【Alumni Webinar】Sherlock Holmes and John Watson amid Pandemic – Virus detection and tracing

Having been a medical laboratory technician/ technologist in United Christian Hospital for a decade, Prof. Yip brought with him a wealth of experience to join his alma mater, the then Hong Kong Polytechnic, as a lecturer in 1990, pioneering both the research and education of Health Technology and Informatics. Currently heading the Department in his third term, he has championed the programme development of Medical Laboratory Science at bachelor and master levels over the years. He has also advanced research outputs of the Department with an array of external funding opportunities, and a recently acclaimed project of his is the innovation of a portable nucleic acid testing device for COVID-19, which enables fast and accurate results on-site to contribute to anti-pandemic measures. Dedicated to serving society with his expertise, Prof. Yip has been Chairperson of the Grant Review Board of the Health and Medical Research Fund and a member of the Research Council, Food and Health Bureau.

Trained as a medical laboratory technologist, Dr Siu received his bachelor’s degree in biomedical science with First Class Honours from PolyU. For over 15 years, he has been actively engaged in researches related to microbial genomics, publishing dozens of research papers in high-impact academic journals, such as Lancet Respiratory Medicine and Lancet Respiratory Medicine, on the subject of emerging infectious diseases. He was honoured by PolyU with a faculty research and teaching award for two consecutive years, and is appointed by the government as a member of Medical Laboratory Technologist Board. Regarding the current outbreak of COVID-19, his rapid sequencing technique has played a pivotal role in identifying and stopping local transmission chains of the virus, providing scientific support for the government to formulate anti-pandemic measures. In 2021, Dr Siu received the Outstanding Project Team on COVID-19 Research Award from the Food and Health Bureau in recognition of his excellent research efforts.