Author: hkbioadmin

Dr. Li Xiao Yi Benjamin, is the founder and director of the Lee’s Pharmaceutical Holdings Ltd. Dr. Benjamin Li holds a Ph.D. of Pharmacology from the University of Illinois at Chicago and was a postdoctoral fellow with Parke- Davis Research Division of Warner-Lambert Company, a major pharmaceutical company in United States during 1992 and 1993. He joined the Group in February 1994 and has since been responsible for and concentrate his time and professional efforts on the research and development of the Group’s new products. Dr. Li has numerous publications in medical journals and patents including “A peptidase in human platelets that deamidates tachykinins”, “Antithrombosis Enzyme from The Snake Venom of Agkistrodon Acutus”, “Topical Interferon and its Preparation Methods” etc.

Professor Leung Yun-chung, Thomas

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University: Kowloon, HK, CN

Professor (Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology)

Vice chairman (HKBIO)

Phone : +852 3400 8661

Mail : thomas.yun-chung.leung@polyu.edu.hk

Professor Thomas Leung currently serves as the Director of the Lo Ka Chung Research Centre for Natural Anti-Cancer Drug Development at PolyU. His research areas include biotechnology, protein engineering and cancer drug discovery. Focusing on translational research, Prof. Leung developed recombinant arginase molecules for disease treatments. The research was based on his pioneering work indicating that human arginase can starve cancer cells to death whilst leaving normal cells unharmed. 

Prof. Thomas Leung was also conferred the title Lo Ka Chung Charitable Foundation Endowed Professor in Pharmaceutical Sciences, endowed by Lo Ka Chung Charitable Foundation Limited. Furthermore, he has the following Honors and Awards:  

[1] President’s Award for Excellent Performance/Achievement 2004/05 (Research Activities) 

[2] Special Gold Award (33rd International Exhibition of Inventions, Geneva, 2005) 

[3] Technology Transfer Award (PolyU, 2005) 

[4] Technology Transfer Award (PolyU, 2006) 

[5] High Impact Achievement Award for Research Achievement (PolyU, 2009) 

[6] Prize of the State of Geneva (37th International Exhibition of Inventions, Geneva, 2009) 

[7] SEED Competition Finalist Award, 2010 

[8] The 2013 State Natural Science Award (2nd Class), presented by the Ministry of Education, P. R. China: Fluorescent Biosensing and Probe Technology [國家教育部2013年度高等學校科學研究優秀成果獎: 國家自然科學獎(2等獎) – 螢光生物傳感及探針技術]

[9] PolyU Distinguished Knowledge Transfer Award 2017 

[10] PTeC’s Outstanding Professional Services Award 2017

[11] Champion Award in the Health Future Challenge 2022, PolyU

[12] Champion Award in the Health Future Challenge 2023, PolyU

[13] International Federation of Inventors’ Associations IFIA Best Invention Award, Geneva, 2023

[14] Gold Medal, Congratulations of the Jury, International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva, 2023

[15] Faculty Awards for Outstanding Achievement 2023 – Knowledge Transfer: Industry

Prof. Tin-Lap Lee is an Associate Professor in the School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Before joining CUHK in 2011, he was a Staff Scientist at the Laboratory of Clinical Genomics, National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) at National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States and Project Coordinator at National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).

Prof. Lee is a Hong Kong native. He obtained his undergraduate degree in molecular biology at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 1997, and went on to obtain his Ph.D. in anatomical and cellular pathology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. In 2001, he was invited to serve as a Visiting Fellow at National Institute of Deafness and Communication Disorder, National Institutes of Health in 2001 to study the molecular and genome biology of head and neck cancer.

Recognizing that a revolution was beginning in genome biology, he pursued studying bioinformatics at National Institute of Bioinformatics and became a Certified Bioinformatics Specialist in 2002, and continue his new scientific adventure in Laboratory of Clinical Genomics, National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) in 2004 to decode the regulatory mechanisms in developmental biology by using male germ cell and tumor models.

Prof. Lee has made a number of accomplishments in molecular and genome biology. He invented the first non-invasive method to detect epigenetic alterations in gastric cancer patients and led to prestigious Scholar-in-Training Award conferred by American Association for Cancer Research in 2001. He also discovered of p53 and NF-Kappab as the key segregating factors for molecular differentiation of head and neck cancer, which was featured on the cover of Clinical Cancer Research. His achievement in bioinformatics revolutionized dynamic analysis of Serial Analysis of Gene Expression (SAGE) data for revealing novel regulatory targets and mechanisms in male germ cell and gonad development. The work was featured on the cover of Genomics and was recognized by National Institutes of Health by prestigious NIH Merit Award in 2005 and The Fellows Award for Research Excellence in 2006. His research performance has also been recognized by Government Employee Performance Awards. He is the author of 63 publications in peer-reviewed journals with more than 1500 citations, and 70 meeting abstracts in national scientific meetings. He has served as government panel member in the genome science policy study, members in various scientific societies and mentor in undergraduate and post-graduate research programs.

Professor Chau has over 30-year extensive experience in venture development and investment in the Asian Pacific region. He is the Founding Chairman of PAVD (http://pavd.info), a non-profit oriented platform with over 80 active angels, super-angels, venture capitalists and private equity investors. In addition, he is in the Board of several technology ventures and listed companies. Academia wise, he is adjunct professor in the CUHK Business School and Shenzhen Finance Institute, teaching courses covering venture capital & private equity, entrepreneurship, fundraising, technology commercialization in EMBA, MBA and MBM programs. He is also a Specialist of the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications.

Prior to the current engagements, he was professor of practice in entrepreneurship in the CUHK Business School, adjunct professor in the NUS Business School, professor in the Asia University (Taiwan), the Program Director of the PAVD-RAIN (Round-A-INvestors) Program and the Curriculum Director of the Protégé VC Training Program in Singapore Management University. He holds an applied mathematics degree, a law degree, a master degree and a doctorate degree in business administration, and is a fellow member of The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants of the United Kingdom.

Professor Wendy Hsiao, obtained her Ph.D. Degree from Columbia University in 1985, is an expert in cancer molecular biology, Wnt and MAPK signaling, with recent research focus on anti-cancer, cancer preventive, anti-inflammatory and anti-hyperlipidemia herbal medicines. She has published more than 70 articles in major journals including Science, Nature, Cell, Molecular Cellular Biology, Oncogene, Cancer Research, Clinical Cancer Research, Carcinogenesis, J Pathology, J Natural Products. 

Currently, Professor Hsiao is carrying out several major research projects in her laboratory that include a Collaborative Research Project on “Discovery and development of biomarkers for evidence-based Chinese medicines using the proteomic technology platform” and a General Research Grant working on the anticancer effects and the underlying mechanism of a medicinal herb, Jia-gu-lan. Prof. Hsiao holds patents in US, Europe and China. In addition to her effort in TCM research, she also devotes a major fraction of her time in promoting TCM education.