Education

Current Positions

• Senior Lecturer, School of Life Sciences, CUHK
• Assistant Director, Cell and Molecular Biology Programme, School of Life Sciences, CUHK
• Convenor, SLS Curriculum Committee, School of Life Sciences, CUHK

Research Interests

• Synaptic plasticity
• Neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases
• Drosophila neurobiology
• Science education
• Science communication
• Humour as a pedagogical approach

Representative Publications

Full Publication List:
https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?hl=en&user=7p91NioAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate

• Hu Y, Ngai CSB, Koon AC. Humor in Social Media Health Communication: A Systematic Review of Strategic Uses and Effects. Behavioral Sciences, 2026; 16(4), 509 (https://doi.org/10.3390/bs16040509)

• Koon AC*, Yeung KYW*, Wu Y, Leong LI, Cheung JTP, Chen ZS, Peng SI, Armstrong NS, Frank CA, Magneron P, Gomes-Pereira M, Fung JMS, Bargiela A, Moreno N, Poyatos-Garcia J, Vilchez J, Huguet-Lachon A, Brewer CK, Zinter M, Beck ES, Artero R, Gourdon G, Budnik V, Thomson T, McCabe B, Chan HYE. Pre- and postsynaptic upregulation of FasII synergistically underlies neuropathological and behavioral phenotypes in a Drosophila model of myotonic dystrophy. Nature Communications, 2026; 17, 1005. (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-67738-w). *Co-first authors. (Press release)

• Chen ZS, Peng SI, Leong LI, Gall-Duncan T, Wong NSJ, Li TH, Lin X, Wei Y, Koon AC, Huang J, Sun JK, Turner C, Tippett L, Curtis MA, Faull RLM, Kwan KM, Chow HM, Ko H, Chan TF, Talbot K, Pearson CE, Chan HYE. Mutant huntingtin induces neuronal apoptosis via derepressing the non-canonical poly(A) polymerase PAPD5. Nature Communications, 2025; 16, 3077. (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58618-4).

• Ngai CSB, Singh RG, Huang Y, Ho YWY, Khong ML, Chan E, Lau TCK, Chan HYE, Wong WT, Law MSM and Koon AC^†. Development of a Systematic Humor Pedagogical Framework to Enhance Student Learning Outcomes across Different Disciplines in Hong Kong. International Journal of Educational Research Open, (IF = 2.6, Q1 in Education Journals), 2025; 8, 100438. (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedro.2025.100438)
  ^†Corresponding author. 
• Ngai CBS, Singh RG, Lu W, Koon AC^†. Grappling with the COVID-19 Health Crisis: Content Analysis of Communication Strategies and Their Effects on Public Engagement on Social Media. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 2020; 22(8), e21360. doi: 10.2196/21360. ^†Corresponding author.
• Ngai SBC, Singh RG, Koon AC^†. A discourse analysis of the macro-structure, metadiscoursal and microdiscoursal features in the abstracts of research articles across multiple science disciplines. PLOS One, 2018; 13(10):e0205417. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0205417. ^†Corresponding author.
• Koon AC, Chen ZS, Peng S, Fung JMS, Zhang X, Lembke KM, Chow HK, Frank CA, Jiang L, Lau KF, Chan HYE. Drosophila Exo70 is essential for neurite extension and survival under thermal stress. Journal of Neuroscience, 2018; 38(37):8071-8086. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0620-18.2018.
• Koon AC, Chan HY. Drosophila melanogaster As a Model Organism to Study RNA Toxicity of Repeat Expansion-Associated Neurodegenerative and Neuromuscular Diseases. Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, 2017; 11:70. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2017.00070.
• Koon AC, Budnik V. Inhibitory control of synaptic and behavioral plasticity by octopaminergic signaling. Journal of Neuroscience, 2012; 32(18):6312-22.
• Koon AC, Ashley J, Barria R, DasGupta S, Brain R, Waddell S, Alkema M, Budnik V. Autoregulatory and paracrine control of synaptic and behavioral plasticity by octopaminergic signaling^‡. Nature Neuroscience, 2011; 14(2):190-199.
• Lin Y, Bloodgood BL, Hauser JL, Lapan AD, Koon AC, Kim TK, Hu LS, Malik AN, Greenberg ME. Activity-dependent regulation of inhibitory synapse development by Npas4. Nature, 2008; 455(7217):1198-1204.

