Dr. YUK FAI LEUNG

Associate Professor
765-496-3153
LILY 2-236
yfleung@purdue.edu

Associated website(s):

LeungLab , PULSe , Zebrafish Information Network , ZeBase , Publications

PROFESSIONAL FACULTY RESEARCH

(Development and Disease) Drug discovery for retinal degeneration

BIO

Drug discovery for retinal degeneration

Retinal degeneration is a group of inherited eye diseases including retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration that impair our vision. Although much has been learned about the molecular basis of these diseases, they are still incurable. To expedite discovery of new drugs for these diseases, our group at Purdue University studies zebrafish retinal-degeneration models.

We are currently focused in two research directions:

1. Rapid drug discovey for retinal degeneration

2. Gene network for disease and drug action

Please visit our lab website for the most updated information.

Present appointments

2016–present Affiliate Faculty Member, Purdue Institute for Integrative Neuroscience, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
Aug 2014–present Associate Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
October 2013–present Scientific Advisory Board Member, The Han Institute, West Lafayette, IN, USA
May 2013–present Affiliate Faculty Member, Purdue Center for Drug Discovery, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
March 2012–present Visiting Professor, Shantou University Medical College, Shantou, China
March 2012–present Scientific Advisor to Post-graduate Research, Joint Shantou International Eye Center of Shantou University and The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shantou, China
May 2011–present Adjunct Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Indiana University School of Medicine—West Lafayette, West Lafayette, IN, USA
2010–present Affiliate Faculty Member, Purdue Oncological Sciences Center, West Lafayette, IN, USA

Previous appointments

Jan 2008–Aug 2014 Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA

Education

Ph.D., Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, 2002
M.Phil., Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong, 1998
B.Sc., Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong 1996

Awards

2019 Awarded by the first-year medical students at the Indiana University School of Medicine—West Lafayette, Class of 2022 for his effective teaching.
2018 Outstanding Professor of Basic Science Award, Indiana University School of Medicine, Class of 2018.
2017 Awarded by the first year medical students at the Indiana University School of Medicine—West Lafayette, Class of 2020 for his effective teaching.
2015 Favorite Faculty Award, Purdue University
2014 J. Alfred and Martha Chiscon Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching, Department of Biological Sciences, Purdue University
2014 Best Lecturer Award, selected by the first year medical students at the Indiana University School of Medicine—Lafayette
2011 International Travel Grant Award, Purdue Research Foundation
2009-2010 Hope for Vision Award
2009-2010, 2010-2011 Showalter Research Trust Award

Other Activities

External reviewer for the following research grants:

2020 Career Development Award, Medical Research Council, United Kingdom
2009, 2018 Research Grant, Medical Research Council, United Kingdom
2016–present Health and Medical Research Fund, the Food and Health Bureau, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
2015 Indiana Brain and Spinal Cord Injury Research Fund
2014 The Biotechnology Research Grant, the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, NC, USA
2011 Bank of America Jeffress Research Grant, Thomas F. and Kate Miller Jeffress Memorial Trust, USA
2007 University Research Fund, Research Council, University of Leuven, Belgium

Professional service—Editor:

Nov 2019–present Associate Editor in Molecular Medicine-A specialty section of Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology.
2017–2019 Co-Editor, Research Topic—“CRISPR Gene Editing in Relation to Eye Diseases and Development”, Frontiers for Cell and Developmental Biology
Oct 2015–present Associate Editor of Genetic Disorders, a specialty section of Frontiers in Pediatrics and Frontiers in Genetics
Sep 2015–Nov 2019 Associate Editor of Systems Biology, a specialty section of Frontiers in Neuroscience, Frontiers in Physiology, Frontiers in Psychiatry, Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology and Frontiers in Genetics.
Sep 2015–Nov 2019 Associate Editor of Bioinformatics and Computational Biology, a specialty section of Frontiers in Genetics, Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology and Frontiers in Plant Science.
2015–present Review Editor, Frontiers in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (a specialty section of Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, and Genetics)
2012–present Scientist Advisory Board Member, The National High School Journal of Science
2012–present Editorial Board Member, PLOS ONE

Professional service—National Steering Committee

11–12 September 2017 NIH Workshop: Zebrafish and Other Aquatic Models: Description of Extrinsic Environmental Factors for Rigorous Experiments and Reproducible Results, NIH, MD, USA.

Professional service—Conference Organizer/Moderator/Chair

5 May 2021 Special Interest Group “High-throughput assays in zebrafish for eye research and drug discovery”, 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, USA (Organizer and Chair)
6 May 2020 Special Interest Group “High-throughput assays in zebrafish for eye research and drug discovery”, 2020 ARVO Annual Meeting, Baltimore, MD, USA (Organizer and Chair) (Conference cancelled due to COVID-19)
22–23 May 2017 Chinese University of Hong Kong Ophthalmic Research Centre Joint Symposium, Hong Kong
3 May 2015 Photoreceptor Session I, 2015 ARVO Annual Meeting, Denver, CO, USA (invited)

Ad hoc reviewer for the following journals:

Bioinformatics, BMC Bioinformatics, BMC Developmental Biology, BMC Genomics, Biomolecules, Briefings in Bioinformatics, Cell Chemical Biology, CNS & Neurological Disorders—Drug Targets, Development, Developmental Biology, Experimental Eye Research, Expert Opinion for Drug Discovery, Eye and Vision, FEBS Letters, G3: Genes, Genomes, Genetics, Gene Expression Patterns, Genetics, IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, International Journal of Developmental Neuroscience, Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, Journal of Anatomy, Journal of Neuroscience, Journal of VLSI Signal Processing, Journal of Real Time Imaging, Molecular Biotechnology, Molecular Therapy Nucleic Acids, Molecular Vision, Neurobiology of Disease, Physiological Genomics, PLOS Genetics, PLOS ONE, Protein & Cell, Science of the Total Environment, Scientific Reports, Stem Cell Research, Thrombosis Research.

Teaching:

2016–Present Lecturer, MED-X630, Molecules to Cells and Tissues (for medical students), Indiana University School of Medicine—West Lafayette, West Lafayette, IN, USA
2015 BIOL69600 Graduate Seminar Course—Genome Editing: Applications, Opportunities, and Societal Impacts
2009–Present BIOL 36700 & 36701—Principles of Developmental Biology (Lecture and Lab)
2009–2016 LCME 504—Molecular Cell Biology for Indiana University School of Medicine—West Lafayette