Prof. Randy Poon has been awarded the Croucher Senior Research Fellowship 2021-22.
Prof. Randy Poon (HKUST)
Chair Professor, Division of Life Science,
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Prof. Poon has made important contributions to the understanding of cell cycle control in normal and cancer cells. His research team is particularly interested in the molecular mechanisms of mitosis, how cells cope with the various stresses that compromise genome stability (called checkpoints), as well as translational research of potential target proteins for anti-cancer therapies. Prof. Poon believes that understanding precisely how the cell cycle is regulated will help to design novel therapeutic approaches to treat cancers.
Prof. Poon has obtained his PhD in Biochemistry from St. Catharine’s College at the University of Cambridge (with Sir Tim Hunt, FRS), and then conducted postdoctoral training at the Salk Institute (with Tony Hunter, FRS).
Croucher Senior Research Fellowships
The Croucher Senior Research Fellowships scheme was first introduced in 1997. It is awarded to local academics who have excelled in scientific research work as judged by leading international scientists invited to provide confidential reviews of candidates nominated in a competitive exercise. Funds are awarded to the universities of the fellowship recipients, enabling the university to recruit replacement teachers to take over the award winner’s duties for the period of the fellowship. This enables the awardees to devote more time and effort to research work.
The value of each award includes a HK$2 million research grant and the cost of a replacement teacher/clinical medical staff for a twelve-month period, which currently stands at a maximum of HK$86,845 per month for the Senior Research Fellowships.
