Prof. Siew Ng is Croucher Professor at the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Assistant Dean (Development) and Director for the Microbiota I-Center (MagIC) at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and New Cornerstone Investigator. She received her Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery degree from the University of London and the Doctor of Philosophy degree (PhD) from Imperial College London. She established the first microbiome R&D Center in Hong Kong – MagIC, with support from the Innovation and Technology Commission, InnoHK, HKSAR Government in 2019. To transform microbiome discoveries into effective diagnostics and therapeutics, she co-founded a biotechnology company, GenieBiome Limited in 2019.
Prof. Siew Ng is an internationally renowned clinician-scientist in gastrointestinal diseases and microbiome medicine. She is at the forefront of epidemiology, genetics, pathogenesis, and treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in Asia-Pacific and globally. She was one of the youngest female academics elected to the highly prestigious International Organization for the study of IBD (IOIBD), which is an elite group of top 50 leaders globally. Her recent work in the gut microbiota has transformed human health. Prof. Siew Ng has published over 380 papers in international leading journals. She has been named a Highly-Cited Researcher by Clarivate for 4 consecutive years since 2020. She was awarded the Deloitte Technology Fast Outstanding Female Entrepreneur Award in 2023 and elected as one of the Foreign Members of Academia Europaea in 2024.
Prof. Siew Ng has discovered disease-specific microbial signatures targeting inflammatory bowel disease and autism spectrum disorder and she and her team have transformed these signatures into clinically applicable non-invasive diagnostic tests. Her innovations address the diagnostic gap for over 8 million people suffering from gastrointestinal symptoms and 75 million children with neurodevelopmental conditions, facilitating rapid and accurate diagnostics that enable timely interventions and reducing healthcare costs associated with delayed diagnoses and unnecessary invasive procedures. Her technology was granted Breakthrough Device Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2024 to aid diagnosis of ASD in children at risk of developmental delay. Prof. Siew Ng’s inventions can also be adapted for broader applications in disease monitoring and predicting drug responses for various chronic conditions, including cognitive impairments, mental health disorders, and cancer leading to a personalized patient-centered solution.