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Address

(Office): Rm 507B, Mong Man Wai Building, CUHK
(Lab): Rm 507E and 508, Mong Man Wai Building, CUHK

   People Benoit T

Phone

(Office): (852) 3943 6390
(Lab): (852) 3943 0316

  
Fax  
Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.   
Web    

Education

2011 Ph.D Environmental Sciences, University of Quebec at Montreal, Canada (GEOTOP)
2006 M.Sc Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, University of Quebec at Montreal, Canada (GEOTOP)
2003 B.Sc. Geology (spec. environment), University of Quebec at Montreal, Canada

Positions

  • 2021-present     Assistant Professor, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • 2015-2021         Research Assistant Professor, The University of Hong Kong
  • 2013-2015         Researcher, Academy of Sciences, Humanities and Literature, Mainz, Germany c/o Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research (GEOMAR), Kiel, Germany
  • 2010-2013         Postdoctoral Fellow, Atmosphere and Ocean Research Institute, The University of Tokyo, Japan

Research Interests

  • Ocean Biogeochemical Dynamics
  • Stable Isotope Geochemistry
  • Anthropogenic impacts
  • Paleoceanography & paleoclimate 

Representative Publications

  1. Geeraert, N., Archana, A., Xu, M. N., Kao, S. J., Baker, D. M & Thibodeau, B. (2021) Investigating the link between Pearl River-induced eutrophication and hypoxia in Hong Kong shallow coastal waters. Science of the Total Environment, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.145007
  2. Yau, Y. Y., Baker, D. M., & Thibodeau, B. (2020). Quantifying the impact of anthropogenic atmospheric nitrogen deposition on the generation of hypoxia under future emission scenarios in Chinese coastal waters. Environmental Science & Technology, https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.0c00706
  3. Thibodeau, B., Not, C., Zhu, J., Schmittner, A., Noone, D., Tabor, C., et al. (2018). Last Century Warming Over the Canadian Atlantic Shelves Linked to Weak Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. Geophysical Research Letters, 45(22), 12,376-12,385. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL080083
  4. Yau, Y. Y., Thibodeau, B., & Not, C. (2018). Impact of cutting meat intake on hidden greenhouse gas emissions in an import-reliant city. Environmental Research Letters, 13(6). https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aabd45
  5. Thibodeau, B., Bauch, D., & Voss, M. (2017). Nitrogen dynamic in Eurasian coastal Arctic ecosystem: Insight from nitrogen isotope. Global Biogeochemical Cycles, 31(5), 836–849. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GB005593
  6. Thibodeau, B., Bauch, H. A., & Pedersen, T. F. (2017). Stratification-induced variations in nutrient utilization in the Polar North Atlantic during past interglacials. Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 457, 127–135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2016.09.060

Research Grants

  • 2021-2024, RGC GRF, Reconstruction of the western North Atlantic intermediate water temperature over the last 7,000 years, 666,512 HKD
  • 2019-2022, RGC CRF, SIRMS 2.0: Establishing Asia's premier stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry laboratory in Hong Kong, 7,604,007 HKD
  • 2019-2022, RGC GRF, Developing a high-resolution record of nitrogen isotopes in the sub-polar and polar North Atlantic during two key interglacial periods, 505,298 HKD
  • 2018-2019, Airport Authority Marine Ecology & Fisheries Enhancement Fund, Unravelling the strength behind the ecosystem resilience of Tung Chung mangrove: A high-resolution mapping of its food web, 615,620 HKD
  • 2014-2016, Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Individual Research Grant, Unravelling the importance of the Laptev Sea system in the Arctic biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen, 45,600 €

Professional Activities

  • Advisory Board, Meo Air Analytic Ltd
  • Associate Editor | Frontiers in Marine Sciences | Marine Biogeochemistry | FEB 2018 – APR 2020
  • Review Editor | Frontiers in Marine Sciences | Marine Biogeochemistry | JUN 2015 - FEB 2018

Address

(Office): Rm 288, Science Centre South Block, CUHK
(Lab): Rm 376, 376A and 377, Science Centre South Block, CUHK

