Education

• MBBS, University of London

• MD by thesis, University of London

• Fellow of Royal College of Physicians

• DSc, University of London

Honors/Awards

• Senior Investigator of the UK National Institute for Health Research (NIHR).

• Fellow of the Academia Europaea.

• Visiting Professor Lee Kong Chian Medical School, Nayang Technology University, Singapore

• Visiting Professor, Taipei Medical University, Taipei, Taiwan.

Professional Experiences

• Consultant Respiratory Physician, Royal Brompton & Harefiled Hospital, London.

• Leads UK Research Innovation (UKRI)-funded research programs on Precision Medicine in severe asthma and on the integrative effects of air pollution at a personal level.

Research Interests

Professor Chung is focused on the molecular pathways and endotypes of chronic airways disease. He studies the interaction of the airway mucosal interface with the external environment with a special interest on the downstream impact of the innate and acquired immune responses including organelle dysfunction. He also has an interest in the pathophysiology and management of cough and cough hypersensitivity.

Brief content of the topic

The endotypes of severe asthma: an interaction of molecular pathways

The use and generation of gene signatures have been established as a method to define molecular endotypes in complex diseases such as severe asthma. Bioinformatic approaches have now been applied to large omics datasets to define the various co-existing inflammatory and cellular functional pathways driving or characterizing a particular molecular endotype. This talk will cover the molecular phenotypes and endotypes of Type 2 inflammatory pathways and also of non-Type 2 inflammatory pathways, such as IL-6 trans-signalling, IL-17 activation, and IL-22 activation, defined in the Unbiased Biomarkers for the Prediction of Respiratory Disease Outcomes dataset. There has also been the identification of the role of mast cell activation and of macrophage dysfunction in various phenotypes of severe asthma. Further radiomics and metagenomic analysis of airway microbiome have revealed endotypes that can be targeted by specific therapies. Furthermore, the integration of various omics pathway provide a powerful way of determining endotypes. This approach of endotyping provides a more granular appreciation of various molecular pathways underlying a particular patient with severe asthma, than the use of currently available biomarkers that only indicate type2 inflammatory pathways. This will allow a better understanding of the inflammatory and remodelling processes in severe asthma for which more than just Type 2 targets are involved. It is high time to apply these gene signatures to the phenotyping of severe asthma, that will lead to greater precision medicine.

Education

• 2004-2010 Ph.D., Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University

• 2000-2002 M.S., Department of Biochemical Science and Technology, National Chiayi University

• 1996-2000 B.S., Department of Food Science, Tunghai University.

Honors/Awards

• Scholarship Award, NF-KappaB and MAP kinase Signaling in Inflammation Conference, Keystone Symposia (2016).

Professional Experiences

• 2023.08- Associate Professor, School of Respiratory Therapy, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University

• 2019.08-2023.08 Assistant Professor, School of Respiratory Therapy, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University

• 2016.09-2018.06 Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Missouri

• 2012.09-2016.08 Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

• Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Physiology, College of Medicine, National Taiwan University

• Research Assistant, Institute of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Research, National Health Research Institutes

Research Interests

• Inflammatory Immunology

• Cell Biology

• Molecular Physiology.

Brief content of the topic

Defective Innate Immune signaling in severe asthma.

Education

• 2006-2013 Ph.D., Graduate Institute of Medical Science, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University

• 2001-2003 M.S., School of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, Taipei Medical University

• 1997-2001 B.S., Department of Medical Laboratory Science and Biotechnology, Taipei Medical University

Professional Experiences

• 2019.01- Assistant professor, school of Respiratory Therapy, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University

• 2018.04-2019.01 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University

• 2015.10-2018.03 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Medicine, Chang-Gung University

• 2015.01-2015.08 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Graduate Institute of Medical Science, College of Medicine, Taipei Medical University

• 2013.08-2015.01 Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Respiratory and Thoracic Medicine, Chang-Gung Medical Foundation

Research Interests

• Pharmacology and Toxicology

• Chest

• Signal transduction

• Inflammatory response

• Asthma

Brief content of the topic

Up-regulated IgE receptor in airway epithelium of asthma may trigger imbalance of epithelial microenvironment. IgE receptor may crosstalk to other cell surface receptor to regulate cytokines expression.