Chun Kit KWOK, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Chemistry
City University of Hong Kong
Office: AC1-B6608
Lab: AC1-P2405
Phone: (852) 3442 6858
Fax: (852) 3442 0522
Email: ckkwok42@cityu.edu.hk
Twitter: @kitkwok6
Dr. Kit Kwok obtained his B.Sc. in Chemistry (2009) from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) under supervision of Professor Sik Lok Lam, during which his fascination with nucleic acids research was nurtured. To broaden his research experience, Dr. Kwok embarked on an exchange program at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2007-2008, where he worked under the guidance of Professor Juli Feigon (member, NAS), which paved way for his acceptance into the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) in 2009 for an enriching Ph.D program mentored by Professor Philip C. Bevilacqua and Professor Sarah M. Assmann. During the course of his Ph.D studies, Dr. Kwok co-developed the first in vivo transcriptome-wide and targeted structure probing methods (Structure-Seq and DMS/SHAPE-LMPCR) that enable robust and sensitive measurement of RNA structures in vivo, which resulted in publications in Nature, Nature Communications, and Nature Protocols, and earned him the Alumni Association Dissertation Award in 2014. In 2014, Dr. Kwok commenced on a postdoctoral fellowship as a Croucher Fellow in University of Cambridge. He worked with the internationally recognized leader in nucleic acids research and the principal inventor of next-generation sequencing (Solexa Sequencing), Professor Sir Shankar Balasubramanian FRS FMedSci. Dr. Kwok conducted novel research on exploring the structures and functions of RNA G-quadruplexes in the human transcriptome, which resulted in publications in Nature Methods and Angewandte Chemie. In October 2016, Dr. Kwok's joined the faculty team at the City University of Hong Kong (CityU), where he is embarking on research in chemistry and biology of nucleic acids. See Research for more details.
To cultivate a stimulating learning environment for students and to promote RNA sciences in Hong Kong, Dr. Kwok, together with Dr. Minh Le, founded the Hong Kong RNA Club in Aug 2017. With the generous support from RNA society and industrial sponsors, the Hong Kong RNA Club is a platform that gathers local RNA scientists who are fascinated about RNA, and hosts RNA seminar/symposium events that feature reputable RNA scientists around the globe. See HK RNA Club for more details.
Professional History
2016-now Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong
2014-2016 Croucher Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Chemistry & CRUK, University of Cambridge (Mentor: Prof. Sir Shankar Balasubramanian)
Education
2009-2014 Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University (Mentors: Prof. Philip C. Bevilacqua and Sarah M. Assmann)
2007-2008 Exchange student, University of California, Los Angeles (Mentor: Prof. Juli Feigon)
2005-2009 B.Sc., Chinese University of Hong Kong (Mentor: Prof. Sik Lok Lam)
Awards and Honors
2017 Royal Society Kan Tong Po International Exchange Fellowship
2016 RNA Society Travel Award
2015 Selected Young Scientist Participant for the 65th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting
2014 Inventor Incentive Award, PSU
2014-2016 Hong Kong Croucher Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship
2014 Alumni Association Dissertation Award, PSU
2013 Eugene and Jane Apple Science Graduate Fellowship, PSU
2012, 2013 Graduate Student Travel Award, PSU (3 times)
2009 Braddock Graduate Fellowship, PSU
2008 Lau Oi Wah Oversea Exchange Memorial Scholarship, CUHK
2008 Yasumoto International Exchange Scholarships, CUHK
2007, 2009 The Swire Scholarship, John Swire & Sons (Hong Kong) Limited (2 times)
2007 The Highest Class Award (>200 h community service), Hong Kong Community Youth Club
2007 Dr. James C. N. Ma Memorial Scholarship, CUHK
Fundings
Jan 2019 - Dec 2021 General Research Fund Scheme, RGC HK (1,214,676 HKD)
Jan 2018 - Dec 2021 NSFC/RGC Joint Research Scheme, RGC HK (1,214,000 HKD)
Jan 2018 - Dec 2020 Early Career Scheme, RGC HK (1,017,961 HKD)
Educational Grant, RGC HK (50,000 HKD)
May 2017 - Nov 2018 CityU Teaching Start-Up Grant, CityU HK (100,000 HKD)
Dec 2016 - Nov 2018 CityU Start-Up Grant, CityU HK (199,856 HKD)
Nov 2016 - Oct 2021 Croucher Start Up Grant, Croucher Foundation (500,000 HKD)
Nov 2016 - Oct 2018 Vice-President Research & Technology Grant, CityU HK (1,009,926 HKD)
