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

4 5 Liver Pioneers Win Top Prize A pioneering team of liver transplant surgeons beat 800 entrants to win one of the Mainland’s top scientific awards. The prize marks the first time Hong Kong scientists have won first- class honours in the State Scientific Technological Progress Award. Sun Chieh Yeh Chair of Hepatobiliary Surgery Professor Fan Sheung Tat and his Department of Surgery team – Chair of Hepatobiliary Surgery Professors Lo Chung Mau, Honorary Professor Liu Chi Leung and Honorary Clinical Assistant Professor Chan See Ching – have gained a global reputation for their unique adult-to-adult right lobe liver transplant, first conducted at Queen Mary Hospital a decade ago. Since then the team has refined the procedure to increase the survival rates. To date more than 230 operations have been conducted with a success rate of over 95%, making it the highest in the world. Conventional liver grafts from a live donor use the smaller left lobe which is unsuitable for most adults. Our team’s technique of using right lobe grafts has proved a life-safer in Asian countries with low organ donations. Professor Lo Chung Mau said: “The technique has been adopted all over the world including USA, European countries such as Germany, France, Spain, Italy. “But the largest impact has perhaps been in Asia where the organ donation rate is very low. Japan and Korea, for example, have the highest need for this operation.” Despite reporting the technique at various international conferences and in many medical journals the transplant team has never received a formal award for its work. “We feel most honoured and excited by this award. This is a prestigious national award that formally recognizes the impact of this innovative operation which we first introduced in 1996,” said Lo. University’s Vision for Modernity T he University’s vision for a modern campus, encompassing more space and a more sustainable environment, moved one step closer with the unveiling of the Centennial Campus Development Plan last month. The Centennial Campus Development Plan incorporates ideas for the development of the Western Expansion, unveiled in the 2000 Millennium Master Plan and highlighted in last edition of The Bulletin (Vol. 7, No.1) as well as a vision for rejuvenating the Main Campus and Sassoon Road University area. The implementation of the new four-year curriculum and the University’s aim for further internationalization will mean that student numbers could increase by 40 – 50% in the next 5 – 10 years, with a commitment to increase the number of academic staff by 200. The Centennial Campus will provide the University with about 42,000 square metres of much needed extra space although the Main Campus could benefit from a total provision of about an extra 100,000 square metres in the next 10 – 20 years. It is envisioned that the campus will stretch in an elongated corridor from the Dental Hospital in Sai Ying Pun, through the Main Campus and Sports Centre of Pokfulam Road down to the Medical Campus in Sassoon Road and on to Sandy Bay. It will provide MTR access to the new West Island Line that will be completed in 2012. Four architectural consortia have been invited to present their vision for a campus that will meet the demands of this expanding staff and student population. The consortia – each comprising a local and international architectural firm – were asked to generate ideas that embraced our four planning principles: • A Learning Community that supports intellectual curiosity, social well-being and the spiritual life of all its residents and visitors • The Environment and Heritage that is so cherished by the University and we seek to promote a sustainable community that respects this history, culture and natural setting • A Unified Campus that will enrich the whole community • An Open and Respected Process through which we will invite all those who have an interest in the University’s future to share their views with us. Professor John Malpas, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor responsible for this project stressed that the concepts provided by the four architectural consortia are designed only to generate ideas and promote dialogue on the future campus development. LD Asia/Capita Percy Thomas have proposed a network of buildings, for the western expansion, stretching like ‘green fingers’ from the contours of the hillside and sweeping northwards to engage with the city. At the centre of the enlarged campus they see a new functional gateway that will serve as a landmark which will provide balance to the campus as whole. Dennis Lau and Ng Chun Man Architects and Engineers (HK) Ltd/Skidmore Owings and Merrill’s vision rediscovers the ‘remarkable history and geography of the site’, creating natural parkland and reconnecting the University with the surrounding community. Their design is organized around a commons courtyard with faculty towers arranged on a raised podium. Wong and Ouyang (HK) Ltd/Sasaki Associates, Inc. have suggested a Master Plan founded on sustainable principles, the heritage of the current campus buildings and the judicious use of resources. They have suggested a car-free campus, three gateways to provide a strong community connection, academic courtyards and the utilization of rooftop solar panels. Leigh and Orange Ltd/Ayers/Saint/Gross Architects and Planners offer a plan for a university walk that connects the east and west areas of the campus, a new learning commons that acts as a physical gateway between the two and sustainable strategies for energy efficiency. Funding of up to $1.2 billion for the development of the Centennial Campus alone is expected from the Government through the University Grants Committee, and the University is seeking donations of a further $1.3 billion to cover the remaining costs. For more information on the concepts please visit the University website at www.hku.hk/centcampus. DEVELOPMENT NEWS ROUND-UP Professor Lo Chung Mau (left) Professor Fan Sheung Tat (right).