Jia Min LOO, 卢嘉敏

Associate Director @ Hengrui Pharma

About

My research interest is to understand and identify new opportunities for therapeutic intervention in diseases of unmet need. Together with leveraging real-world evidence based target discovery methods, I have employed unbiased screening approaches coupled with in vivo modelling at physiologically relevant sites to investigate novel targetable mechanisms underlying disease biology. With extensive experience in cancer biology and more recently cardiovascular diseases, my work had led to a first-in-class novel therapeutic currently in PhII clinical trials in metastatic cancer. I am comfortable embracing new knowledge, technologies and platforms to achieve desired outcomes. Through the course of my scientific career, I have mentored interns, students and postdoctoral scientists and led diverse teams in a cohesive manner to achieve goals in a timely fashion and within budget. I believe strongly in open communication and people development and that diversity in background and opinions, when channeled appropriately, can lead to extraordinary achievements. I do not shy away from challenges and have been willing to step out of my comfort zone to challenge myself, with the mindset that we should always seek to broaden our knowledge gaps. Outside of the sciences, I devote time to understanding how current affairs affect the global economy and financial markets.

Country

Singapore

City

Singapore

Industry

Research

Skill

Cardiovascular Disease, Cancer Research, Life Sciences, Mouse Models, GraphPad Prism, Microsoft Office, Molecular Biology, Cell Culture, Cell Biology, Microsoft Excel

Experience

Associate Director

Hengrui Pharma

2025-1 - Present · 1 yr 9 mos

Singapore, Singapore

Senior Director

Nuevocor

2023-4 - 2024-12 · 1 yr 9 mos

Singapore, Singapore

Principal Scientist

Nuevocor

2022-10 - 2023-4 · 7 mos

Senior Scientist

Nuevocor

2022-7 - 2022-10 · 4 mos

Singapore, Singapore

Senior Research Fellow

Genome Institute of Singapore

2021-4 - 2022-7 · 1 yr 4 mos

Research Fellow

A*STAR Genome Institute of Singapore (A*STAR GIS)

2015-10 - 2021-4 · 5 yrs 7 mos

Singapore

Scientific Highlights • A team player in the precision oncology effort at GIS, helped to develop patient-derived cell-lines for phenotypic drug screens. • Led the development of models to study colorectal cancer metastasis using patient-derived cell-lines. • Led the development of chemoresistant models in colorectal cancer. • Led genome-wide CRISPR screens for novel mediators of cancer therapy resistance and metastasis. • Engineered molecularly and optically barcoded cancer cell-populations to study changes in cancer cell populations after a selective pressure. Administrative Responsibilities • Recruited, mentored and managed research officers, doctoral students, undergraduates and interns. • Handled grant writing and reports for Principal Investigator and collaborators. • Secured and managed personal research grants and projects. • Oversaw IACUC protocols writing and animal-work related matters for the laboratory. • Engaged interested stakeholders and initiate new collaborations for the laboratory

Research Officer

Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology

2007-7 - 2008-6 · 1 yr

Singapore

• Assisted with cell culture, molecular biology and biochemical experiments involving phosphatases in colorectal cancer metastasis.

Education

The Rockefeller University

Systems Cancer Biology

2008 - 2016 · 8 yrs

Helmsley Graduate Fellow Advisor: Dr. Sohail Tavazoie • Investigated microRNAs and genes involved in colorectal cancer metastasis. • Developed models of pancreatic and colorectal cancer metastasis. • Generated models of breast cancer chemoresistance. • Performed genome-wide shRNA and miRNAs screens. • Won and managed personal research grants.