Emeritus Professor Doctor Liam Chong Kin (2021)

Professor Dr. Liam Chong Kim was born on 13 December 1955, and raised in Bagan Hylam, Pelabuhan Klang during his pre-school childhood and later in Klang, Selangor. He received his primary and secondary school education in Klang. He completed his secondary school education in Klang High School where he was the top student of the year. He graduated from University Malaya and received his the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree in 1980. He was awarded bronze medal from the Alumni Association of the King Edward VII College of Medicine, University Malaya and University of Singapore and the Universiti Malaya Book Prize.

After completing his housemanship in University Malaya Medical Centre, he joined the Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University Malaya where he spent his entire working life. He obtained his Membership of the Royal College of Physicians (MRCP) (United Kingdom) in 1984 and became a lecturer in the Department of Internal Medicine in 1985. He received training in Respiratory Medicine at University Malaya Medical Centre; Department of Respiratory Medicine, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, University of Sydney, Australia; and Research Institute of Tuberculosis, Kiyose-shi, Tokyo, Japan.

He was promoted to Associate Professor in May 1993 and in January 2020, he advanced to the rank of professor. He was the head of the Division of Respiratory Medicine from 1992 to 2015. He was the Deputy Dean for Postgraduate programme (Faculty of Medicine) from 2004 to 2005. Professor Liam was a member of the Senate of University Malaya from October 2006 to October 2009. He was the Coordinator for the Faculty of Medicine MBBS Programme from 1998 to 2002 and reappointed as the Coordinator for MBBS New Integrated Curriculum from 2006 to 2009.

Professor Liam’s research interests are in the field of respiratory disease, specifically in the epidemiology, molecular targeted therapies and immunotherapy for lung cancer as well as genetic polymorphisms in bronchial asthma. He has published 182 scientific papers in co-author of 299 papers presented at national regional and international scientific meetings. His more recent publications are in the increasingly exciting field of lung cancer. With other international experts, he is involved in drafting a consensus on lung cancer screening in the Asia Pacific region an Asian Thoracic Oncology Group consensus on the treatment of MET dysregulated non-small cell lung cancer, which will be published in the near future. He was also an associate Editor Respirology (the official journal of Asian Pacific Society of Respirology and International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.

Outside the academia, Professor Liam is actively involved in many professional societies and organizations. He is the former president and Council Member of the Malaysian Thoracic Society, Council Member of the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology as well as a Fellow of the American College of chest Physicians, Royal College of Physicians (London) and the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology. He was the American College of Chest Physicians International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer. He headed the Lung Cancer Assembly of the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology from 2016 to 2019.

Professor Liam was involved in the development of clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) on the management of adult asthma (in 1996), tuberculosis (1997), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (1998) and chaired the working group for the second edition of the CPG on the management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (2009) under the auspices of the Ministry of Health, Malaysia as well as evidence-based recommendations on antimicrobial management of respiratory tract infections in Asia (1998).

He is a recognised local and international expert on lung cancer and he was invited to speak and conduct workshops at many national, reginal and international meetings such as the Asian Pacific Society of respirology (APSR) Congress, World Conference on Lung Cancer and International Associations for study of Lung Cancer workshop on lung cancer.