Richie Soong's Biography

Richie Soong, Senior Principle Investigator, National University of Singapore

Born and bred in Australia, Richie Soong graduated with a PhD from the Department of Surgery at The University of Western Australia with a thesis on the clinical relevance of p53 alterations. He then spent one year at Tan Tock Seng Hospital in Singapore before moving to Roche Diagnostics in Penzberg, Germany. At Roche, he was involved in developing systems and applications for the LightCycler (real-time PCR) instrument, including technology for efficient multiplex PCR and reliable low-level molecule detection. Richie then joined the faculty at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and expanded his research to pharmacogenetics, fluoropyrimidines and DNA methylation under the mentorship of Robert Diasio. Coming to Singapore in 2004, Richie is now a Senior Principal Investigator (Cancer Science Institute of Singapore) and a Research Associate Professor (Department of Pathology) at the National University of Singapore. He is also the Chief of the Centre for Translational Research and Diagnostics (CTRAD), which combines the largest biosample repository in Singapore, a USD$4 million translational research laboratory and two clinical molecular diagnostics centres to provide a unique centre for translating cutting-edge research and delivering diagnostics and therapeutics in the region.