Prof. Chan Kwan-chee, Allen
Associate Vice-President (Knowledge Transfer)
Chairman of the Department of Chemical Pathology
Professor of Chemical Pathology
Biography
Professor Allen Chan is the Associate Vice-President (Knowledge Transfer) of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and the Chairman of the Department of Chemical Pathology at the Faculty of Medicine at CUHK. He also serves as the Chief of Service for Chemical Pathology at the Prince of Wales Hospital.
Professor Chan completed his undergraduate medical training at the University of Hong Kong and embarked on his PhD journey in the Department of Chemical Pathology at CUHK in 2001, under the mentorship of Professor Dennis Lo. His main research interest focuses on the development of innovative diagnostic approaches based on circulating DNA analysis. The applications of his inventions cover noninvasive prenatal testing, cancer diagnostics, organ transplant and autoimmune diseases monitoring.
To date, he has published 192 peer-reviewed articles with a total citation of over 16,526 and an h-index of 65.
Professor Chan is a co-inventor of over 120 inventions in the fields of noninvasive prenatal testing and cancer detection, with an impressive portfolio of over 1,500 patents granted globally. Among his most notable achievements is the development of the noninvasive prenatal test for Down syndrome, which has been adopted in over 100 countries and benefits more than 100 million pregnant women worldwide. Professor Chan was named the “Top 20 Translational Researchers of 2020” by the world-renowned scientific journal Nature Biotechnology.
Beyond academia, Professor Chan is a seasoned entrepreneur. He co-founded several biotechnology companies with Professors Dennis Lo and Rossa Chiu, including Cirina, which merged with Grail and was subsequently acquired by Illumina for over USD 8 billion. Professor Chan’s work continues to bridge the gap between scientific innovation and real-world applications, making a profound impact on global healthcare.
In addition to research, Professor Chan is also passionate about teaching and received a total of four Teacher of the Year awards from the Faculty of Medicine, CUHK.