Maria Li LungProf. Lung is currently the Chair Professor in the Department of Clinical Oncology, The University of Hong Kong. She is also the Director of the Area of Excellence Center for Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (NPC) Research and the Laboratory of Cancer Molecuar Genomics. She has been studying the contributions of host genetics and Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) infection to the development of the cancer. She published extensively on EBV genotypes associated with NPC. Her early studies on the molecular genetic basis of NPC utilized functional approaches to complement defects in NPC cell lines, resulting in identification of critical regions and then candidate tumor suppressor genes contributing to the development of these tumors. More recently, using next-generation sequencing (NGS) approaches, she has contributed to our understanding of the basis for genetic susceptibility to NPC in familial and early-age onset cases. Whole-exome sequencing was also utilized to determine the molecular landscape of genetic alterations in NPC. She is currently the Director of an Area of Excellence group grant that established a Center for NPC Research focusing on basic, translational, and clinical research. This AoE grant includes several universities and public hospitals and basic, translational, and clinical research efforts focus on the importance of NPC in Hong Kong. She is also the Founding Co-Chair of the Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Gordon Research Conference that hosts international meetings on different aspects of NPC every other year. Her international stature in NPC research is well-established as evidenced by her invitations to NPC meetings and as a guest editor for the April 2012 Seminars in Cancer Biology issue on "Unlocking the Rosetta stone enigma for NPC: genetics, viral infection, and other environmental factors." Read More Read Less