Dr Wong Ka Ho, Danny

Biography

Danny Wong is currently a Research Assistant Professor at the Department of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong. He received his B.Sc. in Biochemistry at The University of Manitoba and M.Sc. in Microbiology at The University of British Columbia. In 2004, he received his Ph.D. in Medicine at The University of Hong Kong and was awarded the Dr. KP Stephen Chang Gold Medal for the best PhD thesis. Since then he has begun his career in hepatitis B virus (HBV) research. He has published more than 90 peer-reviewed articles, and one book chapter in the book titled "Hepatitis B Virus" (2nd edition, International Medical Press) His research focuses on various aspects of HBV and chronic hepatitis B disease. He is one of the pioneers in the research of the quantitative measurement of HBV covalently closed circular DNA (cccDNA). He has profiled the HBV cccDNA levels during the natural history of chronic hepatitis B disease, as well as in patients receiving treatment and patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). These studies provided a comprehensive understanding of HBV replication in various disease stages. He also identified that over 70% of patients with unknown cause of HCC in Hong Kong had occult HBV infection, highlighting the importance of occult HBV as a cause of HCC. He is also engaged in prominent research into quantitative hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) detection and the phenomenon of HBsAg seroclearance, illustrating the virological and biochemical profile of patients with spontaneous or treatment-induced HBsAg seroclearance, as well as the risk of HCC development in these patients. In addition, his group has identified several host and viral factors which are associated with HBsAg seroclearance

Research Interest

molecular virology of HBV, regulation of HBV replication, monitoring of response to antiviral therapy, and factors associated with occult HBV infection and HCC, are now in progress