Dennis Lo facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Dennis Lo
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盧煜明
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Lo attending an academic conference at University of Cambridge on 20 April 2023
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| 9th Vice-Chancellor and President of the Chinese University of Hong Kong | |
| Assuming office 8 January 2025 |
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| Chancellor | John Lee |
| Succeeding | Rocky Tuan |
| Personal details | |
| Born | October 12, 1963 British Hong Kong |
| Spouse | Alice Siu Ling Wong |
| Education | University of Oxford (DPhil, DM, BM BCh) University of Cambridge (MA) |
| Known for | Non-invasive prenatal testing Liquid biopsy Cell-free fetal DNA detection in blood plasma |
| Awards | King Faisal Prize in Medicine (2014) Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences (2021) Royal Medal (2021) Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award (2022) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Molecular biology |
| Institutions | Chinese University of Hong Kong University of Oxford |
| Thesis | Genetic analysis of fetal cells in maternal blood (1994) |
| Doctoral advisor | Kenneth Anthony Fleming |
| Dennis Lo | |||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 盧煜明 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 卢煜明 | ||||||||
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Dennis Lo Yuk-ming is a famous Hong Kong scientist who studies molecular biology. This field looks at how tiny parts of living things, like DNA, work. He was born on October 12, 1963.
Professor Lo is well-known for his amazing discovery: finding tiny bits of a baby's DNA in the mother's blood. This led to a new way to check on babies before they are born. It is called non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT). This test is much safer than older methods because it only needs a blood sample from the mother.
Since January 8, 2025, he has been the head of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). He also works as a professor of medicine there.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Dennis Lo was born in Hong Kong in 1963. His mother was a music teacher. His father, Lo Wai-hoi, was a doctor who helped people with their minds.
Dennis went to St Joseph's College for his primary and secondary school. After that, he had many choices for college. He decided to study medicine in England.
In 1983, when he was 20, Dennis went to the University of Cambridge. He spent two years learning the basics of medicine. He also earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. Then, he spent a third year studying how to copy genes.
In 1986, he moved to the University of Oxford to finish his medical training. He earned his medical degree (BM BCh) in 1989. He continued his studies at Oxford. He earned a DPhil degree in 1994 and a DM degree in 2001. A DPhil is like a PhD, which is a very high research degree.
Amazing Discoveries
Professor Lo started his research by studying a method called polymerase chain reaction (PCR). PCR is a way to make millions of copies of a specific piece of DNA. This helps scientists study DNA more easily.
Finding Baby DNA in Mother's Blood
Dennis Lo had a big idea: could a baby's DNA be found in the mother's blood? This was a very new idea at the time. Using PCR, he looked for the Y chromosome in the blood of mothers who were expecting baby boys. The Y chromosome is only found in males.
In 1997, he made a groundbreaking discovery. He found that tiny pieces of the baby's DNA were floating freely in the mother's blood. This was a huge surprise! It was like finding a car engine somewhere other than under the hood. This discovery changed how we think about prenatal testing.
New Ways to Test Babies Before Birth
After his discovery, Professor Lo worked to create safe and easy tests for pregnant mothers. One of the first tests he developed was for Rh disease. This is a blood problem that can affect babies if the mother and baby have different blood types.
He also found that a baby's RNA (another important genetic material) could be found in the mother's blood. This showed which genes were active in the baby.
Fighting SARS
In 2003, Professor Lo's research was paused by the SARS outbreak in Hong Kong. His team quickly switched gears. They were among the first to study the SARS virus. They helped discover that there were different types of the virus. This work was very important for understanding and fighting the disease.
Advanced DNA Testing
After SARS, Professor Lo went back to his work on baby DNA. In 2008, he started using a new technology called next-generation sequencing (NGS). NGS can read many DNA pieces at once.
He used NGS to test for Down syndrome. This condition happens when a baby has an extra chromosome 21. His method was very accurate. It could find all cases of Down syndrome and almost never gave a wrong answer. This led to the test being used in hospitals in 2011.
The Harry Potter Idea
In 2012, while watching a Harry Potter movie, Professor Lo got a brilliant idea. He thought about how to read the baby's entire genome (all of its DNA). He figured out a way to separate the baby's DNA that came from the father from the DNA that came from the mother. This new method made it possible to find tiny changes in a baby's DNA without needing risky procedures.
Cancer Detection
Professor Lo also started using his blood-testing methods to help with cancer diagnosis. Since 2012, he has been studying how to find circulating tumor DNA (DNA from cancer cells) in a patient's blood. This could help doctors find cancer earlier and understand it better.
Making Discoveries Available
Professor Lo co-founded two companies in 2014. One company, Cirina, focused on using circulating tumor DNA to detect cancer. The other company, Xcelom, helped make his non-invasive prenatal tests available to more people. These companies help turn his scientific discoveries into real-world tools that can help patients.
On September 22, 2024, Professor Lo was chosen to be the next president and vice-chancellor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He started this important role on January 8, 2025.
Honours and Awards
Professor Lo has received many important awards for his scientific work:
- 2000 - Ten Outstanding Young Person of Hong Kong
- 2001 - Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World
- 2005 - State Natural Science Award, Second-class, China
- 2011 - Fellow of the Royal Society (a very old and respected scientific group)
- 2013 - Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences (a top science group in the USA)
- 2014 - King Faisal Prize in Medicine
- 2016 - Future Science Prize Life Science Prize
- 2021 - Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences
- 2021 - Royal Medal
- 2022 - Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award
Personal Life
Dennis Lo is married to Alice Siu Ling Wong. They met while studying for their DPhil degrees at the University of Oxford. Alice studied semiconductor physics. They got married in 1994.
Alice Wong used to be a professor at the University of Hong Kong.
