Molecular evolution and phylogenetics

My research interests:
  1. Molecular evolution and phylogenetics
  2. Molecular adaptation in extreme environments
  3. Molecular coevolution, e.g., between host and parasite, between interacting protein partners, between mRNA and translation machinery, etc.
  4. How natural selection and mutation shapes the translation machinery and diverse lineages from viruses to mammals achieve efficient translation initiation and elongation with different adaptations
  5. Developing bioinformatic tools for genomic sequence analysis
  6. I am recruiting PhD and MSc students
My favourite creatures:
  1. Viruses
  2. Prokaryotic species, especially eubacterial species
  3. Unicellular eukaryotes, especially yeasts
  4. Mitochondria
  5. Eukaryotic model organisms
Our sources of funding:
  1. USA National Science Foundation Grant DEB95-27583. 1996-1999 (Co-PI, Molecular Studies of Cospeciation in a Host-Parasite Assemblage ).
  2. CRCG grant from the University of Hong Kong 1996-1997, (PI, Effect of DNA methylation on the codon and nucleotide substitution patterns of protein genes.).
  3. CRCG grant from the University of Hong Kong 1997-1998 (PI, Molecular approaches to the study of toxin-producing Pseudonitzschia species in Hong Kong waters.)
  4. CRCG grant from the University of Hong Kong 1998-1999 (PI, What Amino Acid Properties Affect the Evolution of Genetic Code and Protein Genes? .)
  5. RGC grant from Hong Kong Research Grant Council 1997-1999 (PI, The effect of ribonucleotide concentration on codon usage bias of mitochondrial and nuclear genomes of mammalian species ).
  6. CRCG grant from the University of Hong Kong 2000-2001 (PI, Developing integrated computer software for data analysis in molecular biology and evolution.)
  7. CRCG grant from the University of Hong Kong 2000-2001 (PI, Protein structure, neighbour effects, and amino acid dissimilarity. .)
  8. RGC grant from Hong Kong Research Grant Council 2000-2002 (PI, The effect of DNA methylation on codon substitution and codon usage bias. )
  9. RGC grant from Hong Kong Research Grant Council 2000-2002 (PI, Effects of GC content and mutational pressure on exon length .)
  10. NSERC Discovery Grant, 2003-2005. (PI, DNA methylation and the evolution of Mycoplasma genomes)
  11. NSERC Strategic Grant, 2003-2006. (Co-PI, The Goldfish Environmental Genomics Project)
  12. NSERC Discovery Grant, 2005-2010. (PI, Evolutionary genomics: a bioinformatic approach)
  13. NSERC RTI Grant, 2005-2007. (PI, Computational infrastructure for integrative data analysis in bioinformatics)
  14. NSERC Strategic Grant, 2007-2009. (Co-PI, FLUSHING FERTILITY DOWN THE DRAIN: Integrative investigation of the negative effects of Canadian pulp and paper mill effluents on fish reproduction)
  15. NSERC Discovery Grant, 2010-2013. (PI, Evolutionary genomics: a bioinformatic approach)
  16. NSERC Discovery Grant, 2013-2018. (PI, Evolution and optimization of the translation machinery)