Chee Kai Chan MEd, PhD.
Dr Chee Kai Chan completed his BSc and MEd from the National University of Singapore. For his PhD he worked under the supervision of Prof David Jans at the John Curtin School of Medical Research at the Australian National University (1995-2000). His project was on nuclear transport, employing novel nuclear localisation signal peptides to enhance gene delivery. He went on to a A*STAR Post-doctoral Fellowship at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore under the mentoring of Professor Wade Gibson working on a project using of Bacteria Artificial Chromosomes to generate mutants of Human cytomegalovirus. He returned to Singapore to be an Assistant Professor at the Nanyang Technological University at the National Institute of Education. He subsequently moved to be a lecturer at the Department of Genetics at the La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, in 2003 until 2014.
During his time in La Trobe University, he lectured in a number of courses including 1st year Genetics, 2nd and 3rd year Human and Molecular Genetics, 2nd and 3rd year Medical Genetics for Medical Science students and Masters in Biotechnology. He was a course coordinator for Human and Molecular Genetics for 2nd year, a Post-graduate Coordinator of the Department of Genetics, a member of the School Teaching and Learning Committee of the School of Molecular Sciences. He was also a member of the University Genetic Manipulation Supervisory Committee and an executive member of the Food For Life Research Committee in La Trobe.
He has a passion for Human and Medical Genetics Education. For his contribution to Teaching and Learning he received the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology Citation Award in 2007.
He was also active as a Genetics Director in an Australian based company called Fitgenes Pty Ltd from 2008-2014 where he presently remains as a consultant on the company’s Scientific Advisory Committee.
Research Interests
Dr Chan’s research focus is 2 fold
1) Enhancing gene therapy, gene and drug delivery for treatment of beta thalassemia and cancer
We are working to develop novel non-viral gene delivery vectors and strategies to enhance mitochondrial and nuclear delivery for gene therapy. To test for the effectiveness and usefulness of these novel gene delivery strategies we have chosen beta-thalassemia and cancer as disease models.
We have also investigated the use of various polymeric nanoparticle encapsulation strategies and the use of ultrasound to improve non-invasive and targeted delivery of therapeutic drugs, genes and artificial chromosome to treat and to correct genetic defects.
2) Nutrigenomics. The interaction between micronutrients as genetic regulators and key genes that impact various aspects of mental health and metabolic disease.
In this era in which the accessibility and cost of having our genomes sequenced is within the reach of medical research labs, we are now poised to take advantage of this to look at how genetic and epigenetic changes can lead to alterations in gene expression at the personal level and at the community level. We are now able to ask questions as to how these variations can be modulated by micronutrients and lifestyle changes and more importantly what the consequences are for health and diseases. At the translational level we are looking at the interaction of nutrition and lifestyle changes with an individual’s genetic variation in the context two aspects of health and disease
1) mental health and diseases such as Autism and Alzheimer’s
2) metabolic syndrome such as diabetes.
We are also interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms of such interactions and we are using the advantages of the zebrafish as a powerful model to provide us with valuable clues to address our hypotheses. The zebrafish has several crucial and relevant advantages, its rapid growth and development, ease in maintenance. Moreover, its close homology to the genetics, organ and tissue level to humans, its transparency at its embryonic stage allows for tractable observation at the cellular level in vivo. As such it is able to provide a model that is extremely useful to us in addressing questions regarding molecular mechanisms and in the understanding, the treatment and the progress of health and diseases.
International collaborations:
Beta-globin switching during embryonic stem cell differentiation
In collaboration with La Trobe’s Dr Adam Hart and Dr Jim Vadolas at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne Australia, we are investigating the various molecular mechanisms that regulate the embryonic switch from gamma-globin gene expression to beta-globin with the objective of finding ways to compensate for the loss of beta-globin in adult thalassemia patients.
Sports and nutrigenomics. Together with Dr Regina Belski, Dr Michael Kingsley of La Trobe University, and other collaborators we are looking at how caffeine supplements impact performance and recovery of team sports such as football as well as individual sports such as cycling.
Obesity and metabolic diseases. A continuing collaboration examining various aspects of nutrition impacting obesity, diabetes.
Alzheimer’s and nutrigenomics-We have an initiated a trial looking at nutrition, epigenetics and the delay in the progress of dementia and Alzheimer’s using bioactive nutrients with Prof Ralph Martins and Kathryn Goozee in Sydney.
