Explore Ngan's Lab

RESEARCH INTERESTS:

•     Stem cell biology

•     Molecular and cellular biology

•     Disease modeling

Neural crest cells (NCCs) are highly migratory stem cells, which give rise to the entire peripheral nervous system (PNS), smooth muscle of major blood vessels, cartilage and bone of the face, endocrine cells in the thyroid and adrenal glands and melanocytes of the skin.  Hence, defects in NC development in human yield a large array of diseases, accounting for most of the human congenital disorders.

Our group focuses on NC and PNS development, particularly on two common NC associated diseases: Hirschsprung disease (HSCR; colonic aganglionosis) and neuroblastoma (NB).   HSCR is attributed to a failure of enteric NCC to fully colonize the gut, leading to absence of ganglion in the bowel, while NB is the most common childhood solid tumor derived from improperly differentiated NCCs in adrenal glands and sympathetic nervous system.  More recently, we are also interested in two other HSCR associated disorders, namely, congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS) and congenital cardiac defects, the disorders affecting our respiratory centre and heart, respectively.

Prof. Elly Ngan 
Department of Surgery
The University of Hong Kong