Professor WONG, Alice
Sze Tsai

Prof. Alice S. T. Wong received her BSc (first class honours) and MPhil at the University of Hong Kong. She continued her education at the University of British Columbia, where she obtained her PhD. She then worked at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center as a Postdoctoral Fellow. She joined the University of Hong Kong in 2002, and is currently a Chair Professor in the School of Biological Sciences.

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Prof. Wong’s research focuses on signal transduction in cancer. In particular, cell adhesion molecules are very important for many physiological processes, which if deregulated, can contribute to cancer. The old view attributes their ability to affect cell functions to their adhesive properties. Prof. Wong’s research findings have presented new evidence that questions this hypothesis and suggests a different scenario. Using new techniques and innovative methodologies, more recent research in her group endeavors to unravel the precise mechanism of cell adhesion dynamics pertinent to ovarian cancer development and metastasis, aiming to provide insights for the development of new therapies to this highly malignant and rapidly lethal human cancer not only in our local community but also worldwide. 

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We have recently developed various models which enable us to have a robust framework to shift from a static to dynamic resolution to identify key molecules involved in metastasis. We believe that such understanding is of paramount importance in both cancer biology and cancer therapy.