Awardee Of Professorship In Paediatric Oncology

“Every child is precious, no matter where they are born. My goal is to bring life-saving biotechnology to Singapore and Asia, because every child deserves the opportunity to beat cancer", says Professor Leung Wing Hang.

Professor Leung has made it his life’s mission to find better ways to treat childhood cancers. He joined KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (KKH) in 2024 and was appointed as the inaugural Director of KKH Children’s Blood and Cancer Centre.

Unmet Medical Needs in Childhood Cancers

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), cancer is a leading cause of death in children and adolescents, with an estimated 400,000 new cases diagnosed annually. The most common types for children aged 0 to 14 years include leukaemias, brain tumours, and lymphomas.

While traditional treatments like surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy have advanced and mortality rates have decreased, approximately 100,000 children still die from the disease each year. However, emerging precision treatments, such as immunotherapy and cellular therapy, target tumours with greater accuracy while sparing healthy cells. In addition to having fewer side effects than chemotherapy, these targeted therapies represent a significant shift in paediatric oncology and continue to improve survival rates.

A Lifelong Mission to Bridge the Gap in Paediatric Cancer Care

Professor Leung is a recognised leader in childhood cancer research; his team is at the forefront of bone marrow transplantation and cellular therapy. He pioneered the use of chimeric antigen receptor modified immune cells to treat these cancers, a breakthrough that paved the way for the worldwide use of chimeric receptor T cells (CAR-T) and NK cells in adult oncology.

He was also the first academic globally to demonstrate that mismatched bone marrow transplants are as effective as, or superior to, matched transplants for childhood leukaemia. This breakthrough has enabled significantly more children to receive life-saving transplants, even when a perfectly matched donor is unavailable. As part of his ongoing mission, he aims to mentor the next generation of scientists and further advance research in paediatric oncology.

Before joining KKH, Professor Leung was a faculty member at the Johns Hopkins University. He was appointed the Chair of the Department of Bone Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy at St Jude Children’s Research Hospital in 2007 and subsequently the Chair of Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine at The University of Hong Kong. Between 2018 to 2021, Professor Leung was the recipient of the Tan Cheng Lim – Children’s Cancer Foundation Distinguished Professorship at Duke NUS, in recognition of his pre-eminence in academic medicine and his significant contributions to the SingHealth Duke-NUS Academic Medical Centre (AMC).

Academic Leadership at SingHealth Duke-NUS and Beyond

Besides serving as the Director of KKH Children’s Blood and Cancer Centre, Professor Leung has held several significant leadership appointments in Singapore, including Lead for SingHealth Transplant Research, Director of the Paediatric Bone Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy Centre at KKH, and Director of Research at the SingHealth Duke-NUS Transplant Centre. Globally, he had led several large clinical trials, including the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) funded study of antileukemia effects of NK cells in transplant for pediatric acute myeloid leukemia with the Children’s Oncology Group; another NCI-funded investigation on KIR-favorable haploidentical transplantation in children with the Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Consortium; a nationwide trial of upfront memory T cell add-back with haploidentical TCRαβ-depleted graft in patients with haematological malignancies in Singapore; and multiple CAR-T trials in Asia. His cancer and cell-therapy research has received continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health in USA, Research Grants Council in Hong Kong, and National Medical Council in Singapore.

Bringing Hope to Children with Cancer

Looking back 30 years, the survival rates for many childhood cancers were significantly lower than they are today. While incredible strides have been made, the journey is far from over. There are still children who cannot access the cancer treatments they need, and there are still families who lack the specialized support required for their chronic health conditions after completing cancer therapy. The hallmarks of the new therapies developed by Professor Leung were better efficacy, fewer long-term side effects, greater affordability, and the fact that they are more readily adaptable and achievable for all. The goal is to ensure that every child with cancer, regardless of where they were born, has a chance at a brighter future.

Professor Leung Wing Hang

Tan Cheng Lim – Children’s Cancer Foundation Professor in Paediatric Oncology, March 2018 - March 2021 and April 2026 – Current
SingHealth Duke-NUS Paediatrics Academic Clinical Programme (PAEDS ACP)
Senior Consultant, Haematology Oncology Service, KK Women's and Children's Hospital
Director, Children's Blood and Cancer Centre, KK Women's and Children's Hospital