NG, Wai-lung Billy

Name :	NG, Wai-lung Billy 吳濰龍
Title :	Assistant Professor
Home Department :	Pharmacy
Email :	billyng@cuhk.edu.hk
Website:	https://ngwailung.com https://www.pharmacy.cuhk.edu.hk/1/about-us/academic-staff/billyng/

Biography:

Professor Ng’s research interests are chemical biology, drug discovery, and medicinal chemistry. The Ng lab uses chemical, biological, and bioinformatics tools to develop novel small molecules for the treatment of various diseases, including cancers, infectious and neurodegenerative diseases. He has co-authored more than 25 papers in prestigious journals such as Science, Nature Chemical Biology, Molecular Cell, J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., and ACS Central Science and also serves as a reviewer for more than 30 journals including Science Translational Medicine, Nature Chemical Biology, and Nature Biotechnology.
Professor Ng obtained his B.Sc. degree in Chemistry (1st Class Hons.) and Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). During his graduate study, he was a Fulbright Scholar at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), under the generous funding supports from the Lee Hysan Foundation and the Fulbright Program. From 2014 – 2016, he joined the University of Oxford as a Croucher Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow. He was then recruited to Harvard Medical School / Dana-Farber Cancer Institute as a research fellow from 2016 – 2019. He was honored as a Young Global Leader (2022) by the World Economic Forum.

Specialised Research Area(s):

Chemical Biology
Drug Discovery
Medicinal chemistry

Selected Publications:

1. “Phase separation in viral infections” Li, H., Ernst, C., Kolonko-Adamska, M., Greb-Markiewicz, B., Man, J., Parissi, V. & Ng, B.W.-L.# (#Corresponding author). Trends Microbiol 30, 1217–1231 (2022).
*This article was selected as a cover art.

2. “Loss of TSC1/TSC2 sensitizes immune checkpoint blockade in non-small-cell lung cancer” Huang, Q., Li, F., Hu, H., Fang, Z., Gao, Z., Xia, G., Ng, W.-L., Khodadadi-Jamayran, A., Chen, T., Deng, J., Zhang, H., Almonte, C., Labbe, K., Han, H., Geng, K., Tang, S., Freeman, G. J., Li, Y., Chen, H. & Wong, K.-K. Sci Adv 8, eabi9533 (2022).

3. “Simeprevir potently suppresses SARS-CoV-2 replication and synergizes with remdesivir” Lo, H. S., Hui, K. P. Y., Lai, H.-M., He, X., Khan, K. S., Kaur, S., Huang, J., Li, Z., Chan, A. K. N., Cheung, H. H.-Y., Ng, K.-C., Ho, J. C. W., Chen, Y. W., Ma, B., Cheung, P. M.-H., Shin, D., Wang, K., Lee, M.-H., Selisko, B., Eydoux, C., Guillemot, J.-C., Canard, B., Wu, K.-P., Liang, P.-H., Dikic, I., Zuo, Z., Chan, F. K. L., Hui, D. S. C., Mok, V. C. T., Wong, K.-B., Mok, C. K. P., Ko, H., Aik, W. S., Chan, M. C. W.# & Ng, W.-L.# (#Corresponding authors). ACS Cent Sci 7, 792–802 (2021).
*This article was selected as part of “Examples of the Exceptional, COVID19 Special Collection” of ACS Cent Sci.

4. “Nucleic acid-based technologies targeting coronaviruses” Le, T.K., Paris, C., Khan, K.S., Robson, F., Ng, W.-L.# & Rocchi, P.# (#Corresponding authors). Trends Biochem Sci 46, 351–365 (2021).
*This article was selected as a cover art and also highlighted by The Scientist, 2021, July issue.

5. “Coronavirus RNA proofreading: molecular basis and therapeutic targeting” Robson, F., Khan, K.S., Le, T.K., Paris, C., Demirbag, S., Barfuss, P., Rocchi, P., Ng, W.-L.# (#Corresponding author). Mol Cell 79, 710–727 (2020).
*This article was recognized as a "Highly Cited Paper" by Clarivate Web of Science (Top 1% in Molecular Biology & Genetics). It was also highlighted by The Scientist, 2021, July issue.

6. “Epigenetic CRISPR screens identify Npm1 as a therapeutic vulnerability in non-small cell lung cancer” Li, F.*, Ng, W.-L.*, Luster, T. A., Hu, H., Sviderskiy, V.O., Dowling, C.M., Hollinshead, K.E.R., Zouitine, P., Zhang, H., Huang, Q., Ranieri, M., Wang, W., Fang, Z., Chen, T., Deng, J., Zhao, K., So, H.C., Khodadadi-Jamayran, A., Xu, M., Karatza, A., Pyon, V., Li, S., Pan, Y., Labbe, K., Almonte, C., Poirier, J.T., Miller, G., Possemato, R., Qi, J. & Wong, K.K. (*Co-first authorship). Cancer Res 80, 3556–3567 (2020).
#This article was selected as a cover art.

7. “In vivo epigenetic CRISPR screen identifies Asf1a as an immunotherapeutic target in lung adenocarcinoma” Li, F., Huang, Q., Luster, T. A., Hu, H., Zhang, H., Ng, W.-L., Khodadadi-Jamayran, A., Wang, W., Chen, T., Deng, J., Ranieri, M., Fang, Z., Pyon, V., Dowling, C. M., Bagdatlioglu, E., Almonte, C., Labbe, K., Silver, H., Rabin, A. R., Jani, K., Tsirigos, A., Papagiannakopoulos, T., Hammerman, P. S., Velcheti, V., Freeman, G. J., Qi, J., Miller, G. & Wong, K.-K. Cancer Discov 10, 270–287 (2020).
*This article was highlighted in the spotlight, see Cancer Discov 10, 179–181 (2020).

8. “Synthetic and biological studies of carbasugar SGLT2 inhibitors” Ng, W.-L. & Shing, T. K. M. J. Syn. Org. Chem. Jpn., 1215–1222 (2018).
*This is an invited review article.

9. “Concise and stereodivergent synthesis of carbasugars reveals unexpected structure-activity relationship (SAR) of SGLT2 inhibition” Ng, W.-L., Li, H. C., Lau, K. M., Chan, A. K. N., Lau, C. B. & Shing, T. K. M. Sci Rep 7, 5581 (2017).

10. “Palladium-catalyzed arylation of carbasugars enables the discovery of potent and selective SGLT2 inhibitors” Ng, W.-L., Lau, K. M., Lau, C. B. & Shing, T. K. M. Angew Chem Int Ed 55, 13818–13821 (2016).
*This article was highlighted in Synfacts, 2017, 13, 17.

11. “Design, syntheses, and SAR studies of carbocyclic analogues of sergliflozin as potent sodium-dependent glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors” Shing, T. K. M.*, Ng, W.-L., Chan, J. Y. & Lau, C. B. (*Corresponding author & thesis advisor). Angew Chem Int Ed 52, 8401–8405 (2013).
**This article was highlighted in Synfacts, 2013, 9, 1147.