Families in transition: Parental perspectives of support and services for children with autism in Kazakhstan.An, S., Chan, C., Kaukenova, B.,
2018 In : International Journal of Disability, Development and Education.
First year medical students' learning style preferences and their correlation with performance in different subjects within the medical courseHernández-Torrano, D., Ali, S., Chan, C.,
2017 In : BMC Medical Education. 17, 1,
Evidence of Evolutionary Constraints That Influences the Sequence Composition and Diversity of Mitochondrial Matrix Targeting SignalsDoyle, S., Kasinadhuni, N., Chan, C., Grant, W.,
2013 In : PLoS One. 8, 6,
CSF-1 Receptor-Dependent Colon Development, Homeostasis and Inflammatory Stress ResponseHuynh, D., Akçora, D., Malaterre, J., Chan, C., Dai, X., Bertoncello, I., Stanley, E., Ramsay, R.,
2013 In : PLoS One. 8, 2,
Enhanced annealing of mismatched oligonucleotides using a novel melting curve assay allows efficient in vitro discrimination and restriction of a single nucleotide polymorphismDoyle, S., Chan, C., Grant, W.,
2011 In : BMC Biotechnology. 11,
Preparation of Cu2ZnSnS4 films by electrodeposition using ionic liquidsChan, C., Lam, H., Surya, C.,
2010 In : Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells. 94, 2, p. 207-211
Growth of copper zinc tin sulfide nano-rods by electrodeposition using anodized aluminum as the growth maskChan, C., Lam, H., Leung, K., Surya, C.,
2009 In : Journal of Nonlinear Optical Physics and Materials. 18, 4, p. 599-603
Growth of copper indium disulfide nano-rods using anodized aluminum nano maskLam, H., Zhang, Z., Chan, C., Chen, Z., Surya, C., Zhu, C., Wong, K.,
2009 Next-Generation and Nano-Architectured Photovoltaics. 1121, p. 77-81
Electrodeposition of CU2ZnSnS4 thin films using ionic liquidsChan, C., Lam, H., Wong, K., Surya, C.,
2009 Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings - Photovoltaic Materials and Manufacturing Issues. 1123, p. 105-109
Cu2ZnSnS4 thin films prepared by ionic liquid electrodepositionChan, C., Lam, H., Surya, C.,
2009 2009 14th OptoElectronics and Communications Conference, OECC 2009.
Growth and characterization of cu2znsns4 nanostructures using anodized aluminum as the growth maskChan, C., Chen, Z., Lam, H., Surya, C.,
2009 Nanoscale Photonic and Cell Technologies for Photovoltaics II. 7411,
Colony Stimulating Factor-1 Dependence of Paneth Cell Development in the Mouse Small IntestineHuynh, D., Dai, X., Nandi, S., Lightowler, S., Trivett, M., Chan, C., Bertoncello, I., Ramsay, R., Stanley, E.,
2009 In : Gastroenterology. 137, 1,
Development of pluronic micelle-encapsulated doxorubicin and formaldehyde-releasing prodrugs for localized anticancer chemotherapyUgarenko, M., Chan, C., Nudelman, A., Rephaeli, A., Cutts, S., Phillips, D.,
2009 In : Oncology Research. 17, 7, p. 283-299
Mitochondrial gene therapy: An evaluation of strategies for the treatment of mitochondrial DNA disordersDoyle, S., Chan, C.,
2008 In : Human Gene Therapy. 19, 12, p. 1335-1348
Application of low-frequency noise measurement as a characterization tool for laser-assisted debonding of GaN-based devicesChan, C., Pilkuhn, M., Surya, C.,
2007 Noise and Fluctuations - 19th International Conference on Noise and Fluctuations, ICNF 2007. 922, p. 147-152
Differential intracellular distribution of DNA complexed with polyethylenimine (PEI) and PEI-polyarginine PTD influences exogenous gene expression within live COS-7 cellsDoyle, S., Chan, C.,
2007 In : Genetic Vaccines and Therapy. 5,
Oncogenic properties of HIV-tat in colorectal cancer cellsHuynh, D., Vincan, E., Mantamadiotis, T., Purcell, D., Chan, C., Ramsay, R.,
2007 In : Current HIV Research. 5, 4, p. 403-409
DC characterization of laser-debonded GaN HEMTsChan, C., Leung, K., Pilkuhn, M., Surya, C., Yue, T., Pang, G., Schweizer, H.,
2007 In : Physica Status Solidi (A) Applications and Materials Science. 204, 3, p. 914-922
High-resolution X-ray diffraction study of laser lift-off AlGaN/GaN HEMTs grown by MOCVD methodLeung, K., Chan, C., Fong, W., Pilkuhn, M., Schweizer, H., Surya, C.,
2007 In : Journal of Crystal Growth. 298, SPEC. ISS, p. 840-842
Enhancement of extraction efficiency in laser-debonded GaN light emitting diodesChan, C., Yue, T., Surya, C., Ng, A., Djurišić, A., Scholz, F., Liu, C., Li, M.,
2006 2005 IEEE Conference on Electron Devices and Solid-State Circuits, EDSSC. p. 479-482
Electrical and structural studies of laser-debonded GaN light emitting diodesLeung, K., Chan, C., Yue, T., Surya, C.,
