Doctor WAI Yee Yan Christine
CUHK Employment
Research Assistant Professor, Department of Paediatrics, CUHK
Phone Number
+852 3763 6135
Biography
Dr. Christine Wai graduated from The Chinese University of Hong Kong with first class honours in Biology in 2010 and awarded her Ph.D. in Biology in 2015. She then pursued postdoctoral training at the School of Life Sciences and Department of Paediatrics at the same University. Dr. Wai’s research focuses on the field of food allergy, specifically in designing diagnostic platforms and novel therapies, defining disease pathogenesis and immunotherapy mechanisms. Dr. Wai’s research has made novel contributions to the field, including the design of novel vaccines for shrimp allergy treatment and discovery of biomarkers for fish and shrimp allergy diagnosis that led to four US non-provisional patents. Dr. Wai was one of the 17 awardees worldwide and the only one in Asia of the AXA Post-Doctoral Fellowship to conduct a project on elucidating the efficacy and modulatory mechanism of next generation DNA vaccines.
Education
2015 Ph.D. in Biology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
2010 B.Sc. in Biology (First Class Honour), The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Research Interest
Allergy
- Non-invasive diagnosis of food allergy
- Immunotherapeutic vaccines development
- Bioinformatic analysis of food allergy and immunotherapy
Specialisations
Food Allergy
Qualifications
PhD
Awards and Honours
- Travel Scholarships, European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology Congress 2023, Hamburg, Germany
- “For the next generation Project” award, JSA/WAO Joint Congress 2020, Kyoto, Japan
- Impact Postdoctoral Fellowship, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2019
- Young Investigator Award, KAAACI-KAPARD-WPAS-INTERASMA Joint Congress 2019, Seoul, South Korea
- EAACI Congress Scholarship, European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology Congress 2019, Lisbon, Portugal
- International Travel Grant, American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology Annual Meeting, San Francisco, California, USA, 2019
- AXA Research Fund Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2017-2019
- Best Abstract Award, European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology Congress 2017, Helsinki, Finland
- Young Investigator Award, KAAACI-WPAS-INTERASMA Joint Congress 2017, Seoul, South Korea
- Postdoctoral Fellowship, Faculty of Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2016
- Outstanding Abstract Award, XXIV World Allergy Congress, Seoul, Korea, 2015
- Dr. Ch’ien Mu Postgraduate Scholarship, New Asia College, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2015
- Best Paper Award, Asia Pacific Congress of Allergy, Asthma and Clinical Immunology, Taipei, Taiwan, 2013
- Dean’s List, Faculty of Science, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010, 2009
Patent
- US Non-provisional Patent (US15173467, filed on 2016-06-03), Mimotopes for use in immunotherapy for shellfish and/or arthropod allergy
- US Non-provisional Patent (US10303165, filed on 2019-05-25), Met e 1 tropomyosin variants for use in allergen-specific immunotherapy
- US Non-provisional Patent (US16/588,517, filed on 2020-06-18), Improved accuracy of fish allergy diagnosis using grass carp allergens
- US Non-provisional Patent (US17/335,602, filed on 2021-06-01), Diagnostic markers for shrimp allergy
- Discovery and registration of “Allergen structure of Pen m 13 (fatty acid-binding protein [FABP]) of Penaeus monodon” in the WHO/IUIS Allergen Nomenclature Database and accepted as a new shrimp allergen with the name Pen m 13.0101; PubMed accession number GEUQ01011817.1 on 28 Oct 2019
