Hong Kong scientists receive State Natural Science Awards
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Hong Kong researchers have won three second-class awards in the 2020 State Natural Science Awards (SNSAs) announced by the National Office for Science and Technology Awards in Beijing today (November 3).
The Secretary for Education, Mr Kevin Yeung, said, “The awards received by the Hong Kong researchers again highlight our excellent strength in basic and applied research, and bring great motivation to their fellow researchers. We congratulate the awardees on their achievements and hope they will continue to scale new heights in their research, and foster more talented young people in the future.”
The SNSAs are one of five categories of awards under the State Science and Technology Awards organised by the State Council. As China’s most prestigious award in the field of natural science, the SNSAs aim to reward individuals and organisations for academic excellence in basic and applied research in natural science.
Two of the three projects which won second-class awards in the 2020 SNSAs were nominated by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government. Details are as follows:
Professor Yu Jun of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) was awarded for her research project on “Integrative Research on Natural History, Mechanism, Potential Diagnostic and Therapeutic Targets for Non-alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease and its related Hepatocellular Carcinoma”. Other core members of the CUHK research team for the project include Professor Vincent Wong, Professor Henry Chan, Professor Zhang Xiang and Professor Joseph Sung.
The 18-year-long project involves the systematic research on the understanding of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) with major breakthroughs in the key mechanism, therapeutic targets, non-invasive diagnosis and natural history of this disease. These breakthroughs include (1) systematically elucidating for the first time the key molecular mechanisms and clinically applicable therapeutic targets of the progression from simple steatosis to steatohepatitis (NASH) / liver fibrosis; (2) revealing for the first time the mechanism of NASH progression to NAFLD-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), and discovering their therapeutic targets; (3) identifying for the first time multiple diagnostic biomarkers, inventing a clinical scoring system, and establishing a robust platform for non-invasive diagnosis of NASH / liver fibrosis; and (4) elaborating the natural history of NAFLD and its associated risk factors and formulating international guidelines for NAFLD prevention and treatment. The findings of the series of studies on NAFLD and NAFLD-related HCC has remarkably improved public understanding of the occurrence, development and risk factors of these diseases, and followed by identification of potential therapeutic targets. Moreover, the project pushed forward the research and development of prevention, non-invasive early diagnosis, assessment and treatment for NAFLD and created a profound impact on the development of NAFLD-related basic research and its clinical translation.
Professor Charles Ng of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) was awarded for his research project on “State-dependent Constitutive Framework for Unsaturated Soils and its Applications”. Other core members of the research team included Professor Lee Chack-fan of the University of Hong Kong (HKU), Professor Dai Fuchu of Beijing University of Technology, Professor Abraham Chiu of Shantou University and Dr Zhou Chao of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Unsaturated soils are a complex three-phase (i.e. solid, water and gas) material which is the carrier for all buildings and the composing material for slopes. The moisture condition and stress state of unsaturated soils are affected by climate change and human engineering activities which would in turn greatly affect their engineering properties. The project team has conducted systematic and thorough research on unsaturated soils, and discovered for the first time the stress dependency of seepage characteristics, suction-path dependency of deformation behaviour and suction dependency of dilatancy and strength. Based on these important findings, the project team has developed a novel state-dependent elasto-plastic constitutive framework for analysing seepage-deformation-stability coupled man-made and natural problems commonly occurring in unsaturated soils. The research outputs provide a profound theoretical basis for the scientific design and safe construction of slopes, landfill covers and pavements, and helped societies face challenges such as climate change.
Meanwhile, the project “The Emeishan Large Igneous Province and its Mantle Plume Origin” in which Dr Wang Yan of HKU participated also won a second-class award. It was nominated by institutions in the Mainland.
The HKSAR Government was invited by the National Office for Science and Technology Awards to submit nominations from the HKSAR. The nominations were co-ordinated by the Education Bureau with the assistance of the Beijing-Hong Kong Academic Exchange Centre.
Aug 6, 2021 | Business
Indian Scientists, in partnership with Scientists from China, Russia and Brazil, will carry out genomic sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 and studies on the epidemiology and mathematical modelling of the COVID-19 pandemic. This will help trace genetic mutations, recombinations as well as distribution of the virus and also make projections about the future of its spread.
A whole-genome sequencing is required for identification of genetic mutations and recombinations of the virus, while epidemiological studies can help assess its distribution. Mathematical modelling is required to assess its future spread.
Keeping this in mind, a research plan has been made by including expertise of scientists and engineers from diverse backgrounds. A consortium consisting of Dr Ch Sasikala, Professor, Centre for Environment, Institute of Science and Technology, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Hyderabad, Yuhua Xin, Professorate Senior Engineer Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China, Ivan Sobolev, Senior Researcher, Federal Research Center of Fundamental and Translational Medicine, Timakova, Russia, Dr Marilda Mendonça Siqueira, Respiratory Viruses and Measles Laboratory, Oswaldo Cruz Institute, Fiocruz., Rio de Janeiro, Brazil will carry out different arms of this BRICS-Multilateral Research and Development Project.
Under this research supported by the Department of Science and Technology, India and Brazil sides will assess distribution of SARS-CoV-2 in environmental samples through metagenome analysis for wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) surveillance. Chinese and Russian scientists will carry out the Real-Time PCR detection of SARS-CoV-2 in biological material (nasopharyngeal swabs) from patients with symptoms of respiratory diseases and investigate the genomic variability, comparative genomics and phylogenetic analysis.
The genomic, metagenomic and epidemiological data from India, China, Russia and Brazil will be integrated to develop mathematical models for mutations analysis, population genetics, phylogenetic relationship, recombination analysis and risk evaluation to reveal spread network and dynamics of the virus. This can help trace spread routes and dynamics of the virus. The database developed by the different groups will also compare the distribution and survival of the virus in the different regions and establish the surveillance of the relevant early warning system.
The collaborative research plan has been developed considering the strengths of international collaborators from the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences of China, Federal Research Centre of Fundamental and Translational Medicine of Russia and Respiratory Virus and Measles Laboratory, Oswaldo Cruz Institute of Brazil. The study will provide a common platform to share and analyse the data of four different countries and understand the spread routes and transmission dynamics of virus.
For further details, Dr Ch Sasikala (sasi449@jntuh.ac.in; sasikala.ch@gmail.com) can be contacted.
To know more about BRICS STI Framework Programme, visit (http://brics-sti.org)
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