UM scientist wins Merdeka Award for cancer research

SCIENTIST Prof Dr Ng Kwan Hoong today won the prestigious Merdeka Award 2020 for Outstanding Scholastic Achievement.

He was among four recipients who were honoured with the Merdeka Award this year. The others are the National Cancer Council, South East Asia Rainforest Research Partnership, and Suzanne Mooney.

Dr Ng, from Universiti Malaya’s (UM) Faculty of Medicine, was given the Outstanding Scholastic Achievement award for his work advancing the fields of medical physics and radiation medicine in the country.

He is best known for his research in predicting the risk of breast cancer by measuring patients’ breast density.

Right now, he is working with local and international social scientists, linguists and historians to focus on the social impact of Covid-19. 

During the pandemic, he made significant strides in the scientific community leading a multidisciplinary, multi-national team to develop an online resource for new and emerging Covid-19 research publications, http://www.covid19bibliometrics.org to provide reliable information on what can be trusted as sound science.

Earlier this year, Dr Ng came up with the concept of the country’s first infrared digital thermometer that is able to collect real-time data.

In November, Dr Ng was awarded the International Union for Physical and Engineering Sciences in Medicine (IUPESM) Fellowship.

In 2018, he became the first scientist from a developing country to receive the prestigious International Organisation for Medical Physics (IOMP) Marie Sklodowska-Curie Award. The IOMP represented 25,000 physicists from around the world. 

The Merdeka Award was established by Petronas, ExxonMobil and Shell in 2007 to recognise individuals and organisations who have contributed to the nation’s development and have also inspired greatness in the people of Malaysia.

Due to Covid-19, the four recipients will receive their awards in a physical ceremony next year, the Merdeka Award Trust said in a statement.

They will each receive a trophy, certificate and cash award of RM500,000. – The Vibes, December 29, 2020