan KC, Leung TY, Lau TK, Charoenkwan P, Chow KC, Lo WY, Wanapirak C, Sanguansermsri T, Cantor CR, Chiu RW, Lo YMD. Noninvasive prenatal diagnosis of monogenic diseases by digital size selection and relative mutation dosage on DNA in maternal plasma. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2008; 105: 19920-19925.

4. Chiu RW, Chan KC, Gao Y, Lau VY, Zheng W, Leung TY, Foo CH, Xie B, Tsui NB, Lun FM, Zee BC, Lau TK, Cantor CR, Lo YMD. Noninvasive prenatal diagnosis of fetal chromosomal aneuploidy by massively parallel sequencing of maternal plasma DNA. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2008; 105: 20458-20463.

5. Lo YMD, Chan KC, Sun H, Chen EZ, Jiang P, Lun FM, Zheng YW, Leung TY, Lau TK, Cantor CR, Chiu RW. Maternal plasma DNA sequencing reveals the genome-wide genetic and mutational profile of the fetus. Science Translational Medicine 2010; 2: 61ra91.

6. Chiu RW, Akolekar R, Zheng YW, Leung TY, Sun H, Chan KC, Lun FM, Go AT, Lau ET, To WW, Leung WC, Tang RY, Au-Yeung SK, Lam H, Kung YY, Zhang X, van Vugt JM, Minekawa R, Tang MH, Wang J, Oudejans CB, Lau TK, Nicolaides KH, Lo YMD. Non-invasive prenatal assessment of trisomy 21 by multiplexed maternal plasma DNA sequencing: large scale validity study. British Medical Journal 2011; 342: c7401.

7. Chan KC, Jiang P, Chan CW, Sun K, Wong J, Hui EP, Chan SL, Chan WC, Hui DS, Ng SS, Chan HL, Wong CS, Ma BB, Chan AT, Lai PB, Sun H, Chiu RW, Lo YMD. Noninvasive detection of cancer-associated genome-wide hypomethylation and copy number aberrations by plasma DNA bisulfite sequencing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2013; 110: 18761-18768.

8. Yu SCY, Chan KCA, Zheng YW, Jiang P, Liao GJ, Sun H, Akolekar R, Leung TY, Go AT, van Vugt JM, Miekawa R, Oudejans CBM, Nicolaides KH, Chiu RWK, Lo YMD. Size-based molecular diagnostics using plasma DNA for noninvasive prenatal testing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2014; 111: 8583-8588.

9. Chan RW, Jiang P, Peng X, Tam LS, Liao GJ, Li EK, Wong PC, Sun H, Chan KCA, Chiu RWK, Lo YMD. Plasma DNA aberrations in systemic lupus erythematosus revealed by genomic and methylomic sequencing. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2014; 111: E5302-5311.

10. Jiang P, Chan CWM, Chan KCA, Cheng SH, Wong J, Wong VWS, Wong GLH, Chan SL, Mok TSK, Chan HLY, Lai PBS, Chiu RWK, Lo YMD. Lengthening and shortening of plasma DNA in hepatocellular carcinoma patients. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2015; 112: E1317-1325.

11. Chan KCA, Woo JKS, King A, Zee BCY, Lam WKJ, Chan SL, Chu SWI, Mak C, Tse IOL, Leung SYM, Chan G, Hui EP, Ma BBY, Chiu RWK, Leung SF, van Hasselt AC, Chan ATC, Lo YMD. (2017). Analysis of Plasma Epstein–Barr Virus DNA to Screen for Nasopharyngeal Cancer. New England Journal Of Medicine, 377(6): 513-522.