CUHK
News Centre

At its meeting held today (27 September), the Council of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) unanimously approved the appointment of Professor Dennis Lo Yuk-ming as the ninth Vice-Chancellor and President of CUHK for a period of five years from 8 January 2025. The CUHK Council expressed gratitude to Professor Rocky S. Tuan, the outgoing Vice-Chancellor and President, for his leadership and dedicated service over the past seven years.

In announcing the new appointment, Professor John Chai Yat-chiu, Chairman of the CUHK Council, said: “We are pleased to welcome Professor Dennis Lo Yuk-ming as our new Vice-Chancellor and President. Professor Lo’s remarkable academic accomplishments have garnered him a prestigious international reputation. He has served in multiple key positions at CUHK, including serving as Associate Dean of the Faculty of Medicine since 2002, along with leadership roles at various external institutions, such as President of the Hong Kong Academy of Sciences. His extensive administrative experience and networks enable him to effectively steer the University’s development, and foster communication and collaboration between the Council and the University’s management team to enhance good governance. Professor Lo is also known for his humility and kindness, earning deep respect from both teaching members and students. Under Professor Lo’s leadership, CUHK is set to make substantial advancements in academics, research, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Professor Lo will lead the University to open a new chapter and realise the University’s vision.”

He added: “In addition to his commitment to nurturing exceptional talents and meeting social expectations, Professor Lo will leverage the University’s strengths to actively support Hong Kong’s innovation and technology development. He aims to further enhance the University’s research and innovation capabilities, contributing to Hong Kong’s development as an innovation and technology centre and an international hub for high-calibre talents.”

Professor Lo remarked: “I am deeply honoured to serve as the ninth Vice-Chancellor and President of CUHK. CUHK is not only a globally acclaimed comprehensive research university with a unique college system but also an institution where I have served for 27 years. I am sincerely thankful for the Council’s support and trust. Building on the foundations laid by my predecessors, I look forward to further enhancing the University’s strengths in research and innovation, enabling CUHK’s academic achievements to have a greater impact internationally. At the same time, CUHK will continue to embrace the humanistic spirit and dedicate itself to nurturing generations of well-rounded ‘CUHKers’ with integrity and capability, serving both the country and Hong Kong. I look forward to collaborating closely with the Council and the management team to elevate the University to new heights.”

Pioneer of non-invasive cancer detection and prenatal testing

Professor Lo is globally renowned as a pioneer, innovator, and leader in liquid biopsy, and is known as the “father of non-invasive prenatal testing”. He is the Director of the Li Ka Shing Institute of Health Sciences, the Li Ka Shing Professor of Medicine and Professor of Chemical pathology of CUHK. He is also the Associate Dean (Research) of CUHK Faculty of Medicine. Professor Lo received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Cambridge. He then moved to the University of Oxford where he pursued his clinical medical training. Following qualification, he further obtained his Doctor of Philosophy and Doctor of Medicine degrees from Oxford.

Professor Lo joined CUHK in 1997. In the same year, he reported the presence of cell-free fetal DNA in maternal plasma, laying the important foundation for non-invasive DNA-based prenatal testing. He and his colleagues have been instrumental in making non-invasive DNA-based prenatal testing a clinical reality. The non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT) they developed for Down syndrome is regarded as a significant breakthrough by the global scientific community, and has been widely adopted in over 100 countries. Every year approximately 10 million pregnant women worldwide benefit from NIPT. Furthermore, Professor Lo has developed genome-wide genetic and epigenetic approaches that facilitate the early detection of multiple types of cancer, propelling cancer liquid biopsy into the era of genome-wide analysis. He and his team have successfully developed technologies that allow for their detection and clinical applications.

In recognition of his work, Professor Lo has received numerous international honours and awards. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2011 and an International Member of the US National Academy of Sciences in 2013. He received the 2014 King Faisal International Prize for Medicine and became the first Chinese scientist to be honoured with the American Association of Clinical Chemistry (AACC) Wallace H. Coulter Lectureship Award in 2015. In 2016, Professor Lo was selected as the winner of the inaugural Future Science Prize in Life Science, which is regarded as China’s Nobel Prize. In the same year, he was named the Thomson Reuters Citation Laureate in Chemistry, an honour considered as a predictive index of the Nobel Prize. He was also the first Chinese recipient of the Fudan-Zhongzhi Science Award in 2019. In 2021, he received the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, widely known as the “Oscars of Science”, and became the first Chinese scientist to receive the Royal Medal in biological sciences from the Royal Society of London. In 2022, Professor Lo was awarded the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award, widely regarded as the US’s top biomedical research prize. In 2023, he was elected as a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and received the inaugural Tengchong Science Award. This year, he became the first Chinese scholar to receive the prestigious Jiménez Díaz Lecture Award.

Welcome from the current CUHK Vice-Chancellor and President

Professor Rocky S. Tuan, CUHK Vice-Chancellor and President extended his heartiest welcome to this significant appointment and said: “Professor Dennis Lo is a world-leading biomedical researcher who has made groundbreaking contributions to improving health and wellness. Over the last many years, I have had the pleasure of collaborating with Dennis on various initiatives, and have witnessed his visionary thinking and insightful planning. I am confident that he will guide the University to reach new heights, while upholding its unique legacy and commitment to excellence.”

Selection arrangements

In February 2024, the Council established the Search Committee for the Appointment of the University’s Vice-Chancellor and President. With the assistance of a search consultancy firm, the Search Committee commenced a global search for CUHK’s next leader. Four consultation sessions were held in April 2024 to gather views from the University community. Having taken account of the views of University members and given careful and thorough consideration to all applications, the Search Committee decided to recommend Professor Lo for the position.

Professor Lo, in his capacity as a Vice-Chancellor and President candidate, met with Council members, senior management, students, staff, and alumni on 25 and 26 September, sharing his visions and engaging in discussions on a wide range of topics that are of concern to the University community. According to the University’s statute, Professor Lo is appointed as the Vice-Chancellor and President by resolution of the Council passed by the votes of not less than three-fourths of the whole membership of the Council for the time being.