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KOH Chong Lek

 
Current Appointment Sub-Dean, Graduate Academic Programmes (Research Higher Degrees), Graduate Programmes and Research Office
Associate Professor
 
Office NIE7-03-118D
 
Telephone (65) 6790 3374
 
Fax (65) 6896 9414
 
Email chonglek.koh@nie.edu.sg
 
Academic Background BSc (Hons) University of Malaya, Malaysia
MSc University of Malaya, Malaysia
PhD University of London, UK
DIC Imperial College of Science & Technology, UK
 
Professional Organisations Fellow, Academy of Sciences Malaysia (FASc)
Fellow, Malaysian Scientific Association (FMSA)
Founder Member, Asia-Pacific International Molecular Biology Network (A-IMBN)
Life member, Malaysian Society for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
Life member, Genetics Society of Malaysia
Member, The Singapore Institute of Biology
 
       
  Profile CL Koh joined the National Institute of Education in December 2004 after retiring as a professor at the Institute of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Among the awards that he had received are the inaugural "MSMBB-Applied Biosystems Award" (2001) from the Malaysian Society for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology; the "1996 Science & Technology Award" from the Malaysia Toray Science Foundation; the 2000 MACEE Fulbright Malaysian Scholar Program Award from the Malaysian-American Commission on Educational Exchange; and the inaugural Royal Society Malaysian Fellowship in 1988/89 from the British High Commission, Malaysia. He provides human individual identification service (e.g., rape and paternity cases) based on DNA typing of both chromosomal and mitochondrial genes to the general public in Malaysia since 1993. He used DNA typing to confirm the identity of some of the victims after the collapse of the Highland Tower Condominium in Kuala Lumpur in 1993/94 and identify nine badly burnt victims of the Tawau plane crash, Sabah, in 1995. He was a member of the team that discovered that Malaysian Island flying-foxes are the natural animal reservoir of Nipah virus. The team included SK Lam and KB Chua, who discovered Nipah virus. The team also determined the nucleotide sequences of Nipah virus isolates from humans and bats.
 		  
  Courses AAB103 General Microbiology
AAB104 Current Genetics
ASK301 Topics in Biological Science for Primary Science Teaching
DSS100 Selected Topics for Primary Science Teaching (Biological Science)
QSS502 Topics in Biological Science for Primary Science Teaching
INS2077/TRAISI 40578 GCE O-Level Biology: Molecular Genetics, Hands-on Workshop
  		 
  Research Interests Genetics and molecular biology of humans, bacteria, and viruses; metagenomics; bioethics; biosafety
  		 
       
  Professional Activities
  1. 1998 to now: Member of the Founding Governing Council of the Asia-Pacific International Molecular Biology Network
  2. Member of the International Advisory Board of the 21st IUBMB and 12th FAOBMB International Congress of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology ‘Biomolecules for Quality of Life’, 2-7 Aug 2009, Shanghai, China, International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB)
  3. Co-chairman, Organizing Committee, 9th A-IMBN Conference and 16th MSMBB Scientific Meeting, 4-5 Sep 2006, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Asia-Pacific International Molecular Biology Network and Malaysian Society for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
  4. Member of the International Advisory Board of the 20th IUBMB and 11th FAOBMB International Congress of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology ‘Life: Molecular Integration & Biological Diversity’, 18-23 Jun 2006, Kyoto, Japan, International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB)
  5. 1994 to 2004: The Malaysian Representative of the National Point of Contact (NPCR) of the UNESCO Regional Network for Microbiology and Microbial Biotechnology in Southeast Asia
  6. The Malaysian Government Representative to the Third Session of the Intergovernmental Bioethics Committee (IGBC) on 23-24 June 2003 at UNESCO House in Paris, France
  7. 1995 to 2004: Member of the National Genetic Manipulation Advisory Committee, Ministry of Science, Technology and the Environment, Malaysia
  8. 1999 to 2000, 2002 to 2008: Chairman, Dr. Ranjit Bhagwan Singh Memorial Lecture Organising Committee ( Academy of Sciences Malaysia)
  9. Chairman of the International Organizing Committee of the 7th Asian Conference on Transcription (ACT-VII), 23-27 July 2002, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
  10. 1996 to 2001: Executive Secretary, UNESCO Regional Network for Microbiology and Microbial Biotechnology in Southeast Asia
  11. 1993 to 1997: President of the Malaysian Society for Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
  12. 1993 to 1998: Co-Editor, Asia-Pacific Journal of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology
     
 
  Theses Supervised Completed — 11 PhD and 34 Masters (at the University of Malaya)  
       
