Mobility schemes advance diabetes research

Prof. Ronald Ma (right) has established a close collaboration on diabetes research with Prof. Tony Keech (left) and Prof. Alicia Jenkins (middle) from the National Health and Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Centre in the University of Sydney.

A number of international research collaborations have stemmed from connections built between researchers with the support of the University’s Internationalisation Faculty Mobility Scheme and PhD Student Mobility Schemes. One noteworthy example is the collaboration with the University of Sydney in diabetes research led by Prof. Ronald Ma of the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics.

Since 2013, Prof. Ma and faculty members from the National Health and Medical Research Council Clinical Trials Centre (CTC) at the University of Sydney have made several research visits under the CUHK Internationalisation Faculty Mobility Scheme. The two teams have established a close collaboration on diabetes research, covering topics such as genetics and precision medicine, biomarkers, clinical trials, and diabetes technology. The collaborative work has led to the award of several major grants, joint workshops and manuscripts and has propelled student mobility. Ms. Feifei Cheng, a PhD student supervised by Prof. Ma, spent several months in CTC last year to pursue a joint project on telomere length in diabetes and receive training on molecular biology techniques under the Global Scholarship Programme for Research Excellence.

‘In the future, we plan to further strengthen our collaborative research in the area of diabetes genomics and biomarker discovery. We are also contributing to an international multi-centre clinical trial initiated by our Sydney colleagues. Several projects relating to novel biomarkers in diabetes are near to completion and have important translational potential. The synergistic efforts between the two institutions are expected to lead to impactful work of high international standing,’ Prof. Ma remarked.

Ms. Feifei Cheng (2nd right, front) visits the University of Sydney to pursue a joint project on telomere length in diabetes with Prof. Anand Hardikar (3rd left, front).

The Internationalisation Faculty Mobility Scheme and PhD Student Mobility Schemes aim to strengthen the international research capacity of CUHK’s faculty members and PhD students and the visibility of the University. Airfare and accommodation are provided to outbound faculty members and accommodation is provided to inbound visiting scholars under the Internationalisation Faculty Mobility Scheme; while a scholarship is provided to outbound PhD students and on-campus accommodation is offered to incoming students under the PhD Student Mobility Schemes. Applications for 2019–20 are now open and will close in early April. Please visit the schemes’ website for more details.