Professor Kan Yuet-Wai conferred HKUST Honorary Doctorate Degree in Science

Professor Yuet-Wai KAN, Senior Member of the Hong Kong Academy of Sciences, Louis K. Diamond Chair in Hematology and Professor Emeritus at the University of California San Francisco, was conferred the Doctor of Science honoris causa from the Hong Kong University Science and Technology.

Professor Kan is an internationally renowned pioneer of human genetics.  He was the first Chinese to be elected to be a Fellow of the Royal Society.  In 2004, he was awarded the Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine for his discoveries on DNA polymorphism and the influence on human genetics.

Professor Kan was the first scientist to discover that a single DNA mutation could result in a human disease.  He was also the first scientist to apply DNA testing to diagnose human diseases.  He discovered DNA polymorphism, which has now been extensively used in genetic analysis.

In recognition of Professor Kan’s research output over the years and his tremendous contributions to the field of medicine, he was elected as members to many learned societies.