HKU Scholar Named Sole Recipient of 2026 APEC ASPIRE Prize

Professor Ruibang LUO, Assistant Director (Learning Experience & Student Enrichment) and Associate Head of AI & Data Science Division in the School of Computing and Data Science (CDS) at The University of Hong Kong (HKU), has been awarded the 2026 APEC Science Prize for Innovation, Research and Education (ASPIRE) in recognition of his pioneering artificial intelligence (AI) technologies for genomic analysis. Professor Luo was selected as the sole winner of this year’s prize by regional vote among nominees from APEC’s 21 member economies.

Professor Luo’s research focuses on developing AI-powered computational tools that have transformed the analysis of complex and highly diverse genomic data. His breakthroughs have made genomic sequencing significantly faster, more accurate, and highly cost-effective, with profound applications in healthcare, food security, and biotechnology. His innovations are instrumental in translating complex genomic research into practical, clinical solutions for disease prevention, precision medicine, and clinical decision support.

The open-source AI tools developed by Professor Luo have been downloaded more than 10 million times worldwide—with approximately 60 per cent of these downloads originating from other APEC economies—and are now widely integrated into global healthcare, agricultural, and medical biotechnology industries.

“The algorithms developed by my lab are now being integrated into clinical decision-support systems that can help detect early-stage cancer and rare diseases in newborns. For me, that is what innovation is about; turning research into tools that can help save lives,” said Professor Luo.

According to APEC, the ASPIRE Prize represents “not only excellence in science and technology, but also APEC’s collective aspiration to address global challenges through collaboration and forward-looking leadership.” This year’s award specifically recognises “outstanding contributions that harness AI and data science to strengthen industries and build resilient economies for the future.”

The ASPIRE Prize is an annual accolade that recognises outstanding early-career scientists who have demonstrated scientific excellence and a strong commitment to cross-border collaboration across the APEC region. Each APEC member economy may nominate one scientist under the age of 40, with a single winner chosen through a regional selection process. Professor Luo’s selection underscores the global impact and scientific excellence of his work at an early stage of his academic career. As the 2026 laureate, he will receive a cash prize of US$25,000.

About Professor Ruibang LUO
Professor Ruibang LUO is an Associate Professor of the School of Computing and Data Science at the University of Hong Kong. He is also the Assistant Director (Learning Experience & Student Enrichment) and Associate Head of AI & Data Science Division. He completed his PhD training in Bioinformatics with Prof. Tak-Wah LAM at the University of Hong Kong (2010-2015), and his postdoctoral training with Prof. Steven SALZBERG and Prof. Michael SCHATZ at the Center of Computational Biology, Johns Hopkins University (2016-2017).

Professor Luo is a researcher working on bioinformatics algorithms and clinical informatics. He published more than 100 papers, with ten achieving over a thousand citations. He has been identified as Top 1% Scholars Worldwide by Clarivate Analytics since 2019, selected by Baidu Research as Worldwide Top 150 Chinese Young Scholars in AI, named Top 10 Innovators Under 35 Asia Pacific by MIT Technology Review in 2019, and recognised as 30 Under 30 Asia in Healthcare and Science by Forbes in 2017.

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