Prof Hannah Xue received her PhD in Biochemistry from University of Toronto. She joined the University in 1994 and currently serve as Professor in the Division of Life Science and Director of Applied Genomics Center. She was awarded the 2005-2006 Croucher Senior Research Fellowship and the 2010 Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output Award (Science and Technology) in Natural Sciences. Her current research includes deciphering the genetic causes of human complex diseases, including cancers and mental disorders, using cutting edge genomic and bioinformatics technologies, as well as studying the active constituents of Chinese herbal medicine and their chemical derivatives through in vitro and in vivo molecular pharmacology approaches.

Research Question

With the emergence of unprecedented tools, such as next-generation sequencing and big data analytics, we can now rapidly comparing and identifying the genetic differences and genomic changes unique to any individual of our species. Such genomic approaches not only allow us to understand the genetics of complex disease but also address questions related to clinical outcomes among the patients.

Representative Publications

1. Rigil K. Yeung, Zheng-Hua Xiang, Shui-Ying Tsang, Rui Li, Timothy Y. C. Ho, Qi Li, Chok-King Hui, Pak-Chung Sham, Ming-Qi Qiao and Hong Xue (2018) Gabrb2 knockout mice displayed schizophrenia-like and comorbid phenotypes with interneuron-astrocyte-microglia dysregulation. Translational Psychiatry 8:128
2. Taobo Hu; Yogesh Kumar; Iram Shazia; Shen-Jia Duan; Yi Li; Lei Chen; Jin-Fei Chen; Rong Yin; Ava Kwong; Gilberto Ka-Kit Leung; Wai-Kin Mat; Zhenggang Wu; Xi Long; Cheuk-Hin Chan; Peggy Lee; Siu-Kin Ng; Timothy Y. C. Ho; Jianfeng Yang; Xiaofan Ding; Shui-Ying Tsang; Xuqing Zhou; Dan-Hua Zhang; En-Xiang Zhou; Lin Xu; Wai-Sang Poon; Hong-Yang Wang; Hong Xue (2018) Forward and reverse mutations in stages of cancer development. Human Genomics DOI: 10.1186/s40246-018-0170-6
3. Shui-Ying Tsang; Tanveer Ahmad; Flora Mat; Cunyou Zhao; Shifu Xiao; Kun Xia; Hong Xue (2016) Variation of global DNA methylation levels with age and in autistic children. Human Genomics 10 (1): 31
4. Siu-Kin Ng, Taobo Hu, Xi Long, Cheuk-Hin Chan, Shui-Ying Tsang and Hong Xue (2016) Feature co-localization landscape of the human genome. Scientific Reports 6:20650
5. Yogesh Kumar, Jianfeng Yang, Taobo Hu, Lei Chen, Zhi Xu, Lin Xu, Xiao-Xia Hu, Jian-Min Wang, Yi Li, Wai-Sang Poon, Weiqing Wan, Liwei Zhang, Wai-Kin Mat, Frank W. Pun, Peggy Lee, Timothy H. Y. Cheong, Xiaofan Ding, Jin-Fei Chen, Shao Li, Hong-Yang Wang, and Hong Xue (2015) Massive interstitial loss-of-heterozygosity as evidence for cancer being a disease of the DNA-damage response. BMC Medical Genomics 8:42