HKU Bulletin April 2006 (Vol. 7 No. 2)

24 25 Outstanding achievement on the part of the University’s teachers and researchers was recognized at the Award Presentation Ceremony for Excellence in Teaching and Research 2005, held on November 17, 2005. At the ceremony two University Teaching Fellowships were awarded and research awards were conferred on nine outstanding researchers. An exceptional Special Research Achievement Award was made to Professor Zhang Fu Chun of the Department of Physics. Speaking at this fifth annual ceremony, the Vice-Chancellor Professor Lap-Chee Tsui reminded his audience that outstanding achievement in both research and teaching lay at the heart of the University’s reputation. The Vice-Chancellor said that the University was determined to build on its existing achievements, and was making enormous efforts to sustain and improve its high standards in both teaching and research as it approached its centenary year. Nevertheless, he warned that there was no room for complacency. “Today’s ceremony reminds us of the high standards of excellence we have already achieved. I won’t quote the various encouraging statistics which we so often cite when we want to pat ourselves on the back, as you probably know them as well as I do. Besides, this University has never been content to rest on its laurels, and the important thing is that we continue to raise our standards. We will soon be 100 years old, and I am glad to say that we are approaching our centenary with undiminished vigour.” Professor Wang Gungwu, former Vice-Chancellor of the University and currently the Director of the East Asia Institute in the National University of Singapore was the Guest of Honour at the award ceremony. Professor Wang, who gave a concluding address at the ceremony, reminded his audience of the strenuous efforts made by each of the award winners. “We should remember that the citations we have heard read out today have compressed into a minute or so the achievements of many months, if not years, of painstaking effort dedicated to teaching or research. Today’s award winners have all devoted a great deal of time and effort to their work, and it is right that their efforts should be recognized in this way by the University.” Further information about the recipients of the research awards and their areas of research can be obtained from the website or email address provided after each article. Excellence in Teaching and Research, 2004-05 BATTLE AGAINST BIRD FLU Molecules that Protect A team of medical researchers, that discovered the immune system molecule that protects some people against the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), is now applying that knowledge to the battle against bird flu. Steve Lin Chen Lung, Honorary Professor in the Department of Surgery and principal investigator, and his team discovered that the homozygous L-sign molecule increased protection against SARS by 30 per cent. By binding to the coronavirus it degrades and effectively destroys the virus, reducing a patient’s susceptibility to the disease. Every individual carries two types of L-sign molcules, inherited from their parents. When the two molecules are the same length in the neck-region they are called homozygotes. L-sign molecules with different lengths in the neck region are called heterozygotes. In comparing the blood and lung tissue of some 300 SARS patients with more than 800 people who were unaffected by the virus the team discovered that those with homozygous L-sign molecules were less susceptible to the coronovirus than those with the heterozygous molecule. Amongst the 842 unaffected people studied 56.2 per cent of them carried the homozygous L-sign. The team also found a significant difference in the genotype and homozygotes and heterozygous distribution of the L-sign neck region between those of Chinese and Caucasians of European descent. Lin said: “It would be interesting to find out whether this might result in different susceptibility to SARS or other infections amongst different ethnic groups.” The findings, published in the January issue of the leading international scientific journal Nature Genetics , are currently being employed to investigate the possible role of L-sign in avian flu infection. “The results may also assist with treatment strategies against SARS infection,” said Lin. “For example, strategies to enhance the protective role of L-sign may help prevent or treat infectious diseases caused by respiratory pathogens, HIV, hepatitis C, Ebola or tuberculosis. “It may also be a factor to bear in mind for health workers in contact with patients with high-risk infectious diseases.” In 2003 SARS infected 1,755 people in Hong Kong and killed 299 of them. Professor Wang Gungwu