CUHK Research: Changing the world

invasive methods in many pregnant women.” The Hong Kong Hospital Authority has been providing NIPT tests for free since 2019. On the mainland, over 60% of expectant mothers each year have taken the test, and some insurance companies overseas now include it in their policy coverage. P r o f e s s o r Lo c r e d i t s CUHK w i t h i t s comprehensive platform for conducting research. “CUHK demonstrates its leading practices in intellectual property and patent creation. It allows my teammates and me to conduct research in a friendly and supportive environment. Our team has developed a close relationship with other departments of the University,” says Professor Lo. Fromwomb to head and neck For Professor Lo, success in Down syndrome detection was just the beginning. “While insights into cancer is where I got my burst of inspiration for NIPT, I started probing cancer screening by developing ‘NIPT- like’ technologies. Our team began with asymptomatic nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), which is the 12th leading cause of cancer deaths in Hong Kong. “In 2017, we demonstrated that plasma Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) DNA analysis is useful in screening for NPC. Previously, most NPC patients in Hong Kong were identified at stages 3 and 4. With this technology, 70- 75% can be identified at stages 1 and 2,” says Professor Lo. In 2019, Professor Lo became the co-founder of healthcare startup Take2 Health at the Hong Kong Science Park which offers NPC screening services in Hong Kong. The NPC s t udy gave r i se to a mu l t i - cancer early detection (MCED) test , a method to screen for many types of cancer simultaneously. The test enables cancer markers to be detected through a simple blood draw, a landmark achievement hailed as one of Time magazine’s best inventions of 2022. Freer flows, bigger samples Efforts by Professor Lo to achieve even greater impact with his research face hurdles outside the laboratory. “Barriers in the flow of samples are making research a more challenging task,” he says. “I hope that the flow of samples between Hong Kong and the mainland can be strengthened. Apart from innovative ideas and insights, access to large sample sizes is always crucial for clinical research.” More than just a clinician, Professor Lo is also a medical scientist and an entrepreneur. “Having received training as a scientist, I am we l l awa re o f t he deve l opmen t of latest scientific technologies. As a doctor, I am more sensitive to how these technologies can possibly help patients. My entrepreneurial expertise enables me to venture beyond laboratories. I actively engage with the real world and thoroughly understand the actual needs of society while remaining down-to-earth. It also allows me to draft more comprehensive patents for inventions," he says. 29