Research Projects - School of Biomedical Sciences, CUHK

Research led by Prof. Alfred S.L. Cheng pioneers new immuno-epigenetic combination therapy for clinical trial

Collaborative research led by Prof. Stephen K.W. Tsui and Prof. Qin Cao reveals conflicting and overly-optimistic AUPRC values produced by commonly used software tools

The area under the precision-recall curve (AUPRC) is a valuable metric for quantifying classification performance, particularly in situations with imbalanced classes like cancer diagnosis and cell type annotation.

Collaborative research led by Prof. GAO Bo unravels a critical role of Wnt/planar cell polarity signaling in vertebral development and in predisposition to congenital scoliosis

Congenital Scoliosis (CS) is the most common congenital spinal disorder caused by congenital vertebral malformations (CVMs), affecting approximately 0.5 to 1 in 1,000 live births. CS is influenced by genetic and environmental factors and exhibits diverse clinical presentations.

Research led by Prof. Hannah Hui reveals mechanism underlying sex-differences in adipose browning

Beige fat is gaining therapeutic interest due to its potential in combating obesity and other diseases. Starting from single clone analysis, Zhao et al. discovered that androgen receptor (AR) turns out to be a highly potent transcription factor in suppression of PRDM16, the key molecular switch in beige fat.

Unravelling the etiopathogenesis of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS) is the most common paediatric skeletal disease affecting more than 20 million adolescents worldwide. Despite its high prevalence and considerable physical and psychological impacts on patients and their families, the etiopathogenesis of AIS is still elusive and controversial. Preventive treatment and pharmacological intervention remain unavailable for AIS. Treatment is limited to managing spinal deformity post-onset, through bracing and/or invasive surgery.

A study led by Prof. Alfred Cheng Sze-lok uncovers novel nano-immunotherapy against fibrosis-associated liver cancer

Research led by Prof. Zhao Hui discovers maternally-defined epigenetic modification regulates reproductive isolation

Collaborative study led by Prof. Jiang Xiaohua and Prof. Ellis Fok reveals defective sperm chemotaxis as a potential cause of unexplained infertility

Collaborative study led by Prof. Albert Cheung Hoi-hung reveals enhanced replication of Omicron variants in brain organoids

Research led by Prof. Xia Yin discovers YAP controls water reabsorption in the kidney

Prof. Feng Bo develops liver-specific knock-in for safe gene therapy

The study led by Prof. Sham Mai-har deciphers Shh signaling-mediated cochlear hair cell differentiation

The research team led by Prof. Yao Xiaoqiang uncovers novel factor regulating actin dynamics in cancer cells

Prof. Chan Wai-yee’s team uncovers a distinct epigenetic mechanism of cardiomyogenesis

Prof. Blocki’s research team developed a platform to grow stable and functional human microvasculature-on-a-chip

Application of the biophysical principle of macromolecular crowding (MMC) to microvascular networks in microfluidic devices provides a reliable, flexible and versatile approach to stabilize engineered human microvessels under simulated physiological conditions. MMC promoted the enrichment of cellular junctions and basement membrane components, while reducing cellular contractility.

Bioactive glass-loaded microsphere as oral drug for IBD treatment

New therapy for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is needed due to primary drug failure or loss of response to drugs for patients suffering from the disease. The recent findings from the collaborative work led by Prof. Hon Fai Chan demonstrated that bioactive glass (BG), a clinically-approved bone graft material with immunomodulatory property, holds potential to treat IBD when taken orally.

Research findings by Prof. Alfred Cheng’s group uncovers obesity-induced immune dysregulation promotes liver cancer development

Capturing complex relationships of biological objects using graph neural networks

A study led by Prof. Hannah X.Y. Hui reveals a cross-talk between liver and adipose tissue

Modeling Cancer with Human Embryonic Stem Cells

Research by Prof. Chan Wai-yee’s group identifies bone developmental defects in Werner Syndrome