Biography

Dr Leo completed his PhD in June 2012 in the Discipline of Cell Biology & Anatomy, School of Medical Sciences at RMIT University, under the supervision of Professor Owen Woodman and Dr Joanne Hart. Prior to joining SUTD, Dr Leo is recruited to join Professor Laura Parry’s laboratory at The University of Melbourne in partnership with the pharmaceutical giant, Novartis AG to lead pre-clinical vascular studies to understand why a reproductive hormone, relaxin has beneficial effect in the phase III clinical trial (RELAX-AHF) for acute heart failure patients. In 2017, Dr Leo joined SUTD under MOE Singapore Teaching And Research Talent Scheme, where his research in natural product pharmacology aims to develop food waste derived nutraceutical products for health benefits. Furthermore, he also involves in multidisciplinary research projects in the area of 3D food printing, bioprinting of vascular mimetics, and serious games for healthcare and education.

Education

• 2008-2012 – Ph.D.: RMIT University, Melbourne.
• 2007 – B.Sc. (Hons) Pharmacology: The University of Melbourne.
• 2004-2006 – B.Sc. (Science): Major: Pharmacology and Microbiology. The University of Western Australia

Research Interests

• Natural Product Pharmacology
• Food waste valorisation
• Vascular Physiology
• Serious games
• Extended reality in healthcare and education

Selected Research Publications

1. C.H. LEO & E.S. ONG (2023). Recent advances in the combination of organic solvent free extraction, chemical standardization, antioxidant assay and cell culture metabolomics for functional food and its by-product. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr, https://doi.org/10.1080/10408398.2023.2245040

2. T. MENG, Y. ZHANG, J. WANG, C.H. LEO, Z. LI, J. ZHANG, K. GAO, & Q. HE. (2023). Editorial: Efficacy and mechanism of herbal medicines and their functional compounds in preventing and treating cardiovascular diseases and cardiovascular disease risk factors. Front Pharmacol, 14:1236821.

3. J.D. TAN, C.P. LEE, S.Y. FOO, J.C.W. TAN, S.S.Y. TAN, E.S. ONG, C.H. LEO*, & M. HASHIMOTO (2023). 3D printability and biochemical analysis of revalorised orange peel waste. Int J Bioprint, 9, 776. *Joint corresponding author

4. C.H. LEO, J.L.M. OU, E.S. ONG, C.X. QIN, L.J. PARRY, R.H. RITCHIE & H.H. NG (2023). Relaxin elicits renoprotective actions accompanied by increasing bile acid levels in streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy 162, 114578.

5. M. SHANMUGHAM, S. BELLAGER & C.H. LEO (2023). Gut-Derived Metabolite, Trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) in Cardio-Metabolic Diseases: Detection, Mechanism, and Potential Therapeutics. Pharmaceuticals, 16 (4), 504.

6. M. JELINIC, K.L JACKSON, K. O’SULLIVAN, J. SINGH, T. GIDDY, M. DEO, L.J. PARRY, R.H. RITCHIE, O.L. WOODMAN, G.A. HEAD, C.H. LEO* & C.X. QIN (2023). Endothelium-dependent relaxation is impaired in Schlager hypertensive (BPH/2J) mice by region-specific mechanisms in conductance and resistance arteries. Life Sci, 121542. *Joint Senior & corresponding author

7. Z.Y. HU, B. ZHANG, L.J.Y. LIM, W.Z.K. LOH, D. YU, B.W.Q. TAN, M.C. LIANG, Z.W. HUANG, C.H. LEO, H. HUANG, T.W. SOONG (2022). S-Nitrosylation-mediated reduction of CaV1.2 surface expression and open probability underlies attenuated vasoconstriction induced by nitric oxide. Hypertension. 79, 2854-2866.

8. C.H. LEO*, S.Y. FOO, J.C.W. TAN, U.X. TAN, C.K. CHUA & E.S. ONG (2022). Green extraction of orange peel waste reduces TNFα-induced vascular inflammation and endothelial dysfunction. Antioxidants (Basel), 11(9), 1768. *Corresponding author

9. E.S. ONG, J. LOW, J.C.W. TAN, S.Y. FOO & C.H. LEO (2022). Valorization of Avocado Seeds with Antioxidant Capacity using Pressurized Hot Water Extraction. Sci Report; 12, 1-11.

10. Y. ZHANG, A.Y. LEE, KANITTHAMNIYOM. P, C.P LEE, A. ZHOU, J. AN, M. HASHIMOTO, U.X. TAN, C.H. LEO, G. WONG, C.K. CHUA, A. PANT (2022). Systematic Engineering Approach for Optimisation of Multi-Component Alternative Protein-Fortified 3D Printing Food Ink. Food Hydrocolloids, 131, 107803.

11. A.Y. LEE, A. PANT, KANITTHAMNIYOM. P, C.P LEE, J. AN, M. HASHIMOTO, U.X. TAN, C.H. LEO, G. WONG, C.K. CHUA, Y. ZHANG (2021). Three-Dimensional Printing of Food Foams Stabilized by Hydrocolloids for Hydration in Dysphagia. Int J Bioprint, 7: 393.

12. E.S. ONG, C.L.Y. OH, J.C.W. TAN, S.Y. FOO & C.H. LEO* (2021). Pressurized Hot Water Extraction of Okra Seeds Reveals Antioxidant, Antidiabetic and Vasoprotective Activities. Plants (Basel), 10(8):1645.  *Corresponding author

13. J.C. LI, A. VELAGIC, C.X. QIN, M. Li, C.H. LEO, B.K. KEMP-HARPER, R.H. RITCHIE & O.L. WOODMAN (2021). Diabetes Attenuates the Contribution of Endogenous Nitric Oxide but Not Nitroxyl to Endothelium Dependent Relaxation of Rat Carotid Arteries. Front Pharmacol, 11; 585740.

14. E.S. ONG, C.J.N. PEK, J.C.W. TAN & C.H. LEO (2020). Antioxidant and Cytoprotective Effect of Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) with Pressurized Hot Water Extraction (PHWE). Antioxidants (Basel), 9(11):1110.

15. C.X. QIN, O.L. WOODMAN & C.H. LEO (2020). Editorial: Inflammation in Cardiovascular Diseases: Role of the Endothelium and Emerging Therapeutics. Front Pharmacol, 17;11: 614387.

16. A. LANGSTON-COX, C.H. LEO, M. TARE, E.M. WALLACE & S.A. MARSHALL (2020). Sulforaphane improves vascular reactivity in mouse and human arteries after “preeclamptic-like” injury. Placenta, 101:242-250.

17. U. HAMPEL, H. CHINNERY, F. GARREIS, F. PAULSEN, R.D. LONGH, B.V. BUI, C. NGUYEN, L.J PARRY & C.H. LEO (2020). Ocular phenotype of relaxin gene knock-out (Rln-/-) mice. Curr Eye Res, 1-11. doi: 10.1080/02713683.2020.

18. S.A. MARSHALL, C.X. QIN, M. JELINIC, K. O’SULLIVAN, M. DEO, J. WALSH, M. LI, L.J. PARRY, R.H. RITCHIE & C.H. LEO* (2020). The Novel Small-molecule Annexin-A1 Mimetic, Compound 17b, Elicits Vasoprotective Actions in Streptozotocin-induced Diabetic Mice. Int J Mol Sci;21. pii: E1384. doi: 10.3390/ijms21041384. *Corresponding author

19. C.X. QIN, J. ANTHONISZ, C.H. LEO, N. KAHLBERG, E. JAP., O.L. WOODMAN., L.J. PARRY, J.D. HOROWITZ, B.K. KEMP-HARPER & R.H. RITCHIE (2020). NO• resistance, induced in the myocardium by diabetes, is circumvented by the NO redox sibling, Nitroxyl. Antioxid Redox Signal. 32:60-77.

20. M. JELINIC, N. KAHLBERG, C.H. LEO, H.H. NG, S. ROSLI, S. FINLAYSON, J. WALSH, L.J. PARRY, R.H. RITCHIE & C.X. QIN (2020). Role of endogenous annexin-A1 in diabetes-induced remodelling in mouse mesenteric vasculature. Br J Pharmcol, 177:1677-1691.

21. C.H. LEO*, H.H. NG, S.A. MARSHALL, M. JELINIC, T. RUPASINGHE, C.X. QIN, U. ROESSNER, R.H. RITCHIE, M. TARE & L.J. PARRY (2020). Relaxin reduces endothelium-derived vasoconstriction in hypertension: revealing new therapeutic insights. Br J Pharmcol, 177:217-233. *Corresponding author.

Pedagogy Publications

1. R.B.S. MOHAMED SALIM, J.S CHEN, C.H. LEO & B. RAI (2023). Design and development of MemoryTrail virtual reality game to study brain and memory processes in a fun and interactive manner. Journal of Applied Learning & Teaching, 6:1, DOI: https://doi.org/10.37074/jalt.2023.6.S1.3

2. B. RAI, H.S. TAN & C.H. LEO (2019). Bringing play back into the biology classroom with the use of gamified virtual lab simulations. Journal of Applied Learning & Teaching, 2:2, doi: 10.37074/jalt.2019.2.2.7

Book Publications

1. C.K. CHUA, W.Y. YEONG, H.W. TAN, Y. ZHANG, U.X. TAN, C.H. LEO, M. HASHIMOTO, G. WONG, J.J.Y. TAN, A. PANT (2022). Digital Gastronomy: From 3D food printing to personalized nutrition. World Scientific Publisher