This summer, we are launching a new series, #ProudofYou.

Many may associate our company with #BGIGeneTest and this series will feature our staff and partners sharing their stories to highlight the authentic and challenging moments behind the scenes. Our interviewees come from all over the world and have diverse backgrounds, but they are all proud of what they do!

Today, we bring you the first interview in this series: Albert Liu, the General Manager of BGI Health (HK) Co. Ltd. 

As Hong Kong experienced various COVID-19 waves starting from 2020, the BGI Health team was tasked with conducting large-scale testing. Albert was the leader of this project throughout this period. 

"As our team stands in the frontline against the resurgence of domestic infections, we can directly feel the impact of pandemic on everyone in the world and public health matters," said Albert. Their anti-pandemic work attracted the attention of the World Health Organization (WHO) when they visited Hong Kong during Feb-Mar 2021.

Subsequently, in June 2022, WHO unveiled a photo gallery related to this visit, covering key community testing facilities. As of May 2022, BGI Health (HK) conducted approximately 446,000 and 5.7 million COVID-19 tests at the airport and Community Testing Centres respectively and is the only local COVID-19 test diagnostics provider featured.

Q: When you see the photos released on the WHO page, how do you feel?

AL: Well, it has been over a year after shooting these pictures. I was curious whether they would publish. Sometimes, I look through their website and look forward to the pictures. When I pass by the Morse Park Sports Centre which was used as a testing site, I get a feeling that things will improve and feel motived as our contributions have been important.

Q：What did you do when you felt stressed or frustrated during the peak of COVID-19 waves?

AL: Keep yourself busy and focus on doing the right thing. Looking back, adapting to the pressure is not a big deal. Seeing the pandemic coming in waves can be tiring but we should never let our guard down and stay vigilant, as there are so many vulnerable people in our city. 

Q: Apart from COVID-19 testing, could you please share a potentially life-changing genomics application?

AL: There are many stories but speaking of potentially life-changing, early disease detection falls into this category. Our team is involved in a charity project where we provide HPV test kits for low-income women in the community and found many of them infected with high-risk types of HPV which might lead to cervical cancer. Without access to BGI’s gene tests, they will probably miss the chance to find out early when it’s easier to treat. Our self-sampling kits made it a lot easier for them to exercise self-care which is advocated by the WHO.

Q: While we talk about HPV tests among low-income women, they may not aware of early disease detection and not be able to afford the test either, are there any other ways to help them?

AL: We plan to work with university KOLs to do public health lectures at district health centers. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, this hasn’t started yet. In the meantime, we are providing online webinars. We have started providing HPV test kits from last year to help women monitor their health and helped around 2,000 women so far.

Q： Noticed any molecular biology application in our daily lives that you would like to share with us as a biotech professional?

AL: I can’t think of any recent example except for COVID-19 testing, which is a real surprise when you consider it being used in such a mega scale. I am proud to support the community and serve the citizens of Hong Kong. Public health connects everyone in the world and a healthier body and mentality are essential for us to enjoy our lives.

Let’s wrap it up today, If you have any other questions, please leave your comments and we will try to answer them in our next article!