The Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim, Germany (https://www.mpi-hlr.de/en/welcome/)  hosted the HKU-CUHK-MPI-GIBH Joint Symposium: New Frontiers in Stem Cell Biology and the 3rd Retreat of the Max Planck Center for Regenerative Biomedicine from 4-6 the November 2019.

[HKU Representatives, Top:  Michael Huen, Stephanie Ma, Daisylyn Tan Bottom: Pentao Liu, Ralf Jauch, Joshua Ho]

The event brought together scientists of the MPIs for Molecular Biomedicine (https://www.mpi-muenster.mpg.de/2377/en) and Heart and Lung research with visitors from the Guangzhou Institutes for Biomedicine and Health (GIBH), The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and The University of Hong Kong (HKU). There were several keynote speakers such as Patrick Cramer of the MPI for Biophysical Chemistry, Ana-Martin-Villalba of the German Cancer Research Center, and Wolfram Zimmermann of the University of Göttingen. Amongst the 70 participants there were six delegates from the School of Biomedical Sciences that presented their work in oral presentations.

[Group photo of all participants at the steps of the historical Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research]

The symposium fostered an environment to share and exchange pioneering scientific findings, progress and experiences in the areas of stem cell, tissue engineering and translational studies in the field of regenerative medicine for heart repair. Several participants have already published collaborative studies and successfully applied for joint grants. The directors of the Max Planck Center, Professors Thomas Braun and Hans Schöler, expressed their hope to continue and expand the collaborations with scientists in Guangzhou and Hong Kong. They expressed their enthusiasm to attend next year’s symposium in the region.  Participants are excited and expect more collaborations between HKU SBMS members and the institutions of the Max Planck Society, in terms of student exchanges, resource and idea sharing, as well as joint grant applications.  The newly established relationships and deepened friendships between principal investigators and students on both sides provide a fertile ground to capitalize on this.