2006 COMMAD'06 - Proceedings of the 2006 Conference on Optoelectronic and Microelectronic Materials and Devices. p. 98-100
Study of laser-debonded GaN LEDsChan, C., Gao, J., Yue, T., Surya, C., Ng, A., Djurišić, A., Liu, P., Li, M.,
2006 In : IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices. 53, 9, p. 2266-2271
Erratum: Characterizations of low-frequency noise in laser-debonded hvpe-grown GaN thin films? (Fluctuations and Noise Letters (2004) 4:3 (L437-L445))Chan, C., Leung, B., Loke, Y., Man, H., Yue, T., Xiu, X., Zhang, R., Surya, C.,
2006 In : Fluctuation and Noise Letters. 6, 3,
Study of laser-debonded GaN light emitting diodesChan, C., Yue, T., Surya, C., Ng, A., Djurišić, A., Liu, C., Li, M.,
2006 Materials Research Society Symposium Proceedings. 892, p. 257-262
Low-frequency excess noise characterizations of laser-assisted de-bonded GaN filmsChan, C., Leung, B., Fong, W., Lai, P., Loke, Y., Surya, C., Yue, T., Man, H., Xiu, X., Zhang, R.,
2005 In : Applied Surface Science. 252, 4, p. 1049-1056
Cleavage of human cytomegalovirus protease pUL80a at internal and cryptic sites is not essential but enhances infectivityLoveland, A., Chan, C., Brignole, E., Gibson, W.,
2005 In : Journal of Virology. 79, 20, p. 12961-12968
Characterizations of low-frequency noise in laser-debonded hvpe-grown GaN thin filmsChan, C., Leung, B., Loke, Y., Man, H., Yue, T., Xiu, X., Zhang, R., Surya, C.,
2004 In : Fluctuation and Noise Letters. 4, 3,
Study of low-frequency noise in GaN-on-Si films obtained by laser-assisted debondingChan, C., Lai, P., Leung, B., Yue, T., Surya, C.,
2003 In : Proceedings of SPIE - The International Society for Optical Engineering. 5113, p. 328-341
Low-frequency noise in laser-debonded GaN filmsChan, C., Leung, B., Loke, Y., Man, H., Yue, T., Surya, C.,
2003 2003 IEEE Conference on Electron Devices and Solid-State Circuits, EDSSC 2003. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., p. 83-86
Characterizations of laser-assisted debonded GaN filmsChan, C., Leung, B., Yue, T., Man, H., Surya, C.,
2003 Proceedings of the 6th Chinese Optoelectronics Symposium, COES 2003. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., p. 150-153
Using nuclear targeting signals to enhance non-viral gene transferChan, C., Jans, D.,
2002 In : Immunology and Cell Biology. 80, 2, p. 119-130
Cytomegalovirus assemblin (pUL80a): Cleavage at internal site not essential for virus growth; proteinase absent from virionsChan, C., Brignole, E., Gibson, W.,
2002 In : Journal of Virology. 76, 17, p. 8667-8674
Enhancement of MSH receptor- and GAL4-mediated gene transfer by switching the nuclear import pathwayChan, C., Jans, D.,
2001 In : Gene Therapy. 8, 2, p. 166-171
Supramolecular structure and nuclear targeting efficiency determine the enhancement of transfection by modified polylysinesChan, C., Senden, T., Jans, D.,
2000 In : Gene Therapy. 7, 19, p. 1690-1697
Synergy of importin α recognition and DNA binding by the yeast transcriptional activator GAL4Chan, C., Jans, D.,
1999 In : FEBS Letters. 462, 1-2, p. 221-224
Plant importin α binds nuclear localization sequences with high affinity and can mediate nuclear import independent of importin βHübner, S., Smith, H., Hu, W., Chan, C., Rihs, H., Paschal, B., Raikhel, N., Jans, D.,
1999 In : Journal of Biological Chemistry. 274, 32, p. 22610-22617
Enhancement of polylysine-mediated transferrinfection by nuclear localization sequences: Polylysine does not function as a nuclear localization sequenceChan, C., Jans, D.,
1999 In : Human Gene Therapy. 10, 10, p. 1695-1702
Signals mediating nuclear targeting and their regulation: Application in drug deliveryJans, D., Chan, C., Huebner, S.,
1998 In : Medicinal Research Reviews. 18, 4, p. 189-223
Mutual exclusivity of DNA binding and nuclear localization signal recognition by the yeast transcription factor GAL4: Implications for nonviral DNA deliveryChan, C., Hübner, S., Hu, W., Jans, D.,
1998 In : Gene Therapy. 5, 9, p. 1204-1212
Effects of low-energy back surface gettering on the properties of 1/f noise in n-channel nitrided MOSFETsSurya, C., Wang, W., Fong, W., Chan, C., Lai, P.,
1997 p. 59-62
Properties of Si-SiO2 interface traps due to low-energy Ar+ backsurface bombardment in n-channel nitrided MOSFETsSurya, C., Wang, W., Fong, W., Chan, C., Lai, P.,
1996 p. 77-80
Effects of Ar+ back-surface gettering on the properties of flicker noise in n-channel nitrided MOSFETsSurya, C., Wang, W., Fong, W., Chan, C., Lai, P.,
1996 In : Solid-State Electronics. 39, 11, p. 1577-1580