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Thursday July 03, 2025

Congratulations to Ying Wong
2024 ASI Travel Awardee (Postdoctoral)

We warmly congratulate
Ying Wong
winner of the 2024 ASI Travel Award

 

I am a Breakthrough T1D Postdoctoral Fellow in the Molecular Immunology Lab at the University of Adelaide, currently leading the Type 1 diabetes (T1D) immunogenomics research program. My work leverages cutting-edge methodologies such as single-cell ATAC-seq, RNA-seq and Hi-C to identify early gene signatures associated with disease progression and predict progression risk in children with genetic predisposition of T1D. 

In partnership with the Environmental Determinants of Islet Autoimmunity (ENDIA) consortium – a world-first multi-centre longitudinal pregnancy-birth cohort study, my work focuses within a longitudinal, nested case-control cohort from the ENDIA study tracking the disease trajectory in immune cells from high-risk children between birth to 5 years of age. A critical challenge in T1D research is isolating drivers from those that are consequences of the disease progression. Addressing this is critical for developing early, preventative interventions. Leveraging unique bioresources from ENDIA —samples from birth through to before seroconversion (pre-T1D), after seroconversion (T1D initiation) and Stage 3 T1D (clinical diagnosis)—my work isolates key genes and molecular mechanisms driving T1D progression from those that are merely consequences of the disease. This is key to early, targeted interventions that could prevent or alter the course of T1D. 

Fig: Delivering a speech on my T1D immunogenomics research at the Single Cell Congress at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. 

Receiving the ASI Travel Award has been a rewarding experience, allowing me to significantly advance both my professional development and my research into T1D immunogenomics. I delivered an oral presentation at the Single Cell Congress in Singapore, where I discussed the integration of single-cell multi-omic technologies to identify genetic and epigenetic markers of T1D. The congress serves as a dynamic platform for academic exchange, offering opportunities to share insights, challenge existing methodologies, and discuss the latest advancements in single-cell genomics. I have formed multiple valuable connections in the field of single-cell methodologies, multi-omics and computational techniques.

This ASI award has also allowed me to visit two laboratories from the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) and one laboratory from the A*STAR Infectious Diseases Labs, hosted by group leaders Dr Jay W Shin, Dr Tim Stuart and Dr Amit Singhal. They are not only leaders in their fields but are also pioneers in developing and leveraging cutting-edge genomic technologies and computational workflows. Their innovations are crucial for advancing the study of human health and diseases such as T1D. The visits involved detailed project and collaboration development discussions. Our discussions provided fresh perspectives and potential methodologies that could enhance my research. As an ECR, it was also helpful to receive strategic advice and guidance from the leaders on potential postdoctoral pathways, international funding opportunities and career advancement opportunities. Overall, these international engagements and collaborations are impactful, not only accelerating my genomics research and career development, but also facilitating the integration of cutting-edge basic research into tangible clinical outcomes.

The ASI award also supported my enrolment in the mixOmics R Data Integration and AI and Machine learning Data Science workshops. These training will enhance my computational and bioinformatics skills in multi-single-cell genomics and omics, enabling me to integrate diverse biological data more effectively and accelerate my outputs in T1D research. 

Author: Ying Wong

Disclaimer: The views expressed are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of ASI