The Team

Kam Leng Aw Yong, PhD

Research Fellow

Kam Leng received her B.Sc. in Bioinformatics and M.Med.Sc. from the University of Malaya, Malaysia and her Ph.D. from the University of Hong Kong, HKSAR, China. Her research interests are focused on the pathogenesis and host-virus interactions of emerging RNA viruses. In particular, she is interested in using functional genomic approaches to uncover the host factors crucial for viral infection and transmission.

Fun Fact: Kam Leng likes to listen to music and play Pokemon GO during commuting :3 

Yung-Jiun Chen, BSc, MSc

PhD Student (IBM Program, Duke-NUS)

Yung-Jiun received his B.Sc. in Medical Biotechnology and Laboratory Science from Chang Gung University and his M.Sc. in Microbiology from National Taiwan University. His previous research mainly focused on HBV immunology and immunotherapy. In addition to viral immunology, he is also interested in virus and cell host interaction. Therefore, he’s now working on how do paramyxoviruses interact with cell host factors.

Fun Fact: Yung-Jiun enjoys eating vegetables, but vegetable juice is a torture for him. 

Felic Fanusi, BSc

Lab Officer (Senior Research Assistant)

Felic received his B.Sc in Life Sciences from National University of Singapore, Singapore. He is always fascinated by the field of infectious diseases with a particular interest in microbial pathogenesis.

Fun fact: Outside the lab, Felic interests are boardgames, museums, and zoos.

Wei He, BS, MS

Visiting DVM student

Wei He is a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) student at the Nanjing Agricultural University, China. She received her BS and MS in Veterinary Medicine from the Guangxi University, China. She is currently funded by the Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC) to pursue her research at Duke-NUS. She is co-mentored by Yaw Shin and Prof. Linfa Wang. Her research interest is focused on the development of novel vaccines and antivirals against emerging infectious diseases.

Fun Fact: Wei He loves cooking (all kinds of noodles, dumplings, and pancakes), and reading in spare time. 

Yaw Shin Ooi, PhD

Principal Investigator

Yaw Shin is an assistant professor in the Programme in Emerging Infectious Diseases (EID) at the Duke-NUS Medical School, Singapore. He is also an adjunct investigator at A*STAR Infectious Diseases Labs, Singapore. He received his doctorate from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, and later pursued his postdoctoral training at Stanford University, California. Yaw Shin has a long-established interest in discovering and mechanistically understanding how RNA viruses co-opt cellular factors to effectively replicate in human cells. 

Fun fact: Yaw Shin loves Chinese Calligraphy (check this out)!

See Wayne Ren, BSc

Research Assistant

Wayne received his B.Sc in Life Sciences from the National University of Singapore and has previous research experience in developing an immunotherapy for primary liver cancer. However, his research interest is in developing an immunotherapy for viral diseases. 

Fun fact: Once upon a time, Wayne lived in the forests of Northern Thailand for over a month.

Cythia Yong, BSc

Lab Manager (Senior Research Assistant)

Cythia received her B.Sc in Biomedical Science from Monash University in Melbourne Australia. She has previous research experience in developmental biology but has decided to venture into microbiology after graduation. 

Fun fact: Cythia was a Grade 8 ballet dancer and also a Cadet Lieutenant in the National Cadet Corps (NCC) Air unit.

Meisam Yousefi, BSc, MSc

PhD Student (IBM Program, Duke-NUS)

Meisam received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Biotechnology from the University of Tehran, Iran; where he worked on metabolic network models of human embryonic stem cells. His research interests are host-virus interactions and antiviral development against emerging pathogens and he is currently working on the molecular mechanisms that Chikungunya and Dengue viruses employ to infect human cells. 

Fun fact: In his free time Meisam likes to listen to music, watch movies and play guitar, but most of the times he just sleeps :)

Dewei Tan

Research intern (Adjunct)

Dewei is an undergraduate medical student at Emmanuel College, Cambridge University. As someone who is passionate about the medical sciences, he has a keen research interest in using functional genomics to understand the pathogenesis of diseases, as well as the clinical applications of it. He hopes to further his studies in Physiology, Development and Neuroscience for his intercalated BSc.

Fun Fact: Dewei was part of the Bomb Disposal Unit in national service. He enjoys writing and playing the piano in his free time.

Biao Guo Yan, BSc

Research intern  (Adjunct)

Biao Guo ("BG") was a third year undergraduate from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore when he joined the lab, pursuing a degree in Biological Sciences and Medicinal Chemistry. BG has been actively exploring the field of infectious disease, and aspires to further his studies in healthcare-related research. 

Fun fact: BG engulfs chocolates of all forms, and sails in his free time.