ORCID ID

0000-0002-4274-7052

Teaching Grants

• 2025-2028, Teaching Development and Language Enhancement Grant (TDLEG Triennium 2025-28) – Inter-Institutional Collaborative Activities (IICAs), Actualising the applicability and potential benefits of humour in education using GenAI and technologies: A cross-institutional and cross-disciplinary collaboration, $1,450,000 (Principal Supervisor)
• 2025-2028, Teaching Development and Language Enhancement Grant (TDLEG Triennium 2025-28), Contemplative Pedagogy Across Disciplines: Enhancing Deep Learning and Wellbeing in Holistic Education with GenAI and Technologies, $772,468 (Co-Supervisor)
• 2024-2025, Standing Committee on Language Education and Research (SCOLAR), Integrating a technology-driven ChatGPT pedagogical approach into teaching academic English for students transitioning from senior secondary school to university: An inter-institutional collaboration, $1,140,240 (Co-supervisor)
• 2023-2025, Teaching Development and Language Enhancement Grant (TDLEG Triennium 2022-25), Engaging Postgraduate Students in Developing Virtual Teaching and Learning (VTL) Approaches to Facilitate Their Learning of the Latest Scientific Discoveries and Most Advanced Experimental Techniques, $484,141 (Co-supervisor)
• 2022-2025, Teaching Development and Language Enhancement Grant (TDLEG Triennium 2022-25) – Inter-Institutional Collaborative Activities (IICAs), Developing a systematized humour pedagogical approach to enhance teaching and learning: A cross-institutional and cross-disciplinary collaboration, $1,645,070 (Principal Supervisor)
• 2021-2022, Teaching Development Grant (TDG), Humour as a pedagogical approach to improve student engagement, enhance learning and relieve stress, $130,433 (Principal Supervisor)

Research Grants

• 2020-2022, General Research Fund (GRF), The role of adhesion molecule FasII/NCAM in synaptic dysfunction and neurodegeneration in myotonic dystrophy type I, $892,655 (Co-Investigator) (Same grant as below. After forfeiting due to changing to teaching track, the grant was re-acquired by Prof. Ho Yin Edwin Chan as PI.)
• 2019-2021, General Research Fund (GRF), The role of adhesion molecule FasII/NCAM in synaptic dysfunction and neurodegeneration in myotonic dystrophy type I, $800,860 (Principal Investigator) (Forfeited in 2019 due to changing to teaching track)
• 2018-2020, General Research Fund (GRF), Investigating the role of PAPD5 and its target microRNAs in RNA toxicity of polyglutamine diseases, $677,160 (Principal Investigator) (Transferred to Prof. Ho Yin Edwin Chan in 2019 due to changing to teaching track)
• 2016-2017, Direct Grant for Research at CUHK, Regulation of synaptic plasticity in neurodegenerative diseases, $150,000 (Principal Investigator)

Awards

• Faculty Exemplary Teaching Award (2024)

Professional Teaching Accreditation

Professional Affiliations / Activities

• Founder and Core Team Leader, Humour-Enhanced Teaching and Learning Community of Practice (HETL-CoP), since 2026.
• Council Member, The Teachers’ Association of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUTA), 2025-2027.
• Member, The Teachers’ Association of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUTA), since 2023.
• Honorary Advisor of the Hong Kong Student Association of Neuroscience (HKSAN), since 2023.
• Member of the Hong Kong Society for Neuroscience (HKSfN), Hong Kong, since 2022.
• Member of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN), USA, since 2011

Journal Editorships

• Editorial Board Member, Discover Education (Springer Nature), since 2024.
• Associate Editor, Cell & Cellular Life Sciences Journal, since 2018.
• Associate Editor, Annals of Advanced Biomedical Sciences, since 2018.
• Review Editor, Frontiers in Cellular Neuropathology, since 2022.

