Founding Members

Brief Introduction

Dr the Honourable Tsui Lap-Chee, world-renowned molecular biologist, President of the Victor and William Fung Foundation and Master of the Residential College of International Campus of Zhejiang University. He is also the Emeritus University Professor of University of Toronto.

He obtained his Bachelor and Master degrees in Biology from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and his PhD in Biological Sciences from the University of Pittsburgh in 1979.

Dr Tsui received international acclaim in 1989 when he identified the defective gene that causes cystic fibrosis, which is a major breakthrough in human genetics. He has also made significant contributions to the study of the human genome, especially the characterization of chromosome 7, and identification of additional disease genes. His work paved the Human Genome Project and the HapMap Project. Dr Tsui has over 300 peer-reviewed scientific publications and 65 invited book chapters. He has served on the editorial boards of 24 international peer-reviewed scientific journals, numerous scientific review panels, and many national and international advisory committees.

Dr Tsui has also made great contribution to university education. During his tenure as the Vice-Chancellor of The University of Hong Kong (HKU) from 2002 to 2014, he led the University through a series of unprecedented governance and management reforms, human resource reforms, and strategic developments in research, teaching and learning, and knowledge exchange with society. Dr Tsui worked tirelessly to enlist support for HKU from University members and friends, and encourage philanthropy for higher education in the community. He also provided his expertise to the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong for many years.

Dr Tsui was the Founding President of the Hong Kong Academy of Sciences (2015-2022).

Prior to his appointment at HKU, Dr Tsui was Geneticist-in-Chief and Head of the Genetics and Genomic Biology Program of the Research Institute at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. He was also the holder of the H E Sellers Chair in Cystic Fibrosis and University Professor at the University of Toronto.

Dr Tsui is the recipient of many national and international awards, including the 2019 Association of Chinese Geneticists in America Lifetime Achievement Award in Genetics and the 2018 Warren Alpert Foundation Prize. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Royal Society of London and Academia Sinica. He is also an International Member of the National Academy of Sciences (USA), a Foreign Member of The Chinese Academy of Sciences and a Canadian Medical Hall of Fame Laureate. His other awards include 16 honorary doctoral degrees from prestigious universities around the world, the Orders of Canada and Ontario and Knighthood of the Légion d'Honneur of France. Dr Tsui was appointed Justice of the Peace in 2001, and awarded the Gold Bauhinia Star and the Grand Bauhinia Medal by the Hong Kong SAR Government in 2011 and 2016 respectively.



December 2022