Profile

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Henson Lee Yu

    • About Me:

      I grew up in the Philippines and i’m a biomedical scientist currently based at the University of Cambridge. When I’m at home cooking or doing chores, i can’t help seeing the science in everything 🙂

    • Read more

      I did my undergraduate and master’s degree in Chemistry, then did my PhD in Chemical and Biological Engineering, my first postdoctoral experience in Chemical Pathology, and now in Oncology. I have been moving from one department to another but it just goes to show that the lines between the “traditional” fields of sciences has blurred.

      Coming from the Philippines, I am also passionate in rooting for those under-represented populations (especially ethnically and socio-economically) to pursue and excel in the sciences.

    • My pronouns are:

      he/him

    • My Work:

      I use DNA from tumours to understand what makes early prostate cancers different from healthy ones. We are looking for novel cancer markers in their DNA and we hope to find those markers in the blood of these patients. In the future, we hope to design a blood-test to detect early cancers.

    • My Typical Day:

      I think what i like about being a scientist is that there’s no “typical” day — there are days we have to process cancer samples and blood in the lab, and there are days we sit in front of the computer making sense of the loads of information we get from the patient’s sample. Of course there are lots of times where we discuss our science with colleagues (but we can’t help talking about hobbies and current events and anything under the sun too!).

    • What I'd do with the prize money:

      I first enjoyed science because of the magic that science brings. So, I would like to hold a chemistry magic show for students. We will also take time to explain the science behind the tricks so you can do them too (and amaze your friends!). Some are common household materials, although some would need “specialized” chemicals from laboratories.

      We have done this a lot in the Philippines and you can read about our experience and the impact of this activity from our publication: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c01333 (you may email me for access as well).

       

    CV

    • Education:

      I took up a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Chemistry at the Ateneo de Manila University (in the Philippines), then did my PhD in Chemical and Biological Engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

    • Work History:

      After obtaining my master’s degree, I taught Chemistry and Biochemistry at the same university I graduated in (Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines) for 5 years. At the same time, i was also a moderator of the chemistry students’ organization during that period.

      Then, I left for my PhD studies. After my PhD, I did my first postdoctoral fellowship at the Chinese University of Hong Kong at the Department of Chemical Pathology. Before moving to my current job at the University of Cambridge.

    • Current Job:

      Research Associate

    • Employer:

      Early Cancer Institute, Department of Oncology, University of Cambridge

    • My Interview

      • What did you want to be after you left school?

        a teacher

        Were you ever in trouble at school?

        for being too noisy during class (can't really stop talking, can i?)

        If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?

        in a development sector kind of work

        What's your favourite food?

        seafood (shrimps and scallops)

        How would you describe yourself in 3 words?

        passionate, driven, joyful

Questions answered by Henson

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