Chemical Pathology Professor Dennis Lo Yuk-ming, often referred to as the “father” of Non-invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT), is one of leading researchers at CUHK who contribute extraordinary expertise to Hong Kong’s public healthcare system. Last year, he was awarded America’s top biomedical research prize for his discovery, which has revolutionised prenatal testing for Down syndrome. That clinical breakthrough has also laid foundations for the early detection of multiple types of cancer, creating life-changing impacts on patients around the world.
CUHK scholars continue to garner international accolades for their academic excellence. Remarkably, 13 of them were recognised among the most cited researchers of 2023 globally, while one has been elected as the only new Hong Kong member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Read more to find out what else they have achieved.
CUHK’s outstanding scholars and research have recently won several coveted international awards. In particular, Professor Dennis Lo received the prestigious Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award for his revolutionary non-invasive prenatal test. Additionally, CUHK Art Museum won the UMAC Award from the International Council of Museums Committee for University Museums and Collections. The University has also set new records in world university rankings, demonstrating CUHK’s influence and leading position in the global higher education community.
Scientific research has brought major changes to the world. CUHK brings together top researchers for the incubation of world-leading technologies into tangible applications and products under the university’s support. Advances in the fields of life and health technology, artificial intelligence, smart cities, robotics, and environment and sustainability have been in the spotlight in recent years. CUHK Innovation reveals the stories of CUHK scholars and alumni, and how they have applied innovative technologies in these fields to improve people’s health and life.
Playing a major role in enhancing the quality of human life, healthcare technologies, artificial intelligence and robotics technologies are the international global trends in the development of innovation and technology. CUHK has established six InnoHK Centres covering health, biomedicine, robotics and artificial intelligence in partnership with prestigious global universities.
In the past two months, CUHK scholars gained international recognition from various disciplines for their outstanding research achievement. Three medicine scholars’ effective translation of non-invasive prenatal test and cancer diagnostic approaches from scientific research level into clinical application, has earned them inclusion in “Top 20 Translational Researchers of 2020” by the world-renowned scientific journal Nature Biotechnology.
With a clear and pronounced emphasis on promoting “Research and Innovation”, CUHK has been working diligently to bring out talents and pioneers in the industry. Recently, CUHK scholars received global and national recognition for their research excellence, among whom Professor Dennis LO from Medicine has become the first Chinese scientist to receive the Royal Medal in biological sciences.
Science has the potential to change the world and the future of mankind. Through science, we can live a better life, or develop new vaccines, medicines, and technologies to prevent plagues, cure diseases, or explore the unknown possibilities. CUHK scholars reveal their research results on advancing human betterment. Their contributions to society have gained tremendous acclaim across global.
If they heard, 7 million women worldwide every year would applaud the award of the Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences 2021 to Professor Dennis Lo. In a paradigm shift in medical science, he discovered the presence of fetal DNA in maternal blood and developed non-invasive prenatal testing for Down syndrome and other genetic diseases.
Professors Dennis Lo and Rossa Chiu of the Faculty of Medicine, drew attention to the city as the only Hong Kong researchers in Nature Biotechnology’s “Top 20 Translational Researchers” for 2018, for their work on prenatal diagnostics. For Professor Lo, the first Chinese recipient of the Fudan-Zhongzhi Science Award, it’s the third time in the Top 20.