Prof. Robert Qi currently serves as Acting Dean of the Systems Hub and concurrently holds the position of Professor and Head of the Bioscience and Biomedical Engineering Thrust at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou). Prior to his appointment at HKUST(GZ), he was Professor in the Division of Life Science at HKUST. From 1999 to 2002, he worked as Assistant Professor and Principal Investigator of the Proteomics Group at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Singapore, after which he joined HKUST.

Prof. Qi is an accomplished scholar with an extensive publication record. His research seeks to elucidate the molecular mechanisms that govern the organization of the microtubule cytoskeleton during cell division and morphogenesis, and to understand how dysregulation of these processes contributes to human diseases, such as cancer and neurodegenerative disorders. His research team has achieved significant breakthroughs in understanding the regulation of microtubule cytoskeletal assembly in animal cells, most notably by identifying key factors that control the initiation of microtubule growth. These findings have advanced our understanding of the regulatory mechanisms underlying both physiological and pathological cellular events that rely on microtubule dynamics.