RISING STARS Professor Chen of the Division of Landscape Architecture was named one of the Top 50 Rising Stars by Geospatial World in 2024 in recognition of his work investigating the interaction loop between environmental change, human activities and public health. He uses geospatial big data and advanced interdisciplinary methods, and he has established the Future Urbanity & Sustainable Environment (FUSE) Lab at HKU to study how more sustainable and healthy cities can be achieved. Among his significant findings, he was the first to identify on a global scale the significant disparities in greenspace exposure between cities in the Global South and North. “HKU has been an excellent platform for both teaching and research, with opportunities for cross-faculty and cross-discipline collaboration. I engage and work closely with experts from social science, economics, computing, data science and engineering, which is fundamentally important to addressing complex systemic issues. I also work closely and learn from students and peers. The FUSE Lab has rapidly evolved into a vibrant research hub, and I enjoy working with students and postdocs to tackle pressing environmental challenges and nurturing the next generation of scientists and scholars in this field.” Dr Lyu, who recently completed her PhD in chemistry at HKU, was the first nominee from Hong Kong to be awarded the Schmidt Science Fellow, one of the most prestigious postdoctoral fellowships in the world. The fellowship allows her to be based in a top-ranking university – she has chosen the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – in a field that pivots from her PhD specialisation. Dr Lyu’s research has focussed on colloidal synthesis and self-assembly, where she has developed strategies for assembling anisotropic colloidal particles into hierarchical superstructures. Her findings hold exciting potential applications in optics, photonics, and cargo delivery. At MIT, she is based in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, researching soft materials and systems for advancing health and sustainability. “My experience at HKU was crucial in helping me achieve the fellowship. My advisor’s invaluable mentorship, the supportive lab environment, and opportunities to collaborate with distinguished researchers from HKU and abroad sharpened my research direction and provided new perspectives to tackle complex challenges. The funding opportunities and state-of-the-art facilities at HKU also supplied essential resources for my projects, enabling me to produce high-quality research.” Young scholars are making a mark and earning recognition for their achievements. Professor Wong in the Department of Pathology in the Faculty of Medicine has made important contributions towards understanding the major metabolic reprogramming machinery and immune evasion of liver cancer. In 2024, she received two major grants from national and local bodies to advance her research further. The National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of the National Natural Science Foundation of China awarded Professor Wong funds to explore the immune microenvironment of MASLD / MASH HCC – liver cancer involving metabolic dysfunctions, as opposed to viral triggers. She also received a Research Fellow Scheme grant from the Research Grants Council for work aimed at improving outcomes for patients with intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, a form of liver cancer with very poor treatment response, by focussing on the role played by mutations to the metabolic enzyme, IDH. “HKU is where I built my interest in liver cancer research. HKUMed, in particular, has given me a lot of opportunities to develop my career. Looking ahead, I hope that by understanding the pathogenesis of various types of liver cancer, our work can be potentially translated into new biomarkers and drugs that can be used clinically to achieve effective personalised treatment for liver cancer patients.” Professor Yang of the Department of Physics, who is also Belinda Hung Outstanding Young Professor, has won multiple awards in recent years for his groundbreaking work in the field of nanophotonics and free-electron optics. This year, he was named the sole Hong Kong recipient of the Xplorer Prize 2024, which recognises outstanding young scientists under 45 who demonstrate exceptional quality and innovation in their fields of research, and he won the Croucher Tak Wah Mak Innovation Award. Previously, he was named a Physical Science Fellow in the inaugural Asian Young Scientist Fellowship in 2023 and one of the 2022 Innovators under 35 (China) by MIT Technology Review, among other honours. He joined HKU in 2022. “HKU is a prestigious institution with a strong academic reputation both locally and internationally. It provides access to a wide range of research opportunities and resources and a collaborative environment. Also, the students here are great, and we are having fun together! This year, we derived a fundamental upper limit to the quantum interaction strength between free electrons and photons, which provides a simple golden rule of selecting electron and photon energy given their interaction separation. In future, we hope to observe exotic phenomena in light-matter interaction and use that for applications.” PROFESSOR YANG YI Assistant Professor Department of Physics PROFESSOR CHEN BIN Assistant Professor Department of Architecture PROFESSOR CARMEN WONG CHAK LUI Associate Professor Department of Pathology DR LYU DENGPING PhD Graduate Department of Chemistry 30 RESEARCH AND INNOVATION 31 HKU ANNUAL REPORT 2024
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