Nancy Ip

Nancy Ip is one of the world’s leading neuroscientists, and is the vice president of research and development, the Morningside Professor of Life Science, and director of the State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. She has published more than 260 papers and holds more than 40 patents, and is known for her research into neural development and function, and in particular her work searching for medicines to treat neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s—identifying rhynchophylline, derived from the Chinese medicinal herb cat’s claw, as a potential treatment.

She previously worked in the US, for DNA fingerprinting company Lifecodes Corporation and biotech company Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, before joining the university in 1993, where she previously worked as dean of science, director of the Biotechnology Research Institute, and head of the Biochemistry Department. She is a member of the World Academy of Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Hong Kong Academy of Sciences and the US National Academy of Sciences, and a member of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council. She is also the holder of a Bronze Bauhinia Star, and a JP.