LIM Yoon Pin

Principal Investigator

PhD, Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology, A*STAR

Lim Yoon Pin is one of pioneers to develop and apply cutting-edge liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry-based phosphoproteomic technologies to oncogenic signalling and cancer research. He has published close to 50 peer-reviewed articles in the area of signal transduction, cancer research and biomarker discovery. He has filed close to 30 patents and holds 9 patents from USA, China and Singapore. The rest are pending award. Three of his inventions have been licensed and commercialized by MNC and SME.

Through phosphoproteomics, he discovered WBP2, WW domain binding protein 2, to be a novel breast cancer associated protein and a substrate of the well-known EGF Receptor Tyrosine Kinase oncogene. Subsequently, he demonstrated WBP2 to be an oncogene that works by activating multiple oncogenic pathways such as Estrogen Receptor and Wnt signalling. His lab is expanding WBP2 research to other epithelial cancers and signalling pathways like Hippo signalling. Along with Hong Wanjin, Lim Yoon Pin is one of the first to prove WBP2 as a breast cancer oncogene. His lab’s efforts in WBP2 research and its impact on the Wnt and Hippo signalling are recognised internationally. He works with collaborators from Australia, Germany, USA and Singapore.

Dr Lim Shen Kiat

Senior Research Fellow

PhD, ​​National Cancer Centre

Dr Lim Shen Kiat graduated with a BSc from NUS in 1999. He worked as a research officer in National Cancer Centre from 1999-2007, while pursuing his PhD beginning in 2003 under Dr Ganesan Gopalan. After obtaining his PhD, he commenced post-doctoral training in YPL Lab, where he discovered the role of WBP2 tyrosine phosphorylation in breast cancer. He is currently the main driver of various projects related to WBP2. He also helps to supervise students working with WBP2.

Dr Shin-Ae Kang

Research fellow

PhD, Yonsei University, South Korea

Dr. Shin-Ae Kang graduated with a B.Sc. from Yonsei University, South Korea in 2005 and received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Yonsei University in 2011. After obtaining her Ph.D., she moved to University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, USA for post-doctoral training. Her research was focused on the prevention therapy of breast cancer metastasis. In 2015, she comes back to Asia and joins Dr. Lim’s group. She is currently working on the role of WBP2 related with drug response in breast cancer.

Dr Angad Rao

Research Fellow

PhD, National University of Singapore

I graduated with a Masters in Biochemistry from the University of Hyderabad, India in 2012. In the same year I came to NUS to pursue a doctoral degree at the school of medicine and obtained my PhD in 2017. The focus of my PhD research was to identify the biological role of orphan G-protein coupled receptors and to investigate their potential as therapeutic targets in breast cancer. These 4 plus years were an exciting journey both in and outside of the lab. I am currently a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. Lim Yoon Pin and my research here aims to build on the novel roles of the WBP2 phospho-oncoprotein. Apart from this I would also be contributing to some of the very clever translational projects that are ongoing. In my free time I always welcome an opportunity to travel and enjoy Asia

Ssu-Yi Liu

Research Assistant

M.Sc, National Yang-Ming University, Taiwan

My research interests involve strain engineering for biochemical production and the improvement of product tolerance. Besides work, I like traveling around.

Qian Feng

Senior Lab Executive

M.Sc,

As the lab executive I am in charge of lab safety, overseeing lab day-to-day operation, providing technical support and participating in various research projects.

Alisha Francis Ramos

Postgraduate Student

Alisha completed her Masters in Biotechnology from St.Xavier’s Institute, Mumbai. She then went on to work as a scientific officer at SRL Diagnostics in the cytogenetics department. After a fruitful one year of work she decided to diverge from the path of chromosomes and joined Dr.Lim’s lab as a PhD student to continue her journey of learning in the vast field of science. She will be investigating the role of Wbp2 in breast cancer. She is a creative thinker and likes to explore alternative solutions to problems and have an open mind about what will work best.

Hossein Tabatabaeian

Postgraduate Student (SINGA Scholar)

I completed my Bachelors and Masters in Genetics from University of Isfahan, Iran. From 2012, I worked at Genome and Novin Biotechnology Labs as a researcher for 2 years, working on Beta-Thalassemia and also breast cancer. In 2014, I decided to pursue my academic education and joined Dr. Lim Yoon Pin’s laboratory at the Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS). My PhD project is to explore WBP2 potential roles in cell cycle progression in terms of cancer biology.

Melissa Hum

Graduate student

Melissa Hum obtained her Bachelor of Biomedical Science (Honours) from the University of Queensland (UQ), Australia. In 2012, she joined the Experimental Stroke and Inflammation Research Lab of UQ School of Biomedical Science as a research assistant under the supervision of Dr. Thiruma Arumugam (Garrie), studying the role of sortilin in ischaemic stroke-induced neuronal cell death. Two years later, Melissa decided to pursue the next step of her research career and joined Dr. Lim Yoon Pin laboratory at the National University Singapore (NUS). She is a recipient of the NUS Research Scholarship and is now a full time PhD student at the Department of Biochemistry, YLLSoM. Her PhD project is to discover new roles of WBP2 in breast cancer with respect to signal transduction and cancer biology.

Simon Chu

NGS Student

Simon Chu obtained his B.Sc. in Molecular Cell Biology from National University of Singapore and M.Res. in Molecular Biophysics from King’s College London. During his Master, Simon was studying the role of glutamine in melanoma invasion. Simon is a full-time PhD student at NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering, he is attached to Dr. Lim Yoon Pin Laboratory for his PhD project. His PhD project focuses on the role of WBP2 in the regulation of breast cancer metastasis, from a mechanobiology perspective.

Yvonne Lin Xinyi

Postgraduate Student

Yvonne completed her B.Sc (Hons) and M.Sc (Research) in Biological Sciences from Nanyang Technological University. For her Masters and honors research, Yvonne studied on virus-host interactions. After completing her Masters, she decided to continue the next step of her academic journey in NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering. She is currently a PhD student in Dr. Lim Yoon Pin’s lab. Her PhD research will focus on the molecular mechanisms of WBP2 in relation to cancer and cell biology.

Lin Hexian

Postgraduate Student

Lin Hexian obtained his B.Sc. in Biomedical Science from the National University of Singapore. He is a full-time NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering (NGS) PhD student working under Dr Lim Yoon Pin’s supervision. His PhD project focuses on elucidating the role of WBP2 in insulin signalling and insulin resistance.

By Jonathan Goh, ex FYP student 2013/14

“Dr Lim is a very supportive supervisor who also encourages his students to own their projects, setting their own realistic goals and taking initiative to drive the project. Throughout my studies under him, he did not micromanage the project, but was extremely approachable and pointed out opportunities which would best benefit me and my goals, not only within the laboratory, but in my career as well. His knowledge and guidance have certainly helped me. I strongly recommend Dr Lim as a supervisor.”

By Naing Naing Mon, ex Post-Doc 2012-2014

“It has been really great for being a part of your team. I really thank all the members of the lab for their support and friendship. I think I will never have such a nice working environment in future.”

By Choong Lee Yee, MSc student AY2011/12

“I had worked under Dr. Lim supervision for almost seven years with a joyful experience. Dr. Lim is a wonderful mentor who helps his employees/students to achieve their dreams. He is always willing to help us to grow not only academically, but also in personal development and self improvement. Dr Lim respects the abilities of the peoples under him and recognizes the strengths in his lab members. Thus he has successfully built a team that taps into the best potential of each member. He trust his staffs and students and has an open door policy. He is fair and just. This is one of the reasons why the staffs/students are motivated as a part of his team as they felt appreciated.”

By Victor Tan Kah Yap, MSc student AY2011/12

“Dr Lim is very passionate about cancer research, especially in translating bench work into real world applications. He always believes in us and always thinking of new ways to add impact and relevance to the work we do. He shows his appreciation to his staff and students and is always supportive of their personal and career development. Despite his busy schedule, he is an easily approachable and patient mentor. I am very grateful for his guidance throughout these years.”

By See Kang Wei, ex final year project student AY2013/14

“Dr Lim Yoon Pin is highly dedicated and patient in guiding his students. He is exceedingly approachable and does not mind consultations for his students even without prior appointment made. He is also experienced, knowledgeable and creative; such that he is able to effectively guide students in designing experiments, point out faults in the experimental design that would otherwise be overlooked by the students, and give useful suggestions at times when the student was faced with obstacles in his experiments.”

By Adrian Wee Zhen Ning, graduating Ph.D student 2013

* Dr. Lim has always been very encouraging throughout the course of my PhD training.
* He is very approachable whenever I faced any difficulties or in need of advices.
* Hence, I am grateful towards him as a mentor for his valuable guidance for my PhD project and as a friend who is readily willing to share his own experiences to motivate and advise me on planning for my future career.

By Lim Simin, ex-Research Assistant (now a Ph.D student @ University of British Columbia)

* Dr. Lim has been one of the best and I have benefitted tremendously from his teaching and supervision.
* What sets him apart from other supervisors, in my opinion, is his genuine interest in his trainees’ well-being and career aspirations.
* My positive experience working under his supervision was a major reason behind my decision to pursue cancer research as a career.
* Is a good role model that I hope to emulate one day

By Toy Weiyi, ex-Ph.D student (now Post-Doctoral Fellow @ Memorial Sloan-Ketttering Cancer Centre)

* He has been a dedicated advisor.
* He was never short on positive feedback and let me grow as a scientist under his guidance.
* Dr Lim also counselled me in my career planning.
* It is because of his advice and encouragement that promoted me to attain my current position as a research fellow at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre.
* His confidence in me encouraged me to be all that I could be, and more. That alone is the best gift any teacher can give his student.

By Chia Huimin, ex-final year project student (now a Teacher with MOE)

* Dr Lim is also passionate about scientific discovery and would spur me to question further, think out of the box, and analyse my data more closely, challenging me to maximise my full potential.
* I received an A for my FYP, of which much credit goes to Dr Lim’s close guidance and valuable insights.

By See Lay Pin, ex-final year project student (now a Master student in Speech Pathology)

* Dr Lim Yoon Pin is a caring, knowledgeable and approachable supervisor.
* He is not only well liked by his staff but is also popular among his students.
* He has been an inspirational mentor as well as an enthusiastic educator to students.
* He helped to shape and enhance their interests in the scientific and research fields.

By Liew Chiat Siang, ex-final year project student (will be doing MSc in King's College)

* Amongst all the many different professors I have encountered, Dr. Lim has left a deep impression in me because of his enthusiasm in teaching and imparting his knowledge to students.
* No matter how difficult a particular topic was, Dr. Lim was able to bring it across in such a way that we students were able to grasp the concepts easily and effectively.
* Initially, I was unsure whether if I should read his module, but after taking it I was sure I made the right choice because I finally discover my interest.
* I became more interested in reading scientific journals after having learnt under his guidance the techniques in which I should read and extract information critically.
* Dr. Lim was different from other lecturers in that he was also concerned about students’ future career paths and would proffer advices every so often to us about the career opportunities available for us out there.

Toy Weiyi, ex-graduate student, published in Nature Genetics

Toy W, Shen Y, Won H, Green B, Sakr RA, Will M, Li Z, Gala K, Fanning S, King TA, Hudis C, Chen D, Taran T, Hortobagyi G, Greene G, Berger M, Baselga J, Chandarlapaty S. ESR1 ligand-binding domain mutations in hormone-resistant breast cancer. Nat Genet. 2013 Dec;45(12):1439-45