Gained in Translation: CUHK's Biomedical Trailblazers

With an aim to translate advances in biomedical research for the betterment of human health, CUHK will continue to push forward a strategic group of basic, translational and clinical research projects and will launch a number of ambitious research initiatives in the coming years.

CUHK is renowned for pioneering in reproductive genetics. It has a world-renowned research programme in non-invasive prenatal testing which has created a paradigm shift in this area worldwide and has successfully secured substantial research grants. Intellectual properties generated from this programme represent the most outstanding success story in biotechnology in Hong Kong. With more young clinician-scientists having joined our experienced researchers in this programme, CUHK will continue to lead the innovative research in this area.

CUHK has a proven track record in genomics research and has the best research infrastructure in genomics amongst the tertiary institutions in Hong Kong. These facilities support research in a broad spectrum of areas, including the genetics of common diseases, like cancer. Cancer research is a key area of strength of CUHK and our focus is on cancer types that are particularly prevalent in the Mainland, with a particular emphasis on liver cancer, nasopharyngeal cancer and lung cancer. Our researchers are hosted under the State Key Laboratory of Oncology in South China, and are supported by a synergistic group of the Research Grants Council (RGC)'s Theme-Based Research Scheme projects for elucidating the genomics of liver cancer and nasopharyngeal cancer, and for developing innovative molecular diagnostic approaches for these deadly diseases.

CUHK has developed a core group of researchers in stem cell biology and regenerative medicine, with particular strength in cell reprogramming, stem cell differentiation, neural and musculoskeletal regeneration, tissue engineering and biomechanics.

In brain and mind research, bringing together specialists from different disciplines, we will target our efforts at cognitive and neural functions and dysfunctions, mechanisms and functions of the nervous system and the origins and therapeutics strategies for major brain and cognitive disorders.

CUHK wishes to promote the potentially powerful and complementary integration of Chinese medicine and Western medicine. With a proven track record in both Chinese and Western medicine research, we aspire to be a leader in standardization, characterization and pharmacological studies of medicinal herbs.

Building on the existing strength in medical and surgical innovations, we plan to move ahead with the next stage of breakthroughs in this area, including robotic surgery, micro-robots for diagnostic investigation, design and fabrication of nano-scale medical devices. To speed up the translation from research to application, efforts will be made to facilitate the transfer of the results of discovery to the market place by encouraging academia-industry partnerships in all phases of development.