HKU Bulletin September 2007 (Vol. 9 No. 1)

36 37 Professor Benjamin Wong Chun Yu Professor, Department of Medicine P rofessor Wong, a special ist in gastroenterology and hepatology in the Department of Medicine, is one of the top 1% most cited scientists in clinical medicine. His main research interest is the prevention and treatment of stomach cancer and colon cancer, and in recent years he has been looking at how stomach cancer is caused by a bacterium called Helicobacter pylori which has infected half of the world’s population. Through a ground-breaking research programme launched in Fujian province in 1994, he has discovered that early treatment of the bacteria with antibiotics can decrease the rate of stomach cancer and save the lives of millions of people worldwide. These findings have been widely reported, and have significantly influenced international clinical practice and health care policy in stomach cancer prevention. With the active support of Professor S. K. Lam, the former Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, his team has recently launched a campaign against stomach cancer in Mainland China to spread this vital message to the public. bcywong@hku.hk http://www.hku.hk/medicine/gastroenterology_staff.htm Professor David Lee Phillips Professor, Department of Chemistry P rofessor Phillips is an internationally-recognized scientist who uses time-resolved spectroscopy experiments to study very short-lived intermediates related to the chemical and photochemical damage of DNA. His recent work has focused on arylnitrenium ions, which attack guanine in DNA in the chemical carcinogenesis of aromatic amines (found in small amounts in automobi le fumes and tobacco smoke). His research group has recently completed a pioneering study of an arylnitrenium reaction with a guanine derivative, which provides valuable new information about how arylnitrenium ions attack guanine in DNA. phillips@hku.hk http://chem.hku.hk Outstanding Researcher Awards