Ng Kim Tien

Kim-Tien (Kim) obtained his PhD in molecular virology and evolutionary biology under the mentorship of Professor Adeeba Kamarulzaman (University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), Dr. Tee Kok Keng (University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) and Dr. Yutaka Takebe (National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Tokyo, Japan). During his PhD, he has developed and patented an assay for rhinovirus (RV) quantification, creating an improved detection and quantification tool that may be essential in assessing disease prognosis, monitoring viral suppression during antiviral treatment, and designing infection control measures. In addition, he has delineated the evolutionary history of EV-D68 that caused the unprecedented outbreaks in the US. His achievements on the identification and characterization of novel HIV-1 recombinants and the investigation of HIV-1 transmission networks in Southeast Asia have been recognized through several national and international awards, including the 64th Meeting of Nobel Laureates in Physiology and Medicine, Lindau, Germany, 21st CROI Young Investigator Award, Boston, the United States of America, Young Scientist Award in Japan-Asia Youth Exchange Program, University of Tokyo, Japan, and Young Scientist Awards, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He has published nearly 30 research articles in peer-reviewed indexed journals, with an h-index of 9 and over 250 citations. He was a Research Associate at Duke-NUS Medical School with Professor Linfa Wang and Assistant Professor Danielle Anderson, where he designed the viral and bacterial peptide libraries for potential real-life application in combating disease outbreaks. He is currently a Research Fellow under the mentorship of Associate Professor Tan Yee Joo, in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, National University of Singapore. His research interest has expanded from the genetic and evolutionary characterization of blood-borne (HIV, HCV, HBV, HPgV) and respiratory viruses (rhinovirus, coronaviruses, enterovirus and influenza viruses) to screening and development of antiviral candidates. In addition, Kim has nearly three years of experience working as Scientific Officer in a diagnostic cancer company, where his main role includes scaling up robotic process automation to improve operational efficiency, productivity and quality. In addition, he played a key role in achieving the company recent College of American Pathologists (CAP) accreditation.