Teaching
Scholarly Work
Service
Young Researcher /
Early Career Researcher
Research Supervision

Dr. Ma Dik Lung, Edmond
Department of Chemistry
The Selection Committee this year acknowledges Dr. Edmond Ma as an outstanding young researcher in view of his significant contributions in two major research areas, namely, the development of luminescent probes and computer-aided drug discovery. In particular, Dr. Ma and his collaborators have concentrated on using computer-aided molecular modelling for the rational design of ligands against biomolecular targets. Their work on investigating the binding mode of active compounds to biomolecules and on the lead optimization of hit compounds has appeared on the front covers of high-impact journals such as Angewandte Chemie International Edition and Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Dr. Ma has published over 100 journal papers, many appearing in top-tiered journals including Journal of the American Chemical Society, Chemical Society Reviews and Angewandte Chemie International Edition. He has an h-index of 28 and a citation count of over 1800, which is truly exceptional for a young researcher of his age.

Dr. Ma's funding record is likewise extremely strong, with over HK$8 million of total external funding secured as Principal Investigator over the past three years. He boasts a 100% success rate in applying for General Research Fund grants as Principal Investigator over the same period. Moreover, he has successfully secured funding from various external organisations, including the Environment and Conservation Fund and Health and Medical Research Fund.

As a rising scholar in his field, Dr. Ma has been invited to serve as editorial board member (Scientific Reports, Nature Publishing Group), guest editor (Methods; Impact factor: 3.641) and reviewer for various drug discovery and sensing-related journals. He has also on several occasions been invited to deliver lectures at international conferences and workshops as a keynote speaker, such as at the 1st International Congress of Advanced Materials and the 15th Beijing Conference and Exhibition on Instrumental Analysis. Furthermore, he was invited by the Croucher Foundation and the Royal Society to attend the 2nd UK-Hong Kong Frontiers of Science Symposium as one of 70 outstanding early-career scientists. Dr. Ma has moreover been featured by the prestigious journal Chemical Communications as "a leading emerging scientist in the early stages of their independent career", and was invited to contribute an article to the special issue "Emerging Investigators 2014" in the journal. Additionally, Dr. Ma has been featured by ChemPlusChem as a rising star of the future, and was invited by the journal to contribute an article to the Special Issue "Early Career Series" in 2014. Dr. Ma's contribution to this series, judged to be highly important by the referees of the article, led to his invitation for an interview aiming to showcase the research careers of talented people who will shape the future of interdisciplinary research in chemistry. These invitations clearly demonstrate his growing academic prominence in the field.

The Selection Committee commends Dr. Ma as an outstanding young researcher with high potential to excel in his field on the international stage, and therefore recommends him to receive the President's Award for Outstanding Young Researcher.