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

36 37 Professor Zhang Fuchun Professor: Chair of Physics P rofessor Zhang’s research interest is theoretical condensed matter physics, particularly complex systems with strong correlations. He has already gained an international reputation in this field. The mathematical model Professor Zhang proposed together with Professor T.M. Rice at ETH-Zurich for high transition temperature superconductivity has become one of the most widely used microscopic models in physics, and has already been immortalized as the ‘Zhang-Rice singlet’. Professor Zhang has recently proposed a unified theory to link a class of superconductors to an insulating state of matter, called Gossamer superconductivity due to its tiny superfluidity, which may have been realized in a class of layered organic superconductors. Professor Zhang and his colleagues at the University have established the Centre of Theoretical and Computational Physics. This Centre has helped to raise the University’s reputation in the specialized world of highly visible condensed matter theory. fuchun@hkucc.hku.hk http://www.physics.hku.hk/~fczhang/ Special Research Achievement Award Professor Irene Ng Oi Lin Professor, Department of Pathology P rofessor Ng’s main research interest is liver cancer, a disease distressingly common both locally and internationally. She has been able to establish useful pathological and biological parameters for management of patients with this cancer. The long-term aim of her research is to understand why liver cancer develops and to elucidate its molecular mechanisms. Her laboratory has been involved in the identification and molecular characterization of a number of tumour suppressor genes and oncogenes. She has also been the chief pathologist of the liver transplant team at Queen Mary Hospital since its first successful liver transplantation in 1991. With over 300 publications and more than 200 peer-reviewed papers, she ranks among the world’s top 1% of researchers in the ISI list of the most cited scientists in clinical medicine. In recognition of the originality of her research, she was awarded the Croucher Senior Medical Fellowship 2005-06. Professor Ng thinks that research – the exploration of the unknown – is a way of life. She remains fascinated by the mystery of medical science, and firmly believes in teamwork. She is most grateful to the University, her Department, her collaborators and her family. iolng@hku.hk http://www.hku.hk/patho/staff/list/ing.html Outstanding Researcher Award