Invited Lectures / Presentations / Sharings

• 16/6/2026 HETL-CoP Workshop
  Title: Laughter by Design: Strategic Humour to Enhance Learning
• 19/5/2026 Popular Science Talk, CUHK (for Wa Ying College)
  Title: Lessons from Tiny Teachers: What Fruit Flies have Taught Us About Learning and Memory
  小老師的教導：果蠅教會了我們什麼關於學習和記憶的知識
• 15/4/2026 VTC Centre for Learning and Teaching, Teacher Training Webinar
  Title: Laughter by Design, Not by Luck: Strategic Humour for Better Learning
• 2/12/2025 CUHK Teaching and Learning Innovation Expo 2025.
  Title: Humour by Design, Not by Chance: Standardising Laughter for Better Learning through PHISTLE
• 20/11/2025 Popular Science Talk, CUHK (for HKBUAS Wong Kam Fai Secondary and Primary School)
  Title: Lessons from Tiny Teachers: What Fruit Flies have Taught Us About Learning and Memory
  小老師的教導：果蠅教會了我們什麼關於學習和記憶的知識
• 22/2/2025 Third International Conference on Quality in Self-financed Higher Education ‘Connecting Local and Global’, HKU SPACE.
  Title: A Novel Planned Humour Pedagogical Approach to Improve Learning Across Disciplines
• 15/2/2025 Brain Emergency Support Workshop for Secondary School Students (SPEAD) 2025 – Neuroscientist Career Sharing, HKSAN.
• 22/1/2025 Pedagogical Research Knowledge Exchange (Sharing Session), CUHK
  Title: A Novel Planned Humour Pedagogical Approach to Improve Learning Across Disciplines
• 27/8/2024 A Hybrid Facilitated Writing Retreat: “Craft Your Craft” + “Brew and Bond”, CUHK.
  Title: Let the Smile Be the Enhancing Factor: A Systematised Humour Pedagogical Approach
• 24/8/2024 APNSC-HKSAN 2024 (Asia-Pacific Neuroscience Student Congress / Hong Kong Student Association of Neuroscience)
  Title: Uncovering the Link Between FasII/NCAM1 Dysregulation and Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1
• 27/4/2024 The 18^th Lau Oi Wah Memorial Science Lecture Series, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.Title: Hundred Years of Good “Learning”: To Improve Learning and Memory 百年好「學」: 來改善學習和記憶
• 8/12/2023 Popular Science Special Lecture Series: How Nobel Prizes Are Won, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
  Title: Ψ: The U with an I that changed U and I
• 4/11/2022 HKU School of Professional and Continuing Education. Online Sharing Series.
  Title: It’s fun to be funny: Enhancing student engagement and learning with planned humour
• 26/1/2022 Hong Kong Student Association of Neuroscience (HKSAN) Online Webinar Series.
  Title: Lou Gehrig’s disease (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis)
• 27/7/2021 HKUMedify: Medical and Healthcare Academy for the Talented 2021 – Lecture in Biomedical Sciences, The University of Hong Kong.
  Title: Exploring the Ocean of Public Health
• 1/12/2017 Popular Science Special Lecture Series: How Nobel Prizes Are Won, The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
  Title: Punctuality is the best policy – What the fruit fly has taught us about the biological clock

Symposium / Conference-organizing

• 24/5/2024 Organized and co-chaired the 1^st International Symposium on Humour Pedagogical Approaches at the Chinese University of Hong Kong
  (https://www.focus.cuhk.edu.hk/en/20240619/cuhk-hosts-1st-international-symposium-on-humour-pedagogical-approaches/045/)

Invited Interviews / TV shows

Community Service