Having the privilege to join the Inaugural Hong Kong Laureate Forum in 2023, I am immensely grateful to the HKLF for the wonderful opportunities to present my research and interact with world-renowned scientists. Though the flash presentation session of the Inaugural HKLF, I learned to present my research in a precise and concise manner, which will greatly benefit my future scientific career. Also, through the great networking opportunity provided by the HKLF, I was privileged to be one of the guest speakers for the Young STEAM Talent Award Presentation Ceremony and got the chance to witness the vibrant research projects done by local secondary school students. Subsequently, I was invited to be one of the judges for this year’s Young STEAM Talent Award. HKLF is indeed a great platform to connect scientists across generations. From established laureates to young scientists like me, and from me to budding scientists in secondary schools, we were all connected by this amazing platform. I cannot wait to embark on another exciting journey with this year’s HKLF so that I can learn from prominent scientists and share my scientific interest with other young scientists and the next generation.

My research interests lie in the biology of cell-free nucleic acids and their application to the development of novel molecular diagnostics, with the current focus on cancer liquid biopsy. Recently, with my colleagues, we utilized third-generation sequencing technologies and revealed a previously unexplored population of long cell-free DNA molecules in the plasma of cancer patients, thereby opening new possibilities in liquid biopsy. Further to this study, we are investigating into the biological properties of long cell-free DNA molecules, with the aim of enhancing the understanding of cfDNA and facilitating the development of new diagnostic approaches.