Dr Ho Weang Kee, a researcher at the University of Nottingham Malaysia and a collaborating scientist of Cancer Research Malaysia was recognised as a 2018 Rising Talents at the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science award held in Paris on 4 March 2018.
Last October she received the L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science National Fellowship and subsequently qualified to enter the L’Oreal-UNESCO For Women in Science award at a global level.
As one of 15 promising female scientists selected from the 275 national and regional fellows of L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science programme, “I am deeply honoured and humbled to receive this award. My work is only possible because of the collaborative efforts from large team of researchers. This is really an award for everyone in the team. I would like to thank my colleagues and collaborators from the University and Cancer Research Malaysia for their support.” Dr Ho said.
“In South East Asia, the breast cancer survival rate at five years after diagnosis can go down to as low as 49%, compared to 89% in Western countries. The collaborative project, which brings together Cancer Research Malaysia, University of Cambridge, University Malaya, National University of Singapore and University of Nottingham Malaysia, aims to develop a model that could help to identify high-risk Malaysian women,” Dr Ho explains.
Dr Ho’s expertise as a statistician helped her to formulate breast cancer risk assessment tools that factor in common mutated genes to create a profile of women who may be at higher risk of developing the disease, in the form of targeted mammography screening. The project is also funded by the Newton-Ungku Omar fund through the Medical Research Council, UK and Academy of Science Malaysia.
According to University of Nottingham Malaysia Provost and CEO Professor Graham Kendall, “We are a world-leading research university that has led groundbreaking research in the invention of MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) and Dolly the sheep, so we are proud to live up to this legacy with promising researchers such as Weang Kee, whose research has the potential to save the lives countless of Malaysian women”.
-ends-
More information is available from Dr Ho Weang Kee on weangkee.ho@nottingham.edu.my or Josephine Dionisappu, PR & Communications Manager at University of Nottingham Malaysia on josephine.dionisappu@nottingham.edu.my, +6 (03) 8924 8746.
Notes to editors:
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Posted on 29th March 2018