Our Research Team
The Laboratory has been established under the leadership of its Director, Professor David Parker FRS, Global STEM Chair Professor of the Department of Chemistry at HKBU. The research team is a group of molecular engineers, designing, creating and testing new chemical probes that may provide unique information on the probe environment for analytical and diagnostic purposes.
Aims of the Laboratory:
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To foster transdisciplinary research into the development of new molecular probes as diagnostic imaging tools and translate them so they can be utilised in biomedical or clinical applications.
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To offer training to researchers of the Laboratory and its collaborative partners on the design, synthesis and validation of diagnostic probes, addressing a skills/talent shortage in Hong Kong and Southern China.
The Team
Professor David Parker
Lab Director, Chair Professor
Professor David Parker leads the JC STEM Lab of ChemProbes in HK Baptist University. He arrived in Hong Kong in the autumn of 2022 after a 41 year career at Durham University in the NE of England. His early education was in Durham, Oxford (MA, DPhil) and Strasbourg. The recipient of several prizes and awards, he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2002.
Dr Nicola J. Rogers
Research Assistant Professor
Dr Nicola Rogers was educated in her home town, at the University of Birmingham (UK), and subsequently worked in the development of molecular probes for MRI at the University of Nottingham, UK and Durham University. Nicola became a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Warwick (2018-2022), where she developed transition-metal complexes for therapeutic applications, and subsequently joined the JC STEM Lab of ChemProbes in September 2023 to pursue her research interests in therapeutic and diagnostic coordination complexes.
Dr Ashok Kumar Chowan
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Dr Ashok Kumar Chowan did his doctorate under Prof. Bala. Manimaran, from Pondicherry Central University, India on the synthesis and characterization of metallacycle. Following this he moved to IIT Hyderabad, India under Prof. T.K Panda for his first Post-Doc on alkali and alkaline earth metals, followed by a move to Georg August University, Göttingen (Germany), to work with Prof. H.W Roesky on Al-Si bonding. Later he moved to the University of Strasbourg (France) to work with Prof. M.W Hosseini, researching crystal engineering. He arrived in Hong Kong on 1 March 2023 to work under Prof. David Parker on temperature-responsive molecular probes.
Dr Carlson Alexander
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Carlson Alexander grew up in Chennai, India. After a Bachelor degree in Chemistry at Loyola College in Chennai, India and a Masters in Chemistry at the National Institute of Technology in Trichy, India, he pursued his Doctoral studies with Prof. Stephen Faulkner, at Oxford. He explored new pathways of biological anion recognition using lanthanide complexes. Carlson joined the JC STEM ChemProbes laboratory as a postdoctoral fellow in September 2023 and is developing responsive chemical probes for bioimaging. Besides work, Carlson likes to travel and enjoys new cuisines.
Dr Sally Lok Wan Ng
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Sally was trained as a computational chemist under the supervision of Prof. Jason Y.-K. Cheng during her PhD at HKBU, where she started to explore interdisciplinary topics in computational biophysical chemistry, from biomolecules of pharmaceutical interest, to analytical science, to material discovery. Her interests in applying physical principles in research was further enhanced with the co-supervision of Prof. Wei Han since 2023. She adapts enhanced sampling techniques and develops molecular dynamics-based methods, driven by the passion for uncovering molecular mechanisms of natural phenomena and appreciation of the beauty of molecules. Her current research focuses on modeling the mechanism of Europium probe binding in biomolecules.
Xinyi Wen
PhD Student
Xinyi WEN joined Prof. David Parker’s research group as a Ph.D. Student in 2022 after obtaining an MSc in Dalian University of Technology. Her previous research work focused on the rational design of dual model lanthanide probes for luminescence and MRI imaging, involving cancer cell and tumour-bearing animal imaging. Her Ph.D. programme involves the design and synthesis of luminescence probes for urate, ascorbate, and catecholates using ratiometric analysis, including a study of their mode of action.
Huishan Li
PhD Student
Huishan LI joined Prof. David Parker’s group in October 2022. She finished her Master's degree at Wuyi University in June 2023, and devised a series of receptor targeted europium probes in which she examined their mode of action in cells. Her PhD research focuses on the development of chiral probes for use in CPL spectroscopy and microscopy.
Xiuzhi Zou
PhD Student
Qian Chen
PhD Student
Chen Qian joined Prof. David Parker’s research group as a Ph.D. student in September 2025 after obtaining an MSc in Biology from Shenzhen University in June 2025. Her previous research focused on studying the interactions between ruthenium polypyridines and biomacromolecules. Her Ph.D. programme involves the synthesis and evaluation of iron and cobalt metal complexes for their anticancer activity, aiming to explore their potential applications in cancer treatment.
Sooji Zou joined Professor David Parker’s group in September 2025. She completed her M.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University in June 2025. Her PhD research focuses on the development of luminescent probes.
Group Photos
Group photo, October 2025
Ashok and Carlson representing JC STEM lab at the ACCC10 conference at Hanoi, Oct 23 - 27, 2025
Group lunch at HKBU, August 2025
JC STEM lab PhD students in discussion with Prof. David Parker, July 2025
Congratulations to Michelle and Xinyi for the best posters, and Bonnie for the best oral presentation - BU Chemistry Postgraduate Research Day, 06 June 2025
ATS FYP students 2024 - 2025
Group lunch, Mar 2025
Group trip to Cheung Chau, Jan 2025
Group Christmas dinner and Secret Santa, Dec 2024
Group Lunch Nov 2024
Prof. Richard Zare from Stanford University visiting HKBU Chemistry and JC-STEM lab Nov 04-07, 2024
Dr. Jackie Mosely from U of York and Prof. Peter O. Connor from U of Warwick visiting JC-STEM lab on August 14, 2024
Dr. Nicola Rogers giving a talk at the Capital Medical University, Beijing, China, May 17, 2024
Fireside chat at the Jockey Club, March 2024
Group trip to Lamma Island, December 2023
Group Christmas dinner, December 2023
JC STEM ChemProbes lab participation for the open day at HKBU, October 2023
Group Lunch, September 2023
Chemistry community of JC STEM ChemProbes lab at HKBU, 2023