   People Martin Tsui
 

Phone

(Office): (852) 3943 6123
(Lab): (852) 3943 1307

    
Fax (852) 2603 7246
  
Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
Web

https://sites.google.com/view/cuhk-hg-group/home

  


Education

2010 Ph.D., University of Minnesota
2002 M.Phil., Chinese University of  Hong Kong
2000 B.Sc., Hong Kong University of Science and Technology


Positions

  • 2021/6-now    Associate Professor, Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • 2022/8-now    Joint appointment with Earth and Environmental Sciences programme, Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • 2022/8-now    Director of Environmental Science Programme, Chinese University of Hong Kong
  • 2019-2021      Associate Professor, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  • 2013-2019      Assistant Professor, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  • 2011-2013      Turner Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Michigan


Research Interests

  • Environmental pollution
  • Ecosystem biogeochemistry
  • Stable isotope applications


Representative Publications

  1. Ulus Y, Tsui MTK, Sakar A, Nyarko P, Aitmbarek NB, Ardón M, Chow AT (In press) Declines of methylmercury along a salinity gradient in a low-lying coastal wetland ecosystem at South Carolina, USA. Chemosphere 308: 136310.
  2. Li H, Tsui MTK, Ku P, Chen H, Yin Z, Dahlgren RA, Parikh SJ, Wei J, Hoang TC, Chow AT, Cheng Z, Zhu XM (2022) Impacts of forest fire ash on aquatic mercury cycling. Environmental Science & Technology 56: 11835-11844.
  3. Chen H, Wang, JJ, Ku P, Tsui MTK, Abney R, Berhe A, Zhang Q, Burton S, Wiley WR, Dahlgren RA, Chow AT (2022) Burn intensity drives the alteration of phenolic lignin to (poly) aromatic hydrocarbons as revealed by pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS). Environmental Science & Technology 56, 12678-12687.
  4. Yang YH, Kwon SY, Tsui MTK, Motta LC, Washburn SJ, Park J, Kim M, Shing KH (2022) Ecological traits of fish for mercury biomonitoring: Insights from compound specific nitrogen and stable mercury isotopes. Environmental Science & Technology 56: 10808-10817.
  5. Waiker P, Ulus, Y, Tsui MTK, Rueppell O (2022) Mercury accumulation in honey bees trends upward with urbanization in the USA. Agricultural & Environmental Letters 7: e20083.
  6. Li M, Kwon SY, Poulin B, Tsui MTK, Motta L, Cho M (2022) Internal dynamics and metabolism of mercury in biota: A review of insights from mercury stable isotopes. Environmental Science & Technology 56: 9182-9195.
  7. Liu J, Li Y, Duan D, Peng G, Li P, Lei P, Zhong H, Tsui MTK, Pan K (2022) Effects and mechanisms of organic matter regulating the methylmercury dynamics in mangrove sediments. Journal of Hazardous Materials 432: 128690.
  8. Hylton CA, Tsui MTK (2021) Alteration of acute toxicity of inorganic and methyl mercury to Daphnia magna by dietary addition. Scientific Reports 11: 22865.
  9. Flower J, Tsui MTK, Chavez J, Khan S, Hassan A, Smith L, Jia Z (2021) Methyl Mercury triggers endothelial leukocyte adhesion and increases expression of cell adhesion molecules and chemokines. Experimental Biology and Medicine 246: 2522-2532.
  10. Ullah R, Tsui MTK, Chen H, Chow A, Williams C, Ligaba-Osena A (2021) Microplastics interaction with terrestrial plants and its impacts on agriculture. Journal of Environmental Quality 50: 1024-1041.


