Good quality research also needs advanced facilities and we are making headway here, too. A forthcoming data science core will be established alongside our existing facilities, which were universally praised by staff during the Academic Review. Those facilities have been augmented this year with the opening of the HKUMed Laboratory of Cellular Therapeutics in May, the first of its kind in Hong Kong to attain GMP compliance and be licensed in principle by the Department of Health; and the Li Ka Shing Cryo-EM Laboratory, which will open in the autumn. The latter has been a technically challenging project, almost three years in the planning, and it will enable us to perform structural analysis of drug targets to support drug design and the development of new therapeutics. I also wish to highlight the Centre for Comparative Medicine Research, which was re-accredited last year by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International and received the highest classification of ‘Exemplary’ for its laboratory animal care and use. These laboratory facilities are magnificent research assets, but we also want to strengthen our ability to translate research into medicine. We are collaborating with the Faculties of Dentistry and Engineering to establish a Biomedical Engineering Hub for Translational Medicine to accelerate research development in this emerging area. And we will soon establish a Technology Transfer Core to foster research innovation and translation, promote commercialisation opportunities, and cultivate an entrepreneurial culture among academics. Professional staff are being recruited to support these activities and help us deepen our partnerships with biotech and pharmaceutical companies. Our InnoHK centres will also doubtless play a central role in translational research, as will the School of Clinical Medicine, which is working with the Clinical Trials Centre and other departments to translate biomedical research into clinical practice and commercial products. 28
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