HKU_vol23_issue 2_ebook_amended

Mr An Liwei （安利偉） , Mr Zhang Jun （張俊） and Mr Simon Shiu Chi-chin （邵志遷） , PhD candidates, School of Biomedical Sciences, were awarded YS and Christabel Lung Postgraduate Scholarships by the Faculty in June 2018. Miss Noelia Che and Mr Shawn Tan Zheng-kai （陳政凱） , PhD candidates, School of Biomedical Sciences, were awarded Wong Ching Yee Medical Postgraduate Scholarships by the Faculty in June 2018. Mr Li Xiaodong （李曉東） , Mr Wan Kinto （尹健 滔） and Mr Wen Rongwei （聞榮偉） , PhD candidates, and Dr Hu Yong （胡勇） , Associate Professor of Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, were awarded Best Student Paper Award by IEEE Computational Intelligence Applause Society and IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Society in June 2018. Dr Chiu Kung-chun （趙公雋） , PhD candidate, Department of Pathology, and Mr Chong Chun-kong （莊俊剛） , MPhil candidate, Department of Medicine, under SMET Faculty Group*, were awarded Li Ka Shing Prizes by HKU in September 2018. Dr Shrestha Ghosh , PhD candidate, School of Biomedical Sciences, and Dr Wong Yun-sum （黃潤森） , PhD candidate, Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, under SMET Faculty Group*, were awarded Outstanding Research Postgraduate Student Awards by HKU in September 2018. * SMET Faculty Group (Science, Medicine, Engineering and Technology Faculty Group) : Faculties of Dentistry, Engineering, Medicine and Science Medical Faculty Student Wins Prestigious 11th China Youth Science and Technology Innovation Award Mr Lai Hei-ming （黎曦明) Year-6 medical student, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, HKU Year-6 medical student Mr Lai Hei-ming from the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine won the 11th China Youth Science and Technology Innovation Award with his breakthrough in the visualisation of human brain tissue at the microscopic level. Mr Lai is one of the 100 young researchers in China to win the award this year and the only winner in Hong Kong. On receiving the award, Mr Lai said, “I am very honoured to be the only winner in the Hong Kong region. Balancing medical school and laboratory work has been extremely challenging. I am also immensely grateful for the support of my parents and the research team, without which I wouldn’t have been successful. While this exploratory study may not directly impact clinical practice, it certainly has been a valuable and fruitful journey for me.” Under the supervision of Honorary Professor Wutian Wu from the School of Biomedical Sciences, Mr Lai and a team of scientists from Imperial College London developed a new tissue clearing solution OPTIClear which can turn specimen human brain tissue transparent, enabling high-resolution and deep imaging of neuronal circuitries without the need of sectioning the tissues. This not only save time and labour, but can show nerve cells, glial cells, and blood vessels in exquisite detail, with their 3D relationship determined. A better understanding of the connections and circuitries of the brain will help uncover the pathologies that underlie the common degenerative diseases of the brain, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. As lead researcher of the study, Mr Lai hopes this technique can be used in studying other diseases, and eventually help to unravel the mysteries of the human body. This study won him two awards and have been published in various academic journals. The China Youth Science and Technology Innovation Award was founded in 2004 and extended to students in Hong Kong and Macau in 2008. The fund rewards about 100 people each year in five categories: postgraduate students, undergraduate students, senior high school students, junior high school students and elementary school students. Postgraduate and undergraduate students are awarded a scholarship of RMB20,000 each, while winners in primary and secondary schools are awarded a scholarship of RMB5,000 each, on top of a certificate of honour and a trophy. 39 Medical Faculty News