The University of Macau’s (UM) Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) Associate Professor Henry Kwok Hang Fai has been elected fellow of the UK’s Royal Society of Chemistry and the Royal Society of Biology for his contributions to chemical and biomedical sciences, according to a statement from the public university.

The two societies are among the most “prestigious and authoritative” academic institutions worldwide and award fellowships to scientists “who have made outstanding and influential contributions to their fields in research or for the benefit of society” each year, the statement noted.

Prof. Kwok is also the chair of the Advisory Committee of Biological Imaging and Stem Cell Core in the FHS, a University of Cambridge visiting mentor and International Society on Toxinology standing committee member, the statement said. He is also the editor-in-chief of Biology, an editor of Expert Reviews in Molecular Medicine, and a guest editor of Seminars in Cancer Biology.

He has been involved in biomedical and chemical research for many years and is dedicated to “the discovery and development of peptide-based/antibody-based prototype drugs”, according to the statement.

The term “peptide” refers to “a class of organic compounds consisting of various numbers of amino acids in which the amine of one is reacted with the carboxylic acid of the next to form an amide bond,” according to Wiktionary.

The statement added that he has expanded his research over the years in chemical-based immunosensor and immunoassay development for cancer diagnostics and biomarker identification/validation and has published over 120 papers in SCI-indexed journals with a high impact factor, including Molecular Cancer, Drug Resistance Updates, International Journal of Biological Sciences, among others.

The statement said that Prof. Kwok has been granted seven patents for research accomplishments such as developing a new inhibitory antibody named A9(B8) IgG, “which targets tumour necrosis factor α converting enzyme (TACE/ADAM17)” with his research team and has recently unveiled a novel concept on designing a “bioactive venom-based peptide as a potent and specific anticancer prototype drug template named Gonearrestide (P13)”. 

This undated handout photo provided by the University of Macau (UM) yesterday shows Associate Professor Henry Kwok Hang Fai posing at the public local university’s Faculty of Health Sciences.