Michael Wong

Head of JLABS Singapore at Johnson & Johnson

Speaker

As Head of JLABS Singapore, Michael is responsible for setting its strategic direction for company incubation, overseeing portfolio and business operations, and strengthening connections across the regional innovation ecosystem. He brings more than 11 years of pharmaceutical industry experience at Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) in leadership roles spanning early drug discovery, translational science, and medical affairs. At the MSD Translational Medicine Research Centre (TMRC) he established translational oncology collaborations across Asia to accelerate biomarker and clinical research. As Regional Director of Medical Affairs for Precision Medicine in Oncology, he led initiatives to advance companion diagnostics for KEYTRUDA® across Asia Pacific through pathologist education, real world evidence generation, and biomarker reimbursement support.

Most recently, as Senior Director and co-site lead at TMRC, Michael led multidisciplinary teams supporting early discovery programs in oncology, immunology, and neuroscience, while expanding strategic partnerships across the region. With more than 20 years of experience in academia and industry, he has authored 15+ peer reviewed publications, including papers in Science, Immunity, and Nature Genetics.

Michael earned his undergraduate degree from UC Berkeley and a PhD in Immunology from Stanford University, where his research focused on the role of T cells in rheumatologic diseases. He conducted subsequent research at Genentech in the laboratory of Vishva Dixit and relocated to Singapore in 2013 to join the Singapore Immunology Network (A*STAR), studying human T-cell diversity using multi-omics approaches.