- Discovery and registration of “Allergen structure of Pen m 8 (triosephosphate isomerase [TIM]) of Penaeus monodon” in the WHO/IUIS Allergen Nomenclature Database and accepted as a new shrimp allergen with the name Pen m 8.0101; PubMed accession number GEUQ01011817.1 on 28 Oct 2019
- Discovery and registration of “Allergen structure of Pen m 14 (glycogen phosphorylase [GP]-like protein) of Penaeus monodon” in the WHO/IUIS Allergen Nomenclature Database and accepted as a new shrimp allergen with the name Pen m 14.0101; GenBank Nucleotide number OM156460 on 4 Feb 2022
- Discovery and registration of “Allergen structure of Pen m 7 (hemocyanin [GP]) of Penaeus monodon” in the WHO/IUIS Allergen Nomenclature Database and accepted as a new shrimp allergen with the name Pen m 7.0101; GenBank Nucleotide number JF357966.1 on 27 Aug 2021
Publications
10 Selected Publications:
- Wai CYY, Leung NYH, Leung ASY, Fusayasu N, Sato S, Xu KJY, Yau YS, Rosa Duque JSD, Kwan MYW, Cheng JWCH, Chan WH, Chua G, Lee QU, Luk DCK, Ho PK, Wong JSC, Lam ICS, Wong GWK, Ebisawa M, Leung TF. Differential patterns of fish sensitization in Asian populations: implication for precision diagnosis. Allergology International (in press) [IF=7.478]
- Wai CYY, Leung NYH, Leung ASY, Ngai SM, Pacharn P, Yau YS, Rosa Duque JSD, Kwan MYW, Jirapongsananuruk O, Chan WH, Chua GT, Lee QU, Piboonpocanun S, Ho PK, Wong JSC, Li S, Xu KJY, Wong GWK, Chu KH, Leung PSC, Vichyanond P, Leung TF. Comprehending the allergen repertoire of shrimp for precision molecular diagnosis of shrimp allergy. Allergy 2022; 77: 3041-3051 [IF=14.71]
- Wai CYY and Leung PSC. Emerging approaches in the diagnosis and therapy in shellfish allergy. Current Opinion in Allergy and Clinical Immunology 2022; 22: 202-212 [IF=3.142]
- Wai CYY, Leung NY, Leung ASY, Shum Y, Leung PS, Chu KH, Kwan YW, Lee QU, Wong JS, Lam IC, Li PF, Xu KJ, Lam CY, Sun JL, Wong GW, Leung TF. Cell-based functional IgE assays are superior to conventional allergy tests for shrimp allergy diagnosis. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice 2021; 9: 236-44 [IF=11.022]
- Leung ASY, Leung NYH, Wai CYY, Xu KJY, Lam MCY, Shum YY, et al. Characteristics of Chinese fish-allergic patients: Findings from double-blind placebo-controlled food challenges. Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology: In Practice. 2020; 8: 2098-100. [IF=11.022]
- Wai CYY, Leung NYH, Leung PSC, Chu KH. Modulating shrimp tropomyosin-mediated allergy: hypoallergen DNA vaccines induce regulatory T cells to reduce hypersensitivity in mouse model. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 2019; 20: 4656. [IF=6.208]
- Wai CYY, Leung NYH, Leung PSC, Chu KH. Immunotherapy of food allergy: a comprehensive review. Clinical Reviews in Allergy & Immunology 2019; 57: 55-73 [IF=8.667]
- Tong WS, Yuen AWT, Wai CYY (co-corresponding author), Leung NYH, Chu KH, Leung PSC. Diagnosis of fish and shellfish allergies. Journal of Asthma and Allergy 2018; 11: 247-260. [IF=4.258]
- Leung NYH, Wai CYY, Ho MHK, Liu R, Wang JJ, Shu S, Chu KH, Leung PSC. Screening and identification of mimotopes of the major shrimp allergen tropomyosin using one-bead-one-compound peptide libraries. Cell & Molecular Immunology 2017; 14: 308-318. [IF=11.53]
- Wai CYY, Leung NYH, Leung PSC, Chu KH. T cell epitope immunotherapy ameliorates allergic responses in a murine model of shrimp allergy. Clinical & Experimental Allergy 2016; 46: 491-503. [IF=5.018] (Included in the Editor-in-Chief Editorial of Volume 46, Issue 3 of the journal; see http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cea.12716/full)