Our Researchers

Professor Yu HUANG

School of Biomedical Science

Heart attacks, strokes and kidney failures all originate from dysfunction of endothelial cells lining blood vessels. Deranged performance of these cells triggers a cascade of events in the vessel wall that may ultimately evolve into the narrowing and hardening of arteries and a subsequent blocking of blood flow.

Professor Yu HUANG of the School of Biomedical Sciences and Director of the Institute of Vascular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK),has been committed to analysing the chemical pathways to the malfunction of these endothelial cells for 20 years. He hopes his findings can lead to new drugs that reverse those deleterious effects, protecting our major organs.

HUANG’s research focuses include: understanding cellular and molecular events involved in the initiation and progression of endothelial dysfunction in hypertension and diabetes; uncovering novel biomarkers for vascular inflammation and atherogenesis; and identifying locations to reverse vascular dysfunction and ageing in animal models of cardio-metabolic diseases.

A research team led by Professor HUANG has identified key proteins and enzymes that play crucial roles in impairing endothelial function in hypertension, diabetes and ageing. They have also revealed protein hormones essential for the improvement of endothelial function in diabetes, illustrating the potential use of adipocyte-derived cytokines to slow the development of vascular abnormalities related to diabetes. More recently, HUANG‘s team revealed an important signalling cascade in vascular endothelial cells crucial to the development of atherosclerosis, or hardened and narrowed arteries.

As lack of early diagnosis has been the major contributor to the high mortality of vascular diseases such as coronary heart disease and ischemic stroke, HUANG’s team is setting up a platform for target-specific screening to identify new biomarkers for disease prediction. “We aim to really improve survival and quality of life for patients with cardio-metabolic diseases,” says HUANG.

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