Prof. Renee Wan Yi CHAN

Research Area

1. Obstructive Airway Diseases (Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia, Asthma)
2. Respiratory Viral Infections (Rhinovirus, Influenza, RSV)
3. Paediatric and Lifespan Respiratory Health
4. Patient-Derived Organoid Models
5. Pathogenesis and Disease Mechanisms
6. Diagnostic Innovation and Biomarker Discovery
7. Therapy Screening and Translational Research
8. Multi-Omics Approaches in Respiratory Disease
9. Virology and Host–Pathogen Interactions

Professional Profile

Professor Renee Chan is a scientist specialising in paediatric respiratory diseases and infectious virology. She currently serves as Associate Professor in the Department of Paediatrics at CUHK, Principal Investigator at the Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, Research Fellow at the SH Ho Research Centre for Infectious Diseases, and Administrative Director of the Hong Kong Obstetric and Paediatric Excellence. She previously co-directed the CUHK–Utrecht University Medical Centre Joint Laboratory for Respiratory Virus and Immunobiology Research.

Professor Chan earned her PhD in Microbiology (Virology) and Pathology from the University of Hong Kong and completed her postdoctoral training at its School of Public Health.

Her current research focuses on obstructive airway diseases such as bronchopulmonary dysplasia and asthma, with a lifespan approach to understanding disease mechanisms. She integrates patient-derived primary epithelial cell and organoid models, multi-omics technologies, and ex vivo human respiratory tissue cultures to investigate pathogenesis, develop diagnostic tools, and screen therapeutic candidates.

With over 100 peer-reviewed publications and leadership in more than 25 funded research projects, Professor Chan is a recognised expert in translational respiratory research. She has held visiting scholar positions at leading institutions in the United States and actively reviews for international journals. She has also filed two patents related to antiviral drugs and airway organoid systems as a platform for screening for new therapeutics using multi-omics.