Join us for an engaging and enlightening seminars and panel discussion, featuring by distinguished speakers from Zhejiang University-University of Edinburgh Institute, Zhejiang University and the School of Biomedical Sciences, HKU, which offers academic staff and students to participate in a dynamic exchange of ideas and insights from the esteemed experts in the field.

Host: Professor Yuanhua Huang
Venue: LT2, William M.W. Mong Block, HKUMed

Event rundown:
2:00 – 2: 20 pm Dr. Wanlu Liu
2:20 – 2:40 pm Dr. Di Chen
2:40 – 3:00 pm Dr. Yuan Yuan
3:00 – 3:20 pm Professor Jung Kim
3:20 – 3:40 pm Professor YH Huang
3:40 – 4:00 pm Panel discussion and Q&A

1. Speaker: Dr. Wanlu Liu Associate Professor, Zhejiang University-University of Edinburgh Joint Institute, Zhejiang University
   Title: Exploring Human T cells and TCRαβ repertoire at the single-cell level
   
   Biography
   Dr. Wanlu Liu is a tenured associate professor and assistant dean at the Zhejiang University-University of Edinburgh Joint Institute, Zhejiang University.  She also serves as an honorary lecturer at the University of Edinburgh and as an adjunct researcher in the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University. Dr. Liu earned her Bachelor of Medicine from Zhejiang University and her PhD from UCLA. Her research focuses on bioinformatics and computational immunology, particularly in developing databases and AI algorithms for single-cell and spatial omics to investigate the phenotypic and functional diversity of T cell receptors (TCRs). She has published  research papers in Cell, Nature Methods, Nature Communications, and Nucleic Acids Research. Dr. Liu leads projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and is an active member of the Immune Cell Biology Branch of the Chinese Society for Cell Biology and serves on the committee of the Zhejiang Bioinformatics Society.
    
2. Speaker: Dr. Di Chen, Assistant Professor, Zhejiang University-University of Edinburgh Institute, Zhejiang University
   Title: Epitranscriptomic regulation of human germ cell fate induction
   
   Biography
   Dr. Di Chen is a tenure-track assistant professor and assistant dean at the Zhejiang University-University of Edinburgh Joint Institute, Zhejiang University.  He also serves as an honorary lecturer at the University of Edinburgh and as an adjunct researcher in the Department of Reproduction at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University. Dr. Chen Received his Bachelor degree from Southwest Minzu University. He obtained his Master and PhD degrees from Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Scineces, where he focused on the functions of RNA-binding proteins in Drosophila germline stem cells. He joined Dr. Amander Clark’s lab at UCLA for post-doctoral training by focusing on transcriptional and epigenetic regulation of germ cell fate induction from human embryonic stem cells. Then he established his lab at Zhejiang Univeristy in 2019. His research centers on the RNA regulation in stem cell differentiation and disease conditions. He has published a serial of research papers as corresponding (and co-corresponding) author in Cell, Nature Communication, Journal of Genetics and Genomics, etc.
    
3. Speaker: Dr. Yuan Yuan, Assistant Professor, Zhejiang University-University of Edinburgh Institute, Zhejiang University
   Title: Embryonic origin of craniofacial mesenchymal stem cells
   
   Biography
   Dr. Yuan Yuan is a tenure-track assistant professor at the Zhejiang University-University of Edinburgh Joint Institute, Zhejiang University.  He also serves as an honorary lecturer at the University of Edinburgh and as an adjunct researcher in the Department of Oral Implantology at the Affiliated Stomatology Hospital of Zhejiang University. In 2016, Dr. Yuan earned his Ph.D. degree from the University of South Florida major in biomedical engineering. Then he joined the Center for Craniofacial Molecular Biology (CCMB) at the University of Southern California for post-doctoral training. He became senior research associate in 2020. His research strive to understand the regulatory mechanisms of stem cell fate decisions in craniofacial development and develop novel treatment strategies for birth defect. He has published research papers in Cell, Science Advances, Advanced Materials, etc. Dr. Yuan leads project funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
    
4. Speaker: Professor Jung Kim, Assistant Professor, School of Biomedical Sciences
   Title: Systemic effects of tumors on distant organs
   
   Talk Abstract
   Our work addresses arguably the most important question in cancer biology: How does cancer cause morbidity and mortality in the host? Cancer patients often experience symptoms that manifest at a distance from any tumor. Understanding the mechanisms of systemic physiological perturbations, called paraneoplastic syndromes, may benefit from investigation in non-mammalian systems. Using a Drosophila (fruit fly) adult model, we found that malignant tumor-produced cytokines drive widespread host activation of JAK-STAT signaling and cause disruption of distant organs. Interestingly, STAT activity is elevated in cells of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and renal tubules in tumor-bearing flies, resulting in aberrant BBB permeability and fluid retention, respectively. This presentation will provide detailed mechanisms underlying these findings and their potential applications in mammals.
   
   Biography
   Dr. Kim joined the School of Biomedical Sciences in September 2022 as an Assistant Professor investigating the impact of tumor-driven systemic inflammation on host morbidity and mortality using Drosophila melanogaster as a model system. Dr. Kim received his BSc and MSc degrees from Korea University (South Korea) and obtained his PhD degree from the University of Minnesota (USA). Dr. Kim then worked as a postdoc fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. Currently, Dr. Kim is focusing on the mechanisms by which chronic and systemic stress signaling pathways disrupt physiology in hosts with tumor burdens or high-fat diets.
    
5. Speaker: Professor Yuanhua Huang, Assistant Professor, School of Biomedical Sciences
   Title: Computational modelling of single-cell dynamics and spatial interaction
   
   Talk Abstract
   Single-cell sequencing technologies have become a powerful tool in dissecting cellular heterogeneity and disease progress. However, detecting cellular differentiation trajectories and identifying their regulations remain challenging from snapshots of cell populations. Here, we will first introduce our contributions to the RNA velocity methodology for inferring cellular transitions, followed by related extensions in a supervised setting for embryogenesis and regulation. We will also briefly highlight our latest focus on modeling spatial transcriptomics and histology for elucidating intercellular interactions.
   
   Biography
   Dr Huang is an assistant professor in the School of Biomedical Sciences and the Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). Prior to joining HKU, he was an EBPOD research fellow at the University of Cambridge and the European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI). Dr Huang completed his BEng in Automation from Tsinghua University (2013) and PhD in Informatics from the University of Edinburgh (2017). His lab works at the interface between machine learning, cellular genomics, and biomedicine, which has been supported by the NSFC Excellent Young Scientists Fund for single-cell data science.
   
   
    

For enquiries, please contact sbms@hku.hk.