Hong Xiang Ng
DPhil Student
Research interest:
I have joined the Barnes group under the supervision of both Prof Ellie Barnes and Dr Gerardo Montalvo as a DPhil student in Clinical Medicine at the University of Oxford, funded by the A*STAR National Science Scholarship (PhD). My research primarily focuses on leveraging novel vaccine strategies to develop next-generation vaccines for flaviviruses. I am currently working on establishing a novel in vivo virus-like particle (VLP) platform that is modular and adaptable across multiple orthoflaviviruses. In parallel, I apply bioinformatics approaches to identify pan-orthoflavivirus T cell epitopes to inform the design of broadly protective vaccines. Through this work, I aim to enhance the understanding of fundamental immunological mechanisms underlying protective immunity and viral clearance, with the goal of enabling rational design of vaccines with improved efficacy, durability and safety.
Background:
I hold a BSc (Hons) in Life Sciences and Public Health from the National University of Singapore (NUS), where I specialised in biomedical sciences. My honours research focused on antiviral discovery for Enterovirus D68, establishing a high throughput drug screening platform alongside molecular assays to elucidate mechanisms of action. This work led to the identification of a potential broad-spectrum antiviral, previously approved for other indications, that targets the viral translational machinery and subsequently earned me the Singapore Society for Microbiology and Biotechnology Medal and Prize.
Prior to my PhD studies, I undertook a research stint at the A*STAR Infectious Diseases Labs, where I worked on virological systems development, including the design of influenza virus reporter platforms for antiviral screening using reverse genetics and the principles of viral replication biology. This work involved close collaboration with A*STAR Genome Institute of Singapore and NUS and contributed to ongoing efforts in Cas13-gRNA-based antiviral strategies and host-virus interaction targeting.