Associate Professor HO Han Kiat
BSc (Pharm) (Hons), National University of Singapore
PhD (Med Chem), University of Washington
DABT, Diplomate of the American Board of Toxicology
Department of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, National University of Singapore
18 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543
Tel: +65 6516 7963
Fax: +65 6779 1554
Email: phahohk@nus.edu.sg
Research Website
Teaching Activities in NUS
- PR4207 Applied Pharmacokinetics and Toxicokinetics
- FSC4203 Forensic Toxicology and Poisons
- UBM2201 Hormesis and Life
Research Interests
(1) Chronic liver diseases- from fatty liver to cancer
Our group focuses on understanding and addressing the critical events that regulate the progression of chronic liver diseases into liver cancer. Building on the expertise of characterizing mutations and expression profiling of various tyrosine kinases in cancer tissues, the same endeavor is now extended laterally to consider their impact in preneoplastic events like fibrosis and fatty liver. Notable kinases are being evaluated for their suitability as drug targets for chemotherapeutic development. In more recent years, we further explore the risks and benefits of applying both organic and inorganic nanomaterials as disease modifiers, as well as to explore their intrinsic potential to support drug delivery into the liver, liver regeneration and anti-fibrosis. The techniques we employ include but are not limited to high-throughput sequencing, mutation analysis, immunoassays and other biochemical assay development. We perform target characterization on a subset of these targets to better understand the biochemical basis for their effects on host cells. Besides these, we engage in preclinical work through extensive collaborations with clinicians who provide us with clinical samples so that we can correlate our in vitro findings with patient information, in order to determine the clinical relevance of our work.
(2) Drug and chemical-induced liver injury
A second research emphasis looks at the mechanism and manifestation of drug-induced liver toxicities. Work includes mechanistic studies on drug distribution and metabolism, and the consequential generation and accumulation of toxic metabolites. Collective information of chemically similar compounds is applied for structural toxicity relationship studies. In addition, we explore potential hepatoprotective and cell regenerative approaches as therapeutic options to prevent and to circumvent liver injury. A separate tangent on liver injury arising from exposure to environmental chemicals, such as nano- and microplastics (NMP), is being pursued to better understand the longer term impact on liver health.