  Selected Publications    
       
 
  1. Chan K.G., Yin W.F., Sam C.K., and Koh C.L. (2009) A novel medium for the isolation of N-acylhomoserine lactone-degrading bacteria, Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology 36: 247-251.
  2. Ng K.K.S., Lee S.L., Saw L.G., Plotkin J.B., and Koh C.L. (2006) Spatial structure and genetic diversity of three tropical tree species with different habitat preferences within a natural forest. Tree Genetics & Genomes 2: 121-131.
  3. Lian L.H. and Koh C.L. (2006) Genetic polymorphisms of two Y chromosome markers (DYS287 and DYS385) in a Kadazan-Dusun population sample from East Malaysia. Malaysian Applied Biology 35: 37-42.
  4. Lian L.H. and Koh C.L. (2005) Genetic polymorphisms in mitochondrial DNA hypervariable regions I, II and III of the Malaysian population . Asia Pacific Journal of Molecular Biology & Biotechnology 13: 79-85.
  5. Kong K.F., Jayawardena S.R., Indulkar S.D., del Puerto A., Koh C.L., Høiby N., and Mathee K. (2005) Pseudomonas aeruginosa AmpR is a global transcriptional factor that regulates expression of AmpC and PoxB β-lactamases, proteases, quorum sensing, and other virulence factors. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy 49: 4567-4575.
  6. Cha P.C., Yamada R., Sekine A., Nakamura Y., and Koh C.L. (2004) Inference from the relationships between linkage disequilibrium and allele frequency distributions of 240 candidate SNPs in 109 drug-related genes in four Asian populations. Journal of Human Genetics 49: 558-572.
  7. Chan Y.P., Koh C.L., Lam S.K., and Wang L.F. (2004) Mapping of domains responsible for nucleocapsid protein-phosphoprotein interaction of henipaviruses. Journal of General Virology 85: 1675-1684.
  8. Ng K.K.S., Lee S.L., and Koh C.L. (2004) Spatial structure and genetic diversity of two tropical tree species with contrasting breeding systems and different ploidy levels. Molecular Ecology 13: 657-669.
  9. Chua K.B., Koh C.L., Hooi P.S., Wee K.F., Khong J.H., Chua B.H., Chan Y.P., Lim M.E., and Lam S.K. (2002) Isolation of Nipah virus from Malaysian Island flying-foxes. Microbes and Infection 4, 145-151.
  10. Chan Y.P., Chua K.B., Koh C.L., Lim M.E., and Lam S.K. (2001) Complete nucleotide sequences of Nipah virus isolates from Malaysia. Journal of General Virology 82: 2151-2155.
  11. Yong S., Yusuf R., Koh C.L., Cheah S.C., and Ooi L.C.L. (1999) Partial nucleotide sequence of an oleosin cDNA from Elaeis guineensis Jacq. Journal of Oil Palm Research (Special Issue), October 1999, 18-23.
  12. Fong M.Y., Koh C.L., and Lam S.K. (1998) Molecular epidemiology of Malaysian dengue 2 viruses isolated over twenty-five years (1968-1993). Research in Virology 149: 457-464.
  13. Honda K., Nakatome M., Tun Z., Sakurada M., Koh C.L., Lim M.E., Misawa, S., and Wakasugi C. (1997) A variation map based on nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial DNA control regions of Asian populations. Advances in Research on DNA Polymorphisms (Ed. ISFH Hakone Symposium Program Committee), (ISBN 4-88595-202-6), Toyoshoten Co. Inc., Tokyo, p. 180-183.
  14. Koh C.L., Nakatome M., Honda K., Tun Z., Lim M.E., Sam C.K., and Wakasugi C. (1997) Genetic polymorphism in the 3’ flanking untranslated region of the human dopamine transporter gene (DAT1) in 105 Chinese in Malaysia. Advances in Legal Medicine 3, (Ed. C. Wakasugi) (ISBN 4-9900614-3-8), Osaka, Japan, p. 215-219.
  15. Koh C.L., Lim M.E., Ng H.S., and Sam C.K. (1997) D1S80 (pMCT118) allele frequencies in a Malay population sample from Malaysia. International Journal of Legal Medicine 110: 39-40.
  16. Fong M.Y., Koh C.L., Samuel S., Pang T., and Lam S.K. (1994) Nucleotide and encoded amino acid sequences of the nonstructural protein NS1 genes of three Malaysian dengue 2 viruses. Asia-Pacific Journal of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology 2: 361–367.
  17. Cao H.H., Mukherjee T.K., and Koh C.L. (1994) A study of restriction fragment length polymorphisms on some sheep breeds. Acta Veterinaria et Zootechnica Sinica 25: 406–411.
  18. Cheong K.F., Koh C.L., and Chew N.P. (1994) Isolation and restriction analysis of chloroplast DNA from Hevea. Journal of Natural Rubber Research 9: 1278–288.
  19. Koh C.L. and Benjamin D.G. (1994) HLA-DQα genotype and allele frequencies in Malays, Chinese, and Indians in the Malaysian population. Human Heredity 44: 150–155.
 
     

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