Professor Dennis Lo receives prestigious awards
Professor Lo completely changed thinking on prenatal diagnosis by discovering that it was possible to pick up an unborn baby’s DNA and RNA in cell-free form from maternal blood. This development created a paradigm shift in prenatal medicine.
He was able to elucidate the fundamental biology of this phenomenon. He then developed multiple prenatal tests based on this technology that are now in widespread use around the world, including tests that allow robust prenatal and noninvasive testing for trisomy 21 — the chromosomal disorder responsible for Down Syndrome. More recently, Professor Lo has shown that the foetal genome, methylome, and transcriptome can all be sequenced from maternal blood.
The Future Science Prize, considered to be the Chinese version of the Nobel Prize, is the first private science prize in China. Established in 2016 through the joint efforts of mainland scientists and private donors, the prize is divided into two categories: Life Sciences and Physical Sciences. Professor Lo will be recognised for his far-reaching contributions in the field of prenatal medicine.
The Thomson Reuters Citation Laureates are researchers whose scientific advances have earned quantifiable esteem and wielded unusually strong influence in the scientific community. According to Thomson Reuters, 14 research papers published by Professor Lo have been cited over 6,000 times since 1997. He ranks in the top 0.1% by citations in his research area.
Professor Lo was elected to the trusteeship of the Croucher Foundation in 2013.
To view Professor Lo’s personal Croucher profile, please click here.
For more information on this year’s Thomson Reuters Citation Laureates, please click here.
For more information on the Future Science Prize, please click here.