Ong Choon Nam

Prof Ong graduated from Nanyang University with a Bachelor of Science in 1972. Nursing a lifelong passion for all matters related to Life Sciences, it was hardly surprising that he elected to major in the subject, whilst at varsity. Prof Ong went on to obtain his Masters of Science from the University of London, which was followed by his doctorate degree from the University of Manchester in 1977.Currently, he is the Director for the Life Sciences Institute of NUS and a Professor at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine.Through the course of his career, which spanned over three decades, Prof Ong has made significant contributions to the understanding of Xenobiotics and Carcinogenesis. In particular, he was able to highlight how Carcinogens can cause cellular and DNA damage, and what could be done to prevent that. He has published over 250 papers in international peer-reviewed journals, and in 2002, was awarded the AstraZeneca-American Toxicology Society award.His expertise has also been much sought after by the World Health Organisation. He has been invited to serve as a Consultant on many occasions and was involved in 12 of its Health Criteria publications. Prof Ong has been an Associate Editor of Environmental Research since 1995, and is currently an editorial board member of Carcinogenesis.He sits on the advisory board of several international journals and enjoys a keen presence in China. He was a Visiting Professor at several Chinese universities, including Fudan University, Sun Yet-Sen Medical University and Nanjing Medical University. He also serves as a Scientific Advisor of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control. Closer to home, Prof Ong collaborates with colleagues at the Institute of Advanced Studies at NTU.