Keng Ioi Vong is a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Joseph Gleeson at the University of California, San Diego. He received his bachelor and doctorate degree in cell and molecular biology from the Chinese University of Hong Kong under supervision of Kin-Ming Kwan. His graduate work focused on the cellular and molecular cues that established the cerebrospinal fluid niche during embryonic brain development.

Vong is interested in understanding the formation of functional nervous systems. As a postdoctoral fellow with Joseph Gleeson, Vong identified genetic risk factors and mechanisms of pediatric neurological diseases including neural tube defects and neurocristopathies. Bridging developmental biology and disease mechanisms, he employed genomic mosaicism to reconstruct the developmental trajectories of neural crest-derived peripheral nervous systems in humans and rodents. Building on these works, he will use both human and mouse model systems to study how genetic variations and environmental factors compromise the development of enteric nervous system and gut-brain connection. His study will aim to elucidate the rationale of gastrointestinal dysfunctions in people with autism and to inform therapeutic strategies for neurodevelopmental and enteric neuropathies.