Symposia & Seminars | MWLC

The 10th edition of the KI Conference “Developing Brains” gathers some of the leading scientists working on critical questions ranging from transcriptional and functional heterogeneity of neural cell types, mechanisms regulating their development and creation of mature neural circuits, and how it can affect disorders of the central nervous system.

The 8th edition of the KI Conference “Developing Brains" gathered some of the leading scientists working on critical questions ranging from transcriptional heterogeneity of neural cell types, their specification and maturation, to migration, myelination and creation of mature neural circuits.

Prof Fabian J. Theis, director of the Institute of Computational Biology at Helmholtz Center Munich, lectured on his newest methods using machine learning for single-cell data integration, and RNA velocity based methods for modelling dynamics and lineage commitment of single-cell gene expression data. This seminar was given on 25 February 2021.

The 7th edition of the KI Conference “Developing Brains" gathered 6 leading scientists working on critical questions ranging from transcriptional heterogeneity of neural cell types, their specification, to myelination and creation of mature neural circuits.

Professor Fiona Watt gave the Ming Wai Lau Centre Lecture entitled “Exploring Heterogeneity of Human Skin Cells” on 6 November 2019 co-hosted with The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Professor Rocky Tuan, Vice-Chancellor and President of CUHK welcomed the speaker and MWLC researchers to their campus.

This 2-day mini-symposium focused on the emerging roles of myelinating glial cells (oligodendrocytes and Schwann cells) in the CNS and PNS and gathered 25 leading scientists that are making fundamental contributions to and opening new avenues of research in this field.

The 6th edition of the KI Conference “Developing Brains” gathered 8 leading scientists working on critical questions ranging from transcriptional and functional heterogeneity of neural cell types, patterning during their specification, emerging roles of glia and creation of mature neural circuits.

The first Ming Wai Lau Centre Lecture in Sweden took place on 20 August 2019 at Biomedicum and was given by Professor Ben Zhong Tang from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Prof Tang told the exciting story of how he pioneered the field by discovering the phenomenon of “aggregation-induced emission” (AIE), the further development of novel AIE functional materials and how they are applied.

Dr Shunbo Li, Assistant Professor of School of Optoelectronics Engineering, Chongqing University, China lectured on the recent development of microfluidics and its use for separation and detection of bacteria. The seminar was given at MWLC Hong Kong on 30 July 2019.

MWLC hosted its first scientific symposium in Sweden "Advances in Reparative Medicine" on 15 May 2019. Twelve experts in the field presented research on the identification and characterisation of cell types/states in different tissues during development and in disease, novel technologies in tissue repair and disease modelling as well as bioengineering platforms with advanced biomaterials.

This symposium gathered 8 leading scientists working on critical aspects regarding neuron intrinsic axon growth inhibitors, extrinsic inhibition associated with myelin components and glial and fibrotic scar elements and remyelination as well as neurotechnology development, which has led to the development of therapeutic strategies to promote recovery following CNS injuries.

Professor Kevin Yip, Assistant Professor of Department of Computer Science and Engineering, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, lectured on genomics and epigenomics. This seminar was given at MWLC Hong Kong on 11 January 2019.

The symposium was co-organised by MWLC and Dr. Li Dak-Sum Research Centre, HKU. It featured a full day programme on topics including cardiac regenerative medicine, novel bioengineering technologies, and translational bench to bedside regenerative medicine.

Dr Xin Wang, Assistant Professor of Department of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong Kong, lectured on colorectal cancer. This seminar was given at MWLC Hong Kong on 14 November 2018.

Dr Gonçalo Castelo-Branco, Associate Professor of Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics and MWLC Stockholm node, Karolinska Institutet, lectured on the heterogeneity of the oligodendrocyte lineage. The seminar was given at MWLC Hong Kong on 29 October 2018.

The 5th edition of the KI Conference “Developing Brains” gathered 8 leading scientists working on critical questions ranging from heterogeneity of neural cell types, their specification, to myelination and creation of mature neural circuits.

Dr Puxiang Lai, Assistant Professor of Department of Biomedical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, lectured on optical imaging. The seminar was given at MWLC Hong Kong on 14 August 2018.

Professor Staffan Holmin, Head of Imaging and Physiology at Karolinska Institutet, lectured on the imaging and micro-endovascular navigation. The seminar was given at MWLC Hong Kong on 15 March 2018.

The symposium co-organised by MWLC and several universities in Hong Kong was an opportunity for our scientists to connect with other researchers locally to explore possibilities of collaboration. Topics covered during the day were epigenetics of stem cells, biomedical engineering, tissue repair and gene-editing.

Professor Eric Honoré, Director of Research at the Institute of Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology of the CNRS in France, lectured on the Mechanobiology of Ion Channels. The seminar was given at MWLC Hong Kong on 2 November 2017.

The 4th edition of the KI Conference “Developing Brains” gathered 8 leading scientists working on critical questions ranging from heterogeneity of neural cell types, their specification, to myelination and creation of mature neural circuits.

The symposium “Reparative Medicine and Beyond” aimed at giving a quick overview of the expertise in Hong Kong in the field of Reparative Medicine and