Date: Wednesday, 13 January 2021

Time: 4:00 – 5:30pm

Format: Conducted via Zoom

Zoom Link: https://hku.zoom.us/j/94848488609?pwd=Wm1Gdng2Z1gyT2lDblN0MW9xU1BxUT09

Meeting ID: 948 4848 8609

Passcode: 460084

 

Speaker: Professor Julian Tanner & Dr Andrew Kinghorn

Biography: 

Professor Julian TANNER
Prof Julian Tanner is the Associate Director of the School of Biomedical Sciences (SBMS), HKU and Assistant Dean of the LKS Faculty of Medicine, HKU.  He is the inventor of 10 patents and has over 70 publications (including leading recent articles in PNAS, Nature Communications, etc.) and over 200 conferences presentation.  He has been awarded HKU’s Outstanding Young Research Award, Outstanding Research Student Supervisor Award, Outstanding Teacher Award. 

Dr Andrew KINGHORN
Dr Kinghorn is a Post-doctoral Research Fellow at SBMS HKU.  He is an expert in aptamer science and diagnostic assay development.  He is the inventor of 1 patent, has 13 publications and presented to 41 conferences.  He is the Co-CEO & CSO of AlhenaBio.

Abstract: 
Opportunities for the commercialisation of translational research
The Tanner research group has developed several aptamer based diagnostic tests. To improve these academic inventions further AlhenaBio was formed. AlhenaBio is an early stage precision digital diagnostics and healthtech company. We have taken part in a pre- incubation program, won grants and are currently applying to incubation programs. Our presentation will include balancing academic and startup research, opportunities for startups and how to navigate Hong Kong's startup biotech ecosystem.

Date: Wednesday, 24 March 2021

Time: 4:00 – 5:30pm

Format: Conducted via Zoom

Zoom Link: https://bit.ly/3cbMjKD

Meeting ID: 975 4879 7177

Passcode: 610896

 

Speaker: Professor Stephen K.W. TSUI

Biography:

Prof. TSUI Kwok-Wing Stephen is currently a professor and the Associate Director (Research) in the School of Biomedical Sciences of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). He is also directors of the Hong Kong Bioinformatics Centre and the Centre for Microbial Genomics and Proteomics in the same university.  In 1995, he received his Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry at CUHK and his thesis is related to the sequencing of the human genome.  He was then appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Biochemistry Department in 1997 and promoted to the full professorship in 2004.  During the SARS outbreak in 2003, his team was one of the earliest teams that cracked the complete genome of the SARS-coronavirus.  Totally, he has published more than 240 scientific papers in international journals, including Nature, New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, PNAS, Circulation, Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Hepatology, Genome Biology and Nucleic Acids Research, with an H-index of 40 and a total citations of over 14,000.  He is interested in bioinformatics, comparative genomics and molecular biology of clinical pathogens including human immunodeficiency virus, hepatitis B virus, influenza virus and Mycobacterium tuberculosis.  Recently, he cracked the genomes of several dust mite species, which can be linked to the house dust mite allergy. He received Excellent Research Award from Food and Health Bureau in 2019 and is now holding three US patents.

 

Abstract: 
As an active player of biomedical research, Stephen Tsui’s team had established four biomedical companies and two of them (BioMed Technology Holdings Limited and WellMind Biomed Technology Holdings Limited) are still operating in the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park. In this talk, he will present his experience in building a viable company, including the search of financial support, the recruitment of a cooperative team, and the role of a university professor in the company. He will also share his struggle and success in a balance between academic research and translational activities.

Date: Wednesday, 7 April 2021

Time: 4:00 – 5:30pm

Format: Conducted via Zoom

Zoom Link: https://bit.ly/3tUAcb0 

Meeting ID: 969 4786 1825

Passcode: 647158

 

Speaker: Professor Renchen LIU

Biography: 

Dr. Renchen Liu got his PhD. in Biochemical Engineering from Oxford University, UK. He's experienced in the high-tech sector, technology incubation and transfer with more than 12-year experience. Since 2011, he has been involved in building up overseas cooperation business of Research Institute of Tsinghua University in Shenzhen. Since November 2016, he has been appointed Vice Dean of Research Institute of Tsinghua University in Shenzhen and is responsible for the overseas cooperation, cross-border investment and industrial platforms.

Abstract: 
Being highly innovative and concentrating on high-tech industries, Shenzhen has now become a main growth engine in South China. Unicorns are rapidly emerging and developing in Shenzhen and Greater Bay area (GBA).

Research Institute of Tsinghua University in Shenzhen (RITS), as the first innovative R&D institution in China, co-founded by Shenzhen Municipal Government and Tsinghua University in December 1996, has established a comprehensive innovation and incubation system. RITS has served as a one-stop incubation platform in South China with integration of China settlement, technology enabling, talent training, funding support, science park support and internationalization outreach services.

A designated funding scheme has been set up to support the HK based labs and early-stage HK companies to deepen the R&D collaboration between GBA and HK, to encourage tech commercialization and business expansion in GBA and mainland China. We are happy to discuss cooperation opportunities with HK talents for joint Research & Development or Industrialization.

Date: Wednesday, 30 June 2021

Time: 4:00 – 5:30pm

Format: Hybrid, conducted face-to-face and via Zoom

Venue: Room G-05 (Seminar room 3), G/F, HKJCB, 5 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam, Hong Kong

Zoom Link: https://bit.ly/3jm3oFF

Meeting ID: 926 6934 2930

Passcode: 186122

 

Title: Build Ecosystems for Successful Innovations and Profitable Commercialization in HKU

Speaker: Dr Yiwu HE, Senior Advisor to the President and Chief Innovation Officer, The University of Hong Kong

Biography: 

Dr. Yiwu He currently serves as the Senior Advisor to the President and Chief Innovation Officer of The University of Hong Kong. Prior to this appointment, Dr. He served many senior executive roles including the deputy director and senior program officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Senior vice president and Global R&D head at BGI, Global Head of Human Biomarker Centers at GlaxoSmithKline,  the board director of P4 Medicine Institute, USA,  as well as the chair professor at University of Science and Technology of China.

During his tenure at the Gates Foundation, Dr. Yiwu He was responsible for multiple global health programs including diagnostics, drug and vaccine development.  He managed the foundation’s investments in the areas include HIV, TB, Pneumonia, Enteric Diarrhea, Polio and other infectious diseases. In addition, he established and managed multiple R&D programs in China under the directions of Bill Gates. He led multiple global initiatives involving countries from Africa, Southeast Asia, Europe and North America. He established significant networks globally for multilateral life science researches. His efforts in China helped the advancements of R&D of its biotech industry and particularly led to the large-scale vaccine productions with modern international standards that assured china’s first and second vaccines pre-qualified by World Health Organization.  

Before that, Dr. He was with GlaxoSmithKline for 10 years serving in various roles, most recently as the Global Head and Senior Director of Human Biomarker Centers. He led and oversaw efforts of a global organization to discover and apply human biomarkers in understanding diseases, drug efficacies, and reactions to support clinical studies conducted by GSK. He led or was also involved in multiple drug development programs at GSK including Tykerb, Cervarix, Avandia, and lamivudine

During his postdoc research at Harvard Medical School, he was involved in the development of the Angiogenesis theory against cancers.

Abstract: HK is behind many global cities in producing successful innovations, particularly commercialization beyond its financial and real estate business. This talk is to focus on many critical factors required for such success. The efforts in HKU to create an ecosystem that promotes and leads effective entrepreneurships will be discussed.