The Univeristy of Melbourne The Royal Melbourne Hopspital

A joint venture between The University of Melbourne and The Royal Melbourne Hospital

Dr Chuan Kok Lim

Dr Chuan Kok Lim

+613 9342 9381 | chuan.lim@mh.org.au | chuan.lim1@unimelb.edu.au

Position:
Acting Director, VIDRL | Medical Virologist
Theme(s):
Viral Infectious Diseases
Discipline(s):
Computational Science and Genomics, Global Health, Public Health, Clinical and health systems research
Unit(s):
The University of Melbourne, Department of Infectious Diseases, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL)
Lab Group(s):
Williamson group

Dr Chuan Kok Lim is a Medical Virologist and Acting Director of the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL). He plays a role in leading the public health laboratory response to disease outbreak investigation and surveillance. Chuan is an Honorary Fellow of the Department of Infectious Diseases and a member of the Viral Infectious Diseases cross-cutting discipline at the Doherty Institute. He is a member of the Williamson Group and a clinician-scientist with special research focus on translational virology for emerging pathogens, in particular viral functional genomics and novel diagnostics. 

  • Key Achievements
    • Chuan is a Clinical Microbiologist/Infectious Diseases Physician and a Fellow of Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia and Royal Australasian College of Physicians. He is a state representative for Public Health Laboratory Network and Deputy Co-chair for Communicable Diseases Genomic Network. Since 2023, Chuan has held a leadership role as the Deputy Director for the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, and has been involved with delivering public health diagnostic strategies to many communicable disease outbreak investigations (SARS-CoV-2, mpox, Japanese encephalitis virus, Murray Valley encephalitis virus. Prior to this role, Chuan was the Head of Virology, Serology and Molecular Department and Public Health Laboratory at SA Pathology. Chuan's earlier research work during his PhD (University of Adelaide) involved developing a personalised HBV antiviral testing model using human liver organoids to assess novel therapeutic strategies. Currently, his research focus is on clinical and environmental metagenomics and assay development to characterise viral pathogens with pandemic potentials.

    Publications
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    Research Groups
    • Williamson group

      The Williamson research group focuses on the development and evaluation of new diagnostic tests, and the translation of genomic technologies to infectious diseases. Their research has directly influenced the way microbiology is applied to clinical practice and public health, including responses to antimicrobial resistance, sexually-transmitted pathogens and COVID-19. 


      Lab Team

      Williamson group

      • Junior Lab Head
      • NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow
      • Postdoctoral Research Officer (Bioinformatics)
      • Dr Marilyn Ninan
        Research Fellow
      • Dr Eike Steinig
        Research Fellow (Bioinformatics)
      • Dr Soo Jen Low
        Research Officer (Bioinformatics)
      • George Taiaroa
        Research Fellow
      • Jacqueline Prestedge
        Research Program Officer
      • Socheata Chea
        Research Support Officer
      • Bowen Zhang
        Research Support Officer
      • Cheryll Sia
        PhD Graduate Researcher
      • Dr Eloise Williams
        PhD Graduate Researcher
      • Dr Katherine Bond
        PhD Graduate Researcher
      • Dr Charlotte Bell
        PhD Graduate Researcher
      • Franca Azzato
        PhD Graduate Researcher
      • Sophie Herman
        Research Assistant
      • Mona Lisa Taouk
        Research Assistant