Hovy Wong
Biography
Prof. Hovy WONG, Ho-Wai (黃皓瑋) received his PhD from the University of Cambridge, where he unravelled the roles of local protein synthesis in neural circuit formation and maintenance. After decades of debates, his work changed the way the field thought about the existence of mRNA translation in the axon/presynapse — the neurotransmitter-releasing half of brain connections. His thesis paper was highlighted 5 times by F1000, featured in Cell Press Selections 2017 and numerous high-impact journals. These were made possible with support of Cambridge Trust, Croucher Foundation and Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund. (Mentor: Christine Holt)
He pursued postdoctoral training at McGill University, funded as Fellow of 4 prestigious agencies including Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and Canada First Research Excellence Fund. His work revealed that axonal protein synthesis sustains neurotransmission. Apart from uncovering unappreciated principles for information transfer and memory, it opens new avenues for neuropathology therapies. Selected by Canadian Association for Neuroscience and CIHR, Prof. Wong was winner of the Brain Star Award — the highest national recognition for trainees in Canada. (Mentor: Jesper Sjöström)
Shortly after he started his lab at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2025, Prof. Wong was awarded the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO) Rising Stars Award — appointing him as the first recipient in the Greater China Area since the award inception in 2015.
In 2026, he was selected by National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) as an awardee of the Excellent Young Scientists Fund ("优青") — one of China’s most prestigious and selective national recognitions for early-to-mid-career researchers.
Beforehand, Prof. Wong was born in Hong Kong and spent 7 years in the U.K. for secondary education. He joined the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology for undergraduate and MPhil studies (Mentor: Nancy Ip). He was awarded 16 fellowships totalling >$6.2 million, which provided uninterrupted funding in full for his training between 2010-2024. The international exposures prepared him to welcome diverse lab members and collaborators.
