Malaysian Scientist Does Nation Proud

KUALA LUMPUR: A Malaysian researcher has become the first scientist from a developing country to receive the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Award.

“I was speechless. I never expected to be selected because previous recipients were all very established scientists,” said Prof Dr Ng Kwan Hoong (pic) of the prestigious award that was named after Marie Curie, the only person to win a Nobel Prize in two different sciences (physics in 1903 and chemistry in 1911.)

The award honours scientists who have contributed to the education and training of medical physicists, students and health personnel, and the advancement of the profession.

It is given out by the UK-based International Organisation for Medical Physics (IOMP), which represents 25,000 medical physicists worldwide.

Prof Ng, who is from Universiti Malaya’s Faculty of Medicine, said in an interview: “It is such a humbling experience for me to be mentioned in the same breath as those I look up to.”

Read more: The Star Online