Dr. Anskar YH Leung is a clinical professor and Assistant Dean (Platform Technologies)
in the LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong (HKU). He received a joint
PhD/MBChB (Hons) from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1996 and obtained
specialist qualification in haematology and haematological oncology in 2004. He was
awarded Li Shu Fan Medical Foundation Endowed Professorship in Haematology in
2014 and is currently fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in London, Glasgow and
Edinburgh. Since 2003, he has established a zebrafish laboratory and xenogeneic
transplantation platform in HKU as well as the AML clinical registry and sample archive
at Queen Mary Hospital, Hong Kong. His zebrafish laboratory is now incorporated in
the Faculty Core Facility and mouse colonies deposited in the Laboratory Animal Unit in
the Faculty accessible to all members in the Faculty. His laboratory is also providing
molecular tests of prognostic value for AML patients territory-wide.
The research of Dr. Leung focuses on developmental haematopoiesis in zebrafish
embryos, its relevance to human acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and leukaemia initiating
cells (LIC) as well as translational and clinical research in AML and haematopoietic stem
cell transplantation (HSCT). He has published 130 original articles in Blood, Leukemia,
Nature, Clinical Infectious Diseases, Developmental Biology and Experimental
Hematology. More recently, his research team demonstrated the role of flt3 in
myelopoiesis and HSC specification during zebrafish embryonic hematopoiesis and
established a high throughput zebrafish model of human FLT3-ITD (Internal Tandem
Duplication) AML. He has also conducted a phase II clinical trial of a multi-kinase
inhibitor sorafenib in chemo-refractory FLT3-ITD AML, a disease of hitherto dismal
prognosis, and established the mechanisms of drug resistance, a major limitation of
FLT3 inhibitors in clinical application.
In summary, Dr. Leung has demonstrated his dedication to basic, translational and
clinical research, his administrative ability and his commitment to serve the scientific and
clinical community in experimental haematology.