Newsletter No. 238

Medical Faculty Announces Major Initiatives T he Faculty o f Med i c i ne w i l l u n d e r t a k e s e v e r a l k e y i n f r a s t r u c t u r al and deve l opment initiatives in the coming years to strengthen teaching and research and the provision of quality patient care. The announcement was made by Prof. Ambrose King, vice-chancellor, and Prof. Sydney Chung, dean of medicine, on 8th Ma r ch at the Postgraduate Education Centre. New Clinical Sciences Building This is an 11-storey building to be built adjacent to the existing Clinical Sciences Building of the Prince of Wales Hospital. The new building has a total gross floor area of over 13,000m 2 , to be completed in the third quarter of 2006. It will house state-of-the-art research facilities including a P3 laboratory with animal research f ac i l i t i es, lecture halls, conference rooms, seminar rooms, student facilities, and offices. Update on P3 laboratories The pre-fabricated P3 laboratory, adjacent to the Hong Kong Institute of Biotechnology on eastern campus, will be in operation in July 2004. Cen t re f o r Eme r g i ng I n f e c t i o us Diseases (CEID) The permanent office of the CEID on the 11/F of the Clinical Sciences Building w i ll be ready for use by the end of this year. Wi th major funding from the HKSAR Government and generous donations from the community, CEID is adequately f unded to launch its initiatives in training professionals in the f i e ld of infectious diseases and to spearhead research projects that w i l l have long term impact on the prevention and management of infectious diseases. CEID is now actively recruiting expert v i r o l og i s t s, epidemiologists, and clinicians specializing in infectious diseases from across the world. M i n i ma l ly Invasive Surgery (MIS) Centre The popu l a r i t y, c omp l e x i t y, and importance of MIS w i l l continue to increase in the future. With full support from the University and the community, the Medical Faculty w i ll establish an MIS Centre to further strengthen its leading position in the field in Hong Kong and Asia. Cen t r a l i z ed Science Labo r a t o ry Building This is a large-scale complex with a total gross floor area of 13,500m 2 , adjacent to the Science Centre and the Basic Medical Sciences Building on the University main campus. The complex w i ll house over 70 laboratories of high-risk category to support research works of the Science and Me d i c al Faculties. The new laboratory building will be in operation in the fourth quarter of 2005. Advances i n Chinese Med i c i ne Research Second UGC AoE Workshop E i g h t s c i e n t i f i c advisers from the US and mainland China shared their expert opinions with over a hundred participants at the second workshop of the UGC Area of Excellence project 'Chinese Medicine Research and Further Development' held on 26th February at the Hong Kong Science Park. The workshop was organized by the Institute of Chinese Medicine of the University with support from the Hong Kong Science Parks Corporation. The project, led by the CUHK Institute of Chinese Medicine with participation from three other local universities, is one of three AoEs supported by the UGC in 2001. The AoE consortium received a grant of HK$25 million to support five priority projects on Hepatitis B, women's ailments, diabetic foot ulcer, child asthma, and cardiovascular tonic. In attendance were over a hundred teachers, researchers, and students from the four participating universities of the project. Officiating at the workshop was Prof. Ambrose King, vice-chancellor of the University. Besides presentations by the project teams, there were also poster presentations by postgraduate research students. The scientific advisers were impressed by the accomplishments of the research team and their scientific and innovative approach to Chinese medicine. International Symposium on Complementarity of Chinese and Western Medicines Over 300 scholars and Chinese medical practitioners from Hong Kong, mainland China, and overseas, including many advisers to Hong Kong on Chinese medicine research, took part in the Fourth Tung Wah Group of Hospitals - CUHK Eddie Wang Symposium on 'Complementary Chinese and Western Medicine 一 Integrated Approach' on 27th and 28th February at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The event was organized by the University's Institute of Chinese Medicine and the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals. The four main topics of the symposium were cancer, SARS, clinical research of Chinese medicine, and diseases of eye, ear, nose and throat. Some 90 lectures were delivered. New Chinese Cardiac Medicine The Institute of Chinese Medicine is collaborating w i t h Nu t r i G r e en on the clinical study of a Chinese herbal compound formula as a cardiovascular tonic. This is the first study i n v o l v i ng animal testings and clinical studies on the application of this compound containing Danshen and Gegen to the d e v e l o p m e n t o f a cardiovascular tonic. It is also the first cross-boundary study of a Chinese compound formula for the prevention of heart disease with one of the key studies involving the participation of a medical institution in Sydney. The collaboration was announced on 5th March. According to pharmacological analysis of Chinese medicine, Danshen increases coronary flow, reduces coronary resistance, lowers blood pressure, and improves microcirculation whereas Gegen induces coronary and cerebral vasodilation, lowers blood pressure and counters arrhythmia. They have been widely used to treat heart disease and their benefits can be traced back to ancient times. The use of Danshen and Gegen in a formula for a cardiac tonic was also based on classical literature. Supported by the research team at the Institute of Chinese Medicine, NutriGreen is collaborating with CUCAMed Co. Ltd., a wholly-owned company of CUHK Foundation Ltd. to develop NutriGreen 'Cardio Care' Formula. The product, manufactured by the Hong Kong Institute of Biotechnology, is suitable for those with a stressful lifestyle and those who are overworked and lack exercise. Prof. P.C. Leung, chairman of the Management Committee, Institute of Chinese Medicine, and Ms. Ming Pang, director of NutriGreen CUHK as Incubator for Budding Belgian Entrepreneurs T h r ee y o u ng B e l g i an executives hand-picked by the Belgian government under the 'Business in Asia' programme successfully completed their semester at CUHK ' s M B A Programme and launched into respective internships beginning this year. One o f them, F r ede r ik Vanden Bulcke, is putting his n e w l y - a c q u i r ed bu s i ne ss knowledge to immediate use by establishing the Asia regional office for TOPCOM in Hong Kong . TOPCOM is a top Belgium-based European telecom company w i th a turnover of 60 million Euros in 2003 which is expected to reach 75 million Euros in 2004. The 'Business in Asia' programme is funded by the Belgian Government's King Baudouin Foundation. Its objective is to help develop, in promising young executives, expertise in Asian business through a semester-long attachment to a business school followed by a nine- month internship with a company in Asia. Although the programme was started some 20 years ago, Hong Kong was first included only in 2002. The Chinese Un i ve r s i t y 's Faculty o f Business Administration was chosen as the partner to provide the necessary knowledge and skills to prepare these budding executives for the internship. 'For someone who has never done any business in Asia before, the semester I spent at The Chinese University was invaluable. It gave me a tremendous grounding in the business practice, culture and network in Hong Kong and the Greater China Area,' said Frederik Vanden Bulcke. The other two executives under the programme, Yves Slachmuylders, and B e n o i t Emp a i n, are i n t e r n i ng respectively with Domo International and ING's offices in Shanghai. TOPCOM CEO, Mr. Stan Lowette, demonstrating the cordless telecommunication product at the opening ceremony of the Asia regional office of TOPCOM 2 No. 238 4th April 2004