Lisa Ng is a Singaporean viral immunologist. In 2008, she became the first Singaporean and the first woman to win the ASEAN Young Scientist and Technologist Award for her work in developing diagnostic kits for

Avian Influenza Avian influenza, also known as avian flu or bird flu, is a disease caused by the influenza A virus, which primarily affects birds but can sometimes affect mammals including humans. Wild aquatic birds are the primary host of the influenza A viru ...

and

Sars-CoV Severe acute respiratory syndrome–related coronavirus (SARSr-CoV or SARS-CoV'', Betacoronavirus pandemicum'')The terms ''SARSr-CoV'' and ''SARS-CoV'' are sometimes used interchangeably, especially prior to the discovery of SARS-CoV-2. This m ...

. She has been featured as part of the " Beyond Curie" project as a pioneer in viral

immunology Immunology is a branch of biology and medicine that covers the study of Immune system, immune systems in all Organism, organisms. Immunology charts, measures, and contextualizes the Physiology, physiological functioning of the immune system in ...

, as well as being inducted into the Singapore Women's Hall of Fame. Her ongoing research includes

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also foun ...

tropical diseases and Sars-CoV-19.

Early life

Lisa Fong Poh Ng was born as the eldest of two daughters to a father who is a contractor and a mother who is a teacher. In 1989, she enrolled in a biotechnology course at the

Singapore Polytechnic Singapore Polytechnic (SP) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore. Established in 1954, SP is the first and oldest polytechnic in Singapore, and is renowned for ...

after her completion of GCE O levels at Marymount Convent. Her family considered polytechnic studies to be second-rate and did not believe it would help her get into a university afterwards. Lisa pursued a course that would allow her to involve herself in scientific research immediately. She completed her polytechnic studies with good grades but was unable to secure a place at the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...

afterwards.

Education

In 1995, Lisa graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in Biochemistry from the

University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) was a university based in the centre of the city of Manchester in England. It specialised in technical and scientific subjects and was a major centre for Research univer ...

in the United Kingdom. In 2002, she earned her PhD in Molecular Virology from the

. That same year, she joined the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) as a postdoctoral fellow where she contributed the development of a framework to deliver broad-range capability for preparedness for viral diseases including

influenza Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These sympto ...

SARS Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the virus SARS-CoV-1, the first identified strain of the SARS-related coronavirus. The first known cases occurred in November 2002, and the ...

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver parenchyma, liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), Anorexia (symptom), poor appetite ...

, and vector-borne diseases.

Career

She is working at the Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN) where she is the Senior Principal Investigator of a project undertaking research on immunology of viral infections that are

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...

or highly endemic in the tropical region. These include

chikungunya virus Chikungunya is an infection caused by the chikungunya virus (CHIKV). The disease was first identified in 1952 in Tanzania and named based on the Kimakonde words for "to become contorted". Chikungunya has become a global health concern due to ...

dengue virus Dengue virus (DENV) is the cause of dengue fever. It is a mosquito-borne, single positive-stranded RNA virus of the family ''Flaviviridae''; genus '' Flavivirus''. Four serotypes of the virus have been found, and a reported fifth has yet to be ...

Zika virus Zika virus (ZIKV; pronounced or ) is a member of the virus family ''Flaviviridae''. It is spread by daytime-active ''Aedes'' mosquitoes, such as '' A. aegypti'' and '' A. albopictus''. Its name comes from the Ziika Forest of Uganda, where ...

and other related

alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter ''aleph'' , whose name comes from the West Semitic word for ' ...

- and flavi-viruses. She has previously developed diagnostic kits for detecting

H5N1 and

Sars Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the virus SARS-CoV-1, the first identified strain of the SARS-related coronavirus. The first known cases occurred in November 2002, and the ...

. She currently holds the position of Executive Director of the A*STAR Graduate Academy, Senior Principal Investigator at the Singapore Immunology Network, Adjunct Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore, and Professor and Chair of Viral Immunology at the Institute of Infection and Global Health at the University of Liverpool, UK. Her ongoing research includes that of the viral immunology of Sars-CoV-19. Her team's discovery in Sars-CoV-19 is centered around neutralizing antibodies that are able to prevent the virus from infecting and replicating inside human cells.

Awards

* 2005: “Most Inspiring Woman” at the Great Women of Our Time Awards for Science and Technology * 2007: Biovisions Next Fellows Award * 2008: ASEAN Young Scientist and Technologist Award * 2013: Junior Chamber International Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World Singapore 2013 Scientific and/or Technological Development Award * 2013: A*STAR Most Inspiring Mentor Award * 2016: Public Administration Medal (Bronze)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ng, Lisa Living people Singaporean virologists 21st-century Singaporean women scientists 21st-century Singaporean biologists Year of birth missing (living people) Alumni of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology National University of Singapore alumni