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Dr Giulio Chiribella and Professor Lap-Chee Tsui

Dr Giulio Chiribella, Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science, Faculty of Engineering, HKU
Dr Giulio Chiribella is a leading expert of quantum information science and of the foundations of quantum mechanics. He investigates how the counterintuitive laws of the quantum world can be turned into working principles for future information technologies. With the Croucher Senior Research Fellowship he will explore a new paradigm of communication, in which multiple transmission lines are combined in a quantum superposition. Taking advantage of this new paradigm, future communication networks may be able to guarantee the transmission of data even in scenarios where no communication is currently possible. This research programme will explore a new interdisciplinary area at the interface between quantum mechanics, information theory, and space-time physics. (Please click here for Dr Giulio Chiribella’s biography)

Dr Li Xuechen and Professor Lap-Chee Tsui

Dr Li Xuechen, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, HKU
The ever-increasing antimicrobial resistance has become a serious threat to human health globally. The urgent and public need for new antibacterial drugs grows in stark contrast to the slow drug discovery and development process. Dr Li Xuechen’s research team has been pioneering globally both in the new Ser/Thr ligation technology they developed and in chemical synthesis of antibiotics analogues for development of new generation antibiotics. The team developed the first chemical synthesis of an antibiotic drug – daptomycin in 2013, and completed the chemical synthesis of teixobactin in 2016, which enabled the search for the next generation daptomycin-based and teixobactin-based antibiotics, against “superbugs” including methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (VRE). (Please click here for Dr Li Xuechen’s biography)

Professor Zhang Mingjie and Professor Lap-Chee Tsui

Professor Zhang Mingjie, Kerry Holdings Professor of Science and Chair Professor, Division of Life Science, HKUST
Professor Zhang Mingjie’s research in the past 20 years has been focusing on understanding the structure and function of proteins that are critical for brain cell development and communications. Professor Zhang’s research findings have broadened the understanding of basic biological areas including neuronal development and signaling, providing important theoretical basis for the pathological mechanism of various nervous system diseases such as stroke, neurological disorders, hereditary deafness and blindness. Professor Zhang will dedicate the reward to the study of the formation mechanism of synapses – the basic unit of neuronal circuits in the brain, which could pave the way for future drug development in curing mental illnesses. (Please click here for Professor Zhang Mingjie’s biography)