Assistant Professor
Department of Chemistry
City University of Hong Kong
Office: AC1-B6608
Lab: AC1-P2405
Phone: (852) 3442 6858
Fax: (852) 3442 0522
Email: ckkwok42@cityu.edu.hk
Twitter: @kitkwok6
Dr. Kit Kwok obtained his B.Sc. in Chemistry (2009) from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) under supervision of Professor Sik Lok Lam, during which his fascination with nucleic acids research was nurtured. To broaden his research experience, Dr. Kwok embarked on an exchange program at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2007-2008, where he worked under the guidance of Professor Juli Feigon (member, NAS), which paved way for his acceptance into the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) in 2009 for an enriching Ph.D program mentored by Professor Philip C. Bevilacqua and Professor Sarah M. Assmann. During the course of his Ph.D studies, Dr. Kwok co-developed the first in vivo transcriptome-wide and targeted structure probing methods (Structure-Seq and DMS/SHAPE-LMPCR) that enable robust and sensitive measurement of RNA structures in vivo, which resulted in publications in Nature, Nature Communications, and Nature Protocols, and earned him the Alumni Association Dissertation Award in 2014. In 2014, Dr. Kwok commenced on a postdoctoral fellowship as a Croucher Fellow in University of Cambridge. He worked with the internationally recognized leader in nucleic acids research and the principal inventor of next-generation sequencing (Solexa Sequencing), Professor Sir Shankar Balasubramanian FRS FMedSci. Dr. Kwok conducted novel research on exploring the structures and functions of RNA G-quadruplexes in the human transcriptome, which resulted in publications in Nature Methods and Angewandte Chemie. In October 2016, Dr. Kwok's joined the faculty team at the City University of Hong Kong (CityU), where he is embarking on research in chemistry and biology of nucleic acids. See Research for more details.
To cultivate a stimulating learning environment for students and to promote RNA sciences in Hong Kong, Dr. Kwok, together with Dr. Minh Le, founded the Hong Kong RNA Club in Aug 2017. With the generous support from RNA society and industrial sponsors, the Hong Kong RNA Club is a platform that gathers local RNA scientists who are fascinated about RNA, and hosts RNA seminar/symposium events that feature reputable RNA scientists around the globe. See HK RNA Club for more details.
Professional History
2016-now Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, City University of Hong Kong
2014-2016 Croucher Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Chemistry & CRUK, University of Cambridge (Mentor: Prof. Sir Shankar Balasubramanian)
Education
2009-2014 Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University (Mentors: Prof. Philip C. Bevilacqua and Sarah M. Assmann)
2007-2008 Exchange student, University of California, Los Angeles (Mentor: Prof. Juli Feigon)
2005-2009 B.Sc., Chinese University of Hong Kong (Mentor: Prof. Sik Lok Lam)
Awards and Honors
2017 Royal Society Kan Tong Po International Exchange Fellowship
2016 RNA Society Travel Award
2015 Selected Young Scientist Participant for the 65th Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting
2014 Inventor Incentive Award, PSU
2014-2016 Hong Kong Croucher Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship
2014 Alumni Association Dissertation Award, PSU
2013 Eugene and Jane Apple Science Graduate Fellowship, PSU
2012, 2013 Graduate Student Travel Award, PSU (3 times)
2009 Braddock Graduate Fellowship, PSU
2008 Lau Oi Wah Oversea Exchange Memorial Scholarship, CUHK
2008 Yasumoto International Exchange Scholarships, CUHK
2007, 2009 The Swire Scholarship, John Swire & Sons (Hong Kong) Limited (2 times)
2007 The Highest Class Award (>200 h community service), Hong Kong Community Youth Club
2007 Dr. James C. N. Ma Memorial Scholarship, CUHK
Fundings
Jan 2019 - Dec 2021 General Research Fund Scheme, RGC HK (1,214,676 HKD)
Jan 2018 - Dec 2021 NSFC/RGC Joint Research Scheme, RGC HK (1,214,000 HKD)
Jan 2018 - Dec 2020 Early Career Scheme, RGC HK (1,017,961 HKD)
Educational Grant, RGC HK (50,000 HKD)
May 2017 - Nov 2018 CityU Teaching Start-Up Grant, CityU HK (100,000 HKD)
Dec 2016 - Nov 2018 CityU Start-Up Grant, CityU HK (199,856 HKD)
Nov 2016 - Oct 2021 Croucher Start Up Grant, Croucher Foundation (500,000 HKD)
Nov 2016 - Oct 2018 Vice-President Research & Technology Grant, CityU HK (1,009,926 HKD)