Prof. NG Wai-lung, Billy

NG Wai-Lung, Billy 吳濰龍

B.Sc. (1st Hons), Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
School of Pharmacy
Faculty of Medicine
The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Tel: (852) 3943 0671
Fax:(852) 2603 5295
Email: billyng@pharmacy.cuhk.edu.hk
Lab Webpage: https://www.ngwailung.com

Personal Details

Professor Ng’s research interests are chemical biology, drug discovery, and medicinal chemistry. The Ng lab uses chemical, biological, and bioinformatics tools to develop novel small molecules for the treatment and diagnosis of various diseases, including cancers, diabetes, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Professor Ng obtained his B.Sc. degree in Chemistry (1st Class Hons.) and Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). During his graduate study, he was a Fulbright Scholar at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), under the generous funding supports from the Lee Hysan Foundation and the Fulbright Program. From 2014 – 2016, he joined the University of Oxford as a Croucher Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow. He was then recruited to Harvard Medical School / Dana-Farber Cancer Institute as a research fellow from 2016 – 2019.

***The Ng lab is currently recruiting talented postdoctoral fellows/PhD students/research assistants/visiting scholars. Research background in cancer biology / pharmacogenomics / pharmacology / molecular biology would be an advantage. Please send your CV and a brief personal statement to billyng@pharmacy.cuhk.edu.hk

Research Interests

• Research Interests: Chemical biology, drug discovery, and medicinal chemistry

• Development of small-molecule inhibitors for the understanding, treatment, and diagnosis of human diseases (e.g. cancers, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease);
• Development of novel chemical biology tools for probing the post-translational modifications (PTMs) of gene regulatory proteins;
• Using bioinformatic and molecular biology approaches to identity new druggable targets and to repurpose existing non-oncology drugs for the treatment of cancer.
• Using a chemical biology approach to understand the interplay between epigenetics and metabolism, and to explore epigenetics- and metabolism-associated genes as therapeutic targets.

For more details, please refer to our lab webpage: https://www.ngwailung.com

***The Ng lab is currently recruiting talented postdoctoral fellows/PhD students/research assistants/visiting scholars. Research background in cancer biology / pharmacogenomics / pharmacology / molecular biology would be an advantage. Please send your CV and a brief personal statement to billyng@pharmacy.cuhk.edu.hk

Teaching

• PHAR1110 Fundamentals of Pharmaceutical Chemistry
• PHAR2131 Pharmaceutical Analysis
• PHAR4911 Research Project I
• PHAR4912 Research Project II
• MEDF 1021 Public Health and Healthcare Ethics
• GECW1010 University and Society

Representative Publications

For the most updated publication list: https://www.ngwailung.com/publications

Therapeutic science:

1. Robson, F., Khan, K.S., Le, T.K., Paris, C., Demirbag, S., Barfuss, P., Rocchi, P., Ng, W.-L.^# Coronavirus RNA proofreading: molecular basis and therapeutic targeting. Molecular Cell (2020), In press. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molcel.2020.07.027. (#corresponding author)

2. Lo, H. S.*, Hui, K. P. Y.*, Lai, H. M.*, Khan, K. S., Kaur, S., Li, Z., Chan, A. K. N., Cheung, H. H. Y., Ng, K. C., Ho, C. W. J., Chen, Y. W., Ma, B., Cheung, M. H. P., Shin, D., Wang, K., Wu, K. P., Dikic, I., Liang, P. H., Zuo, Z., Chan, K. L. F., Hui, S. C. D., Mok, C. T. V., Wong, K. B., Ko, H., Aik, W. S., Chan, M. C. W. ^#& Ng, W.-L.^# Simeprevir suppresses SARS-CoV-2 replication and synergizes with remdesivir. bioRxiv (2020), doi: 10.1101/2020.05.26.116020. (*co-first authors; #corresponding authors)

3. Li, F.*, Ng, W.-L.*, Luster, T. A., Hu, H., Sviderskiy, V.O., Dowling, C.M., Hollinshead, K.E.R., Zouitine, P., Zhang, H., Huang, Q., Ranieri, M., Wang, W., Fang, Z., Chen, T., Deng, J., Zhao, K., So, H.C., Khodadadi-Jamayran, A., Xu, M., Karatza, A., Pyon, V., Li, S., Pan, Y., Labbe, K., Almonte, C., Poirier, J.T., Miller, G., Possemato, R., Qi, J. & Wong, K.K. Epigenetic CRISPR screens identify Npm1 as a therapeutic vulnerability in non-small cell lung cancer. Cancer Res. (2020), doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-19-3782.

• *Co-first authorship; ^#This article was featured as a cover on Cancer Res.

4. Li, F., Huang, Q., Luster, T. A., Hu, H., Zhang, H., Ng, W.-L., Khodadadi-Jamayran, A., Wang, W., Chen, T., Deng, J., Ranieri, M., Fang, Z., Pyon, V., Dowling, C. M., Bagdatlioglu, E., Almonte, C., Labbe, K., Silver, H., Rabin, A. R., Jani, K., Tsirigos, A., Papagiannakopoulos, T., Hammerman, P. S., Velcheti, V., Freeman, G. J., Qi, J., Miller, G. & Wong, K.-K. In vivo epigenetic CRISPR screen identifies Asf1a as an immunotherapeutic target in lung adenocarcinoma. Cancer Discov 10, 270-287 (2020).

• *This article was highlighted in the spotlight, see Cancer Discov 10, 179-181 (2020).

5. Ng, W.-L. & Shing, T. K. M. Synthetic and Biological Studies of Carbasugar SGLT2 Inhibitors. Syn. Org. Chem. Jpn., 1215-1222 (2018).

• *This is an invited review article.

6. Ng, W.-L., Li, H. C., Lau, K. M., Chan, A. K. N., Lau, C. B. & Shing, T. K. M. Concise and Stereodivergent Synthesis of Carbasugars Reveals Unexpected Structure-Activity Relationship (SAR) of SGLT2 Inhibition. Sci Rep 7, 5581 (2017).

7. Ng, W.-L., Lau, K. M., Lau, C. B. & Shing, T. K. M. Palladium-Catalyzed Arylation of Carbasugars Enables the Discovery of Potent and Selective SGLT2 Inhibitors. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 55, 13818-13821 (2016).

• *This article was highlighted in Synfacts, 2017, 13, 17.

8. Shing, T. K. M.*, Ng, W.-L., Chan, J. Y. & Lau, C. B. Design, syntheses, and SAR studies of carbocyclic analogues of sergliflozin as potent sodium-dependent glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitors. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 52, 8401-8405 (2013).

• *Corresponding author; **This article was highlighted in Synfacts, 2013, 9, 1147.

Chemical biology:

9. Galan, S. R. G., Wickens, J. R., Dadova, J., Ng, W.-L., Zhang, X., Simion, R. A., Quinlan, R., Pires, E., Paton, R. S., Caddick, S., Chudasama, V. & Davis, B. G. Post-translational site-selective protein backbone alpha-deuteration. Nat Chem Biol 14, 955-963 (2018).

10. Imiolek, M., Karunanithy, G., Ng, W.-L., Baldwin, A. J., Gouverneur, V. & Davis, B. G. Selective Radical Trifluoromethylation of Native Residues in Proteins. J Am Chem Soc 140, 1568-1571 (2018).

11. Wright, T. H., Bower, B. J., Chalker, J. M., Bernardes, G. J., Wiewiora, R., Ng, W.-L., Raj, R., Faulkner, S., Vallee, M. R., Phanumartwiwath, A., Coleman, O. D., Thezenas, M. L., Khan, M., Galan, S. R., Lercher, L., Schombs, M. W., Gerstberger, S., Palm-Espling, M. E., Baldwin, A. J., Kessler, B. M., Claridge, T. D., Mohammed, S. & Davis, B. G. Posttranslational mutagenesis: A chemical strategy for exploring protein side-chain diversity. Science 354, 597 (2016).

• *This article was highlighted in C&EN News, 2016, vol. 94, issue 38, and was also featured in Science, 2016, 354, 553 & Nature Method, 2016, 13, 907.

Other collaborative works:

12. Zhao, L., Li, Z., Vong, J. S. L., Chen, X., Lai, H.-M., Yan, L. Y. C., Huang, J., Sy, S. K. H., Tian, X., Huang, Y., Chan, H. Y. E., So, H.-C., Ng, W.-L., Tang, Y., Lin, W.-J., Mok, V. C. T. & Ko, H. Pharmacologically reversible zonation-dependent endothelial cell transcriptomic changes with neurodegenerative disease associations in the aged brain. Nat. Comm. Accepted (2020).

13. Zhao, J., Cheng, S. W., Ng, W.-L., Zhang, Y., Shek, T. L., Ren, T., Yan, X., Li, K., Wang, J. & Zuo, Z. Identification of the in vivo relevant dissolution media for the threeactive components in EGb 761 tablet for better correlation with theirpharmacokinetics in healthy subjects. Eur. J. Pharm. Sci. (2020), doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejps.2020.105515

14. Lai, H. M., Ng, W.-L., Gentleman, S. M. & Wu, W. Chemical Probes for Visualizing Intact Animal and Human Brain Tissue. Cell Chem Biol 24, 659-672 (2017).

15. Lai, H. M., Liu, A. K., Ng, W.-L., DeFelice, J., Lee, W. S., Li, H., Li, W., Ng, H. M., Chang, R. C., Lin, B., Wu, W. & Gentleman, S. M. Rationalisation and Validation of an Acrylamide-Free Procedure in Three-Dimensional Histological Imaging. PLoS One 11, e0158628 (2016).

FELLOWSHIPS

• Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship (gratefully declined) (2016)
• Croucher Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship (2014 – 2016)
• Fulbright-Lee Hysan Research Fellowship (2013 – 2014)
• Hong Kong PhD Fellowship (2010 – 2014)

AWARDS & HONORS

• Best Poster Presentation Award, Oxford Synthesis Conference (2016)
• Travel Award of International Symposium on Chemical Biology (2016)
• Selected Participant of 65th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting (2015)
• Global Scholarship Programme for Research Excellence Award (2013)
• Professor Charles K. Kao Student Creativity Awards – First Runner-up (2012)
• T C Cheng Postgraduate Scholarship (2010)
• College Head List (2009, 2007)
• Dean’s Honours List (2009, 2008, 2007)
• Dr. James C.N. Ma Memorial Scholarship (2009, 2008, 2007)
• Ma Chao Or Memorial Scholarship (2009)
• Professor Lau Oi-wah Memorial Scholarship (2009)
• Wong Man Hop Scholarship (2007)

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

• Associate member of American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
• Member of International Chemical Biology Society (ICBS)
• Member of American Chemical Society (ACS)
• Associate member of Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC)

MEDIA COVERAGE

• “New carbasugars as potential drug molecules” – CUHK Press Release
• “Making Molecules” – Interview by the Croucher Foundation