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Partner State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology opened at HKU

02 Sep 2013

 

The Ministry of Science and Technology of the Central Government has approved the application from Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong in July to establish a “Partner State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology” at HKU, in strategic collaboration with State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Nanjing University.  The Laboratory aims to conduct basic, clinical and translational research on obesity, diabetes and its cardiovascular complications.  This State Key Laboratory is the fifth one set up at HKU which will continue its contribution to the Mainland and local scholarly and research exchanges.

Professor Xu Aimin, Professor of Department of Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, HKU is the director of the Laboratory.  He says, “ Up to date, about 93 million adults are now suffering from diabetes and over 140 million adults with prediabetes are at high risk to develop overt diabetes in China.  Diabetes is not only a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease, but is also causally associated with many types of cancers.  These chronic diseases hence impose an enormous medical and economic burden to our society.  Development of key research platforms and innovative medicine for diabetes and related chronic diseases are a major strategic emphasis in the national 12th five-year plan of China.  The establishment of the Laboratory is believed to foster and bring pivotal result of the researches.”

“The Partner State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology”, located at Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, HKU, is run by the Department of Medicine and Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy.  The team of HKU has nearly 80 researchers.  The director and the director of clinical research are Professor Xu Aimin and Professor Karen Lam Siu-ling, Rosie T T Young Professor in Endocrinology and Metabolism, Chair Professor (Clinical) and Head of the Department of Medicine respectively.  They are both the international authorities on metabolic regulation, obesity and diabetes.  Other research team members are experts from different disciplines, including Professor Ian Wong Chi-kei, Professor and Head, and Dr Wang Yu, Associate Professor, from the Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy; Professor Bernard Cheung Man-yung, Sun Chieh Yeh Heart Foundation Professor in Cardiovascular Therapeutics, Clinical Professor of the Department of Medicine, Professor Chung Kim Sookja, Professor of Department of Anatomy and Dr Ed Wu Xuekui, Lam Woo Professor in Biomedical Engineering, Professor of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, HKU.  The Chinese University of Hong Kong and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology have formed an interdisciplinary team to participate in the research.

     The research team has an excellent track record in discovery and characterization of metabolic hormones and biomarker research, and rich experience in translational medicine. Until now, the team has obtained 6 patents on the use of adipokines for early diagnosis and treatment of obesity and cardiovascular complications in America, 2 patents on noninvasive diagnostic methods and a series of international patents.  They have also developed over 20 monoclonal antibody-based immunoassay products for basic and clinical research, clinical trials, high throughput drug screening and diagnosis.  Meanwhile, the Laboratory has established close links with a number of leading research institutes and hospitals in the Mainland for metabolic and cardiovascular research, and has set up an extensive network on basic and clinical research of fat-secreted factors (adipokines) and novel metabolic hormones with renowned laboratories world-wide.

The research team hopes that the establishment of this laboratory will serve as a key platform to strengthen the collaborations and academic exchange with the Mainland and international scientists, and to train young researchers, and to support the pharmaceutical industries as well as clinical practice in Hong Kong and Mainland China.   

About State key Laboratory 
Nowadays, there are over 260 state key laboratories approved by The Ministry of Science and Technology throughout China.  The Central Government accords great importance to these state key laboratories, regarding them as key components of China’s science and technology innovation structure.  They serve as the base for top level basic research and applied basic research development, assembling and nurturing outstanding researchers, as well as scholarly exchanges for the country.  So far there are four State key laboratories at HKU, namely Partner State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Partner State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, Partner State Key Laboratory on Synthetic Chemistry and Partner State Key Laboratory for Liver Research. 

Please visit the website at http://www.med.hku.hk/v1/news-and-events/press-releases/  for press photos.