Professor Chun Kit Kwok, Associate Professor from the Department of Chemistry, has been awarded the 2024 RNA Society Early-Career Research Award. He is the first Hong Kong scientist awarded in this early-career category and the only Chinese among all awardees this year.

Established in 2016 by the RNA Society, this award recognises outstanding accomplishments by an RNA (Ribonucleic acid) researcher within the first 7 years of their career as an independent investigator. RNA Society described Professor Kwok’s work in elucidating the role of RNA structure and interactions in biology, especially the function of G-quadruplexes in regulating gene expression, together with contributions in organising the Hong Kong RNA Club, as “exceptional”.

“Their recognition of the Hong Kong RNA Club is of special meaning to me,” shared Professor Kwok, the Club’s co-founder. Recognising Professor Kwok as “an emerging leader in the RNA research community”, the RNA Society includes him as a member. Professor Kwok is invited to attend the Society’s 2024 Annual Meeting, which will be held from May 28 to June 2 in Edinburgh, Scotland.

RNA Society is a non-profit international scientific society with more than 1800 members dedicated to fostering research and education in the field of RNA science.

Congratulations to Professor Kwok on being selected for this prestigious award!