Felix is originally from a small town in West Sumatra, Indonesia, called Padang (we are most famous for our beef curry, called rendang). Growing up, he has always been fascinated by chemistry and biology. When most of his undergraduate friends detested biochemistry, he has always found the subject uniquely interesting. When he started taking neuroscience classes in university, he also found the challenge of the subject particularly refreshing. Felix is blessed to be able to combine his love for these two subjects in his current academic career.
Felix did his PhD in Neuroscience at Newcastle University; with Prof. Mark Cunningham and Prof. Doug Turnbull. He was trained as an in vitro brain slice electrophysiologist; looking at metabolism in a severe epilepsy condition called mitochondrial epilepsy. He developed the first ever brain slice model of mitochondrial epilepsy and found the importance of glutamine metabolism in this condition. Felix is continuing this work targeting glutamine metabolism as an approach to treat mitochondrial epilepsy in his current research group.
Felix then moved to Brown University in the USA to undertake his postdoctoral training with Dr. Judy Liu. Here, he looked at metabolism in a variety of pediatric focal epilepsy conditions; including focal cortical dysplasia, tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC), and Rasmussen’s encephalitis. Subsequently, he found the involvement of lysine metabolism in TSC; a work that awarded him the prestigious and first-ever TSC Alliance – NIH DSC Young Investigator Award.
Since September 2022, Felix established his independent research group, Chan Lab, firstly at Aston University. His research group has now moved to University of Birmingham since November 2024. The Chan Lab aims to understand the fundamental metabolic and mitochondrial processes that provide energetic to the brain. In doing so, they hope to leverage their understanding of such pathways to develop new therapeutic approaches to treat various chronic diseases. The Chan Lab pursues impactful research and are driven to make significant difference to the life of patients with severe incurable diseases.
Finally, Felix is passionate about providing inclusive and compassionate mentoring to his trainees. As a South-East Asian scientist, he hopes to be a role model to show future trainees that it is possible to pursue their dream. Felix aims to foster positive research culture and environment in his group; and continuously advocate for this locally and globally.