About Hui

Biography

Hui grew up in Taizhou, Jiangsu,  China. He studied chemistry at Fudan University, earning both his B.S. and M.S. degrees. He received his PhD in organic chemistry in 2021 from National University of Singapore, supervised by Prof. Jie Wu. His growing fascination with radical chemistry led him to the group of Prof. Armido Studer in Germany, where he developed methdologies for pyridine functionalization. Seeking to bridge synthetic chemistry with biology, Hui moved to  Switzerland to work with Prof. Thomas Ward. There, he worked on artificial hydrogen atom transfer enzymes. In 2025, Hui joined the Department of Chemistry in HKUST as an assistant professor. He leads a research group focusing on biocatalysis with designer enzymes. Outside the lab, Hui is an active hiker and birder who enjoys all forms of outdoor activity. He also likes exploring culinary delights and listening to rock music.

Employment History
09/2025 – present        Assistant Professor, The Hong Kong University of Science of Technology

05/2023 – 08/2025      Postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Thomas Ward, University of Basel, Switzerland
10/2021 – 04/2023      Postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Armido Studer, University of Münster, Germany

 

Academic Qualifications
08/2016 – 06/2021      PhD in Organic Chemistry with Prof. Jie Wu, National University of Singapore

09/2008 – 07/2015      B.S. in Chemistry & M.S. in Inorganic Chemistry with Prof. Xiu-Feng Hou, Fudan University, China

 

Academic Awards
Chinese government award for outstanding self-financed students abroad, 2020

Top graduate researcher (Faculty of Science, NUS), 2020
Best graduate researcher (Department of Chemistry, NUS), 2020
Best poster award (Chemistry Graduate Symposium, NUS), 2019 
Anexus poster prize (SICC-10, Singapore), 2018
SNIC poster prize (SICS-2018, Singapore), 2018