Nancy Ip
Nancy Ip () is a Hong Kong neuroscientist. She is currently the Vice-President of Research and Development, the Morningside Professor of Life Science, and Director of the State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). Biography. Nancy Ip was born in Hong Kong, with her ancestral home in Taishan, Guangdong. She is the youngest of six children. She received her bachelor degree in Chemistry and Biology from Simmons College in 1977, and she earned a doctorate in pharmacology from Harvard University Medical School in 1983. After graduation, she spent the  early part of her scientific career in the USA, and was Senior Staff Scientist at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, New York. Since joining The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 1993, Ip served as Dean of Science, the Director of the Biotechnology Research Institute, and the Head of the Department of Biochemistry. She is currently the Vice-President for Research and Development, the Morningside Professor of Life Science, and Director of the State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience at the University She has been elected to the Chinese Academy of Sciences (2001), the World Academy of Sciences (2004), the US  National Academy of Sciences (2015), the Hong Kong Academy of Sciences (2015), the American of Arts and Sciences (2016), and the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (2019). In 2004, she received the L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science Award at the 6th Annual L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Awards for her discoveries on the molecular control of growth, differentiation and synapse formation in the nervous system. Research. Ip has made seminal discoveries in the biology of neurotrophic factors, specifically proteins that support the growth, survival, and differentiation of both developing and mature neurons. Her recent research to understand  the deregulation of signaling pathways mediated by different classes of cell surface receptors has led to critical insights on the mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease, and unveiled new molecular targets and potential therapeutic strategies for the disease.