Research Grants

  • 2022-2023, Faculty of Science Direct Grant, CUHK, Mercury bioaccumulation and biomagnification in subtropical forest food webs, $150,000 (HKD)
  • 2022-2023, Countryside Conservation Funding Scheme HKEPD, From Valley to Plain: Conservation and Revitalisation from ‘Ng To’ to Kuk Po river and plain via multi-disciplinary, educational and action research, $3,000,000 (HKD) (Co-I)
  • 2020-2023, Department of Energy (USA) Biological and Environmental Research, Exploratory Proposal: How does mercury methylation respond to intensive forest management and the creation of anoxia in floodplain soils?, $132,285 (USD)
  • 2019-2024, National Science Foundation (USA) Division of Earth Sciences, Collaborative Proposal: Response of mercury cycling to disturbance and restoration of low-gradient forested watersheds, $164,740 (USD)
  • 2018-2022, National Institute of Food and Agriculture (USA), Storage, reactivity, and bioavailability of mercury in managed forests-balancing mercury toxicity and wildfire risks through effective fuel reduction techniques, $199,826 (USD)
  • 2017-2018, National Science Foundation (USA) Division of Earth Sciences, RAPID: Hurricane-mediated alteration of microbial mercury methylation in coastal wetlands, $49,826 (USD)
  • 2014-2015, North Carolina Water Resources Research Institute (USA) Competitive Grant, Linkages of mercury and methane cycles in Piedmont streams and rivers in North Carolina, and implications for mercury bioaccumulation in food webs, $60,000 (USD)
  • 2014-2017, National Science Foundation (USA) Division of Environmental Biology, Collaborative Proposal: Identifying sources and degradation mechanisms of methylmercury in temperate forest ecosystems, $97,000 (USD)


Awards

  • 2015, Candace Bernard & Robert Glickman Dean’s Professorship, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
  • 2011, Honorable Mention, Dissertation Award, Universities Council on Water Resources
  • 2010, Turner Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of Michigan
  • 2009, Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, University of Minnesota
  • 2009, Doctoral Dissertation Improvement Grant, U.S. National Science Foundation
  • 2007, Chris Lee Award for Metals Research, Society Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry


Professional Activities

Editoral Services

  • Editorial Board member, Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (2021-now)
  • Associate Editor, Journal of Environmental Quality (2017-now)

Research Proposal Review

  • National Science Foundation (USA)

Manuscript Review (selected journals)

  • PNAS, Nature Geoscience, Environmental Science & Technology, Science of the Total Environment, etc.

 

Address

(Office): Rm 609, Mong Man Wai Building, CUHK
(Lab): Rm 610, Mong Man Wai Building, CUHK

      People Chunliang Xu 

Phone

(Office): (852) 3943 1298
(Lab): (852) 3943 8034

  
Fax (852) 2603 7732  
Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  
Web    
 

 

  


Education

  • 2003-2007  Shandong University
  • 2007-2013  Chinese Academy of Sciences

Positions

  • 2013-2014   Columbia University, Research Fellow
  • 2014-2018   Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Postdoctoral Fellow
  • 2019-2021   Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Research Associate

Research Interests

  • Gut microbiota
  • Hematopoietic stem cells
  • Stem cell niche
  • Psychological stress
  • Neuroimmunology
  • Aging

 Representative Publications

(Full list of publications can be found at https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=LtBS2X0AAAAJ&hl=en )

  1. Wei Q, Pinho S, Dong S, Pierce H, Xu C, Li H, Nakahara F, Boulais PE, Zhang D, Xu J, Maryanovich M, Cuervo AM and Frenette PS. MAEA is an E3 ubiquitin ligase promoting autophagy and self-renewal of haematopoietic stem cells. Nature Communications volume 12, Article number: 2522 (2021)
  2. Xu C, Gulinello M, Frenette PS. Nociceptors protect sickle cell disease mice from vaso-occlusive episodes and chronic organ damage. Journal of Experimental Medicine, 2021. 218 (1): e20200065. (Highlighted by Science Translational Medicine: A spicy solution for sickle cell disease.)
  3. Gao X, Zhang D*, Xu C*, Li H, Caron KM, Frenette PS.  Nociceptive nerves regulate haematopoietic stem cell mobilization. 2021 Jan;589(7843):591-596. Nature. (*Equal contribution).
  4. Xu C, Lee SK, D Zhang, Frenette PS. The gut microbiome regulates psychological stress-induced inflammation. Immunity，2020 Aug 18;53(2):417-428.e4. (Highlighted by Nature: Gut microbes and stress team up to make a painful disease worse.) (Preview in Immunity: Gut Feelings Block the Flow: Microbiota Links Stress to Vascular Disease)
  5. Wei Q, Nakahara F, Asada N, Zhang D, Gao Xin, Xu C, Alfieri A, Brodin NP, Zimmerman SE, Mar JC, Guha C, Guo W, and Frenette PS. Snai2 Maintains Bone Marrow Niche Cells by Repressing Osteopontin Expression. Developmental Cell. 2020 Jun 8;53(5):503-513.e5.
  6. Nakahara F, Borger DK, Wei Q, Pinho S, Maryanovich M, Zahalka A, Suzuki M, Cruz CD, Wang Z, Xu C, Boulais PE, Ma'ayan A, Greally J, Frenette PS. Engineering a haematopoietic stem cell niche by revitalizing mesenchymal stromal cells. Nature Cell Biology. 2019 May;21(5):560-567.
  7. Xu C, Frenette PS. Seasonal manifestations of sickle cell disease. Nature Medicine. 2019 Apr;25(4):536-537.
  8. Xu C, Gao X, Wei Q, Nakahara F, Zimmerman SE, Mar J, Frenette PS. Stem cell factor is selectively secreted by arterial endothelial cells in bone marrow. Nature Communications. 2018 Jun;9(1):2449.
  9. Gao X, Xu C, Asada N, Frenette PS. The hematopoietic stem cell niche: from embryo to adult. Development. 2018 Jan;145(2).
  10. Zhang D*, Xu C*, Manwani D*, Frenette PS. Neutrophils, platelets, and inflammatory pathways at the nexus of sickle cell disease pathophysiology. Blood. 2016 Feb;127(7):801-9. (* equal contribution).
  11. Zheng C, Yang Q, Xu C, Shou P, Cao J, Jiang M, Chen Q, Cao Q, Han Y, Li F, Cao W, Zhang L, Zhang L, Shi Y, Wang Y. CD11b Regulates obesity-induced insulin resistance via limiting alternative Activation and proliferation of adipose tissue macrophages. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 2015 Dec;112(52):E7239-48.
  12. Zhang D, Chen G, Manwani D, Mortha A, Xu C, Faith J, Burk R, Kunisaki Y, Jang J, Scheiermann C, Merad M, Frenette PS. Neutrophil ageing is regulated by the microbiome. Nature. 2015 Sep;525(7570):528-32.
  13. Xu C, Lin L, Cao G, Chen Q, Shou P, Huang Y, Han Y, Wang Y, Shi Y. IFNα-secreting MSCs exerts potent anti-tumor effect in vivo. Oncogene. 2014 Oct;33(42):5047-52.
  14. Xu C, Yu P, Han X, Du L, Gan J, Wang Y, Shi Y. Transforming growth factor β promotes immune responses in the presence of mesenchymal stem cells. The Journal of Immunology. 2014 Jan;192(1):103-9. (Highlighted in the “In This Issue” section)
  15. Xu C, Ren G, Cao G, Chen Q and Shou P, Zheng C, Du L, Han X, Jiang M, Yang Q, Lin L, Wang G, Yu P, Zhang X, Cao W, Brewer G, Wang Y, Shi Y. miR-155 regulates immune modulatory properties of mesenchymal stem cells by targeting TAK1-binding protein 2. The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 2013 Apr;288(16):11074-9.
  16. Ren G, Zhao X, Wang Y, Zhang X, Chen X, Xu C, Yuan ZR, Roberts AI, Zhang L, Zheng B, Wen T, Han Y, Rabson AB, Tischfield JA, Shao C, Shi Y. CCR2-dependent recruitment of macrophages by tumor-educated mesenchymal stromal cells promotes tumor development and is mimicked by TNFα. Cell Stem Cell. 2012 Dec;11(6):812-24.

Awards

  • 2019   ASH Abstract Achievement Award
  • 2014   Di Ao Scholarship, Di Ao Group and Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
  • 2012   China National Scholarship, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

Professional Activities

  1. Guest editor for Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology
  2. Ad-hoc reviewer for Cancer Letters, Journal of Cellular Physiology, Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry, Stem Cell Research, Stem Cells and Development, Inflammation, Journal of Cellular Biochemistry.

Others

We are always eager to add energetic and passionate researchers (postdocs, graduate students, undergraduates, and research assistants) to our team! If you are interested in joining the lab, please send your CV to Dr. Chunliang Xu (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).


Half of the human population carries Helicobacter pylori, the only known bacterium that survives in the extreme acidic environment inside the stomach. This bacterium damages the mucous coating of the gut after which the stomach acid eats away the sensitive organ lining resulting in peptic ulcers. The infection by this bacterium is also well documented to be a high risk factor of stomach cancer. Despite the effective mean with high efficacy of using antibiotics to battle with this bacterium, claims of antibiotic-resistance over the years have urged the development for new therapies.

'The key to the survival of Helicobacter pylori in the acidic bath in the human stomach is its use of an enzyme called urease to neutralize gastric acid', said Professor Wong Kam-Bo of the Centre for Protein Science and Crystallography, School of Life Sciences. Urease requires two nickel ions to be functional. Professor Wong and his research team discovered that, using X-ray crystallography to visualize proteins with atomic resolution, the assembly of the urease with the nickel ions involves four helper proteins: UreE, UreF, UreG and UreH. They further revealed that disrupting the formation of the helper protein complex forbids the channeling of the two nickel ions in place and thus inhibits the synthesis of the active urease that is essential to survival.

These conspicuous results have been released lately as 'Paper of the Week' in Journal of Biological Chemistry. Professor Wong said, 'With a better understanding on how the molecular machine is assembled, we can now proceed to study ways that dissemble it. As active urease is the key to the survival of Helicobacter pylori, new drugs designed to target this complex may well be a novel and viable strategy to eradicate the pathogen.' The team is now designing drugs to inhibit assembly of this molecular machine that keeps Helicobacter pylori alive in human stomach.

KBW 1    KBW 2 

A team of researchers at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUH K) led by Professor JIANG Liwen, Choh-Ming Li Professor of Life Sciences, has recently made a major breakthrough in revealing the membrane origin of autophagosome in plants, providing new insight into improving crop quality. The results have been published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Autophagy is a conserved degradation process in eukaryotic cells to eliminate intracellular components during stress conditions and pathogen infection. Professor Jiang's research team has been working on the underlying mechanisms of protein transport and organelle biogenesis in plant cells for more than 16 years at CUHK, and has been internationally recognized as a leading group in the field of plant cell biology. In the recent study published as a PNAS Plus paper, his research team utilized a combination of in vivo real-time imaging, 3D tomographic reconstruction, and genetic approaches, uncovered a unique role of ATG9 in meditating autophagosome progression from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). His research team has addressed a fundamental question on "where is the membrane origin of the autophagosome" which puzzling scientists in the past decades.

Professor Jiang said, 'This discovery has far reaching implications for enhancing agricultural productivity. Since ATG9 is conserved among higher eukaryotic cells, such as rice, maize and soybean, further research on the molecular mechanism of plant autophagy pathway will provide new insight into how to improve crop quality to overcome stress environment or pathogen infection, which has become a serious problem in agriculture.'

This study was mainly carried out by two postdoctoral fellows (Drs. ZHUANG Xiaohong and CUI Yong) and a Ph.D. student (Mr. CHUNG Kin Pan) in Professor Jiang's laboratory, in collaboration with Prof. Byung-ho KANG, an expert in 3D Tomography TEM analysis. The project was supported by the Areas of Excellence (AoE) Scheme and Collaborative Research Fund (CRF) of the Hong Kong Research Grants Council, as well as the AoE Centre for Organelle Biogenesis and Function, Centre for Cell and Developmental Biology, and State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology (Partner Laboratory in The Chinese University of Hong Kong) of CUHK.

Graduate students and postdoctoral researchers supervised by Professor Jiang's have received many prestigious awards for their research excellence, including CUHK Young Scholars Dissertation Award (twice), Postgraduate Research Output Award (five times), Keystone Symposium Scholarship USA (twice) and Human Frontier Science Program Long-Term Fellows (twice), as well as the Thousand Talent Plan of China (twice).

Jiang PNAS