Last updated: 6 July 2023

Biographical Information    [download a brief CV]

Education:
10/1978-7/1982      Department of Chemistry, Hangzhou University (currently Zhejiang University), Hangzhou, China
                            BSc, July, 1982; Supervisor: Prof. Xian Huang 
8/1982-9/1985        Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, The Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
                            MSc, December 1984; Supervisor: Prof. Wei-Shan Zhou [Special Issues in Chin. J. Chem. & Tetrahedron]
                            [photo#1; #2; #3]
10/1985-4/1990      Institute for Chemical Research, Kyoto University, Japan
                            PhD, 23 March 1990; Supervisor: Prof. Yoshimitsu Nagao

Appointments:
5/1990-8/1992       Research Associate, Department of Chemistry, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, USA
                           Prof. K. C. Nicolaou's group, involved in studies on enediynes and taxol. [photos#1; #2; #3]
9/1992-12/1997      Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry,
                           The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
1/1998-6/2007       Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry,
                           The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
7/2007-6/2023      Professor, Department of Chemistry & Center for Cancer Research,
                           The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
7/2023-present       Professor Emeritus, Department of Chemistry,
                           The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology    

Professional Services:
Guest Editor, "Natural Products as an Inexhaustible Source for Drug Discovery" Current Medicinal Chemistry, Vol. 10, No. 21, November, 2003 (preface)
Secretary-General, The 3rd International Symposium for Chinese Medicinal Chemists (ISCMC-2002)
Co-organizer, Symposium on "Diversity-Oriented Synthesis (#32)", Pacifichem 2010, Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, 19 December, 2010
Co-editor, "New Developments in Natural Product Chemistry", Special Memorial Issue for Professor Wei-Shan Zhou, Tetrahedron, Vol. 75, No. 12, 22 March 2019 (preface)
Cheung Kong Scholar, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China (2003)
Long Service Award, HKUST (2012 & 2023)

Research Interests:
Asymmetric catalysis and enantioselective reactions; diverted total synthesis of natural products and biomedically interesting molecules; studies on diversity-oriented synthesis of privileged heterocyclic scaffolds, microwave-assisted solid phase organic synthesis (MASPOS), combinatorial synthesis, and applications in chemical biology and chemical genetics.

Memberships:
The Chinese Chemical Society, Senior Member
The American Chemical Society
Hong Kong Institution of Science
Hong Kong Chemical Society
The Hong Kong Alumni Association of the Chinese Academy of Sciences
Hong Kong International Chemical Sciences Chapter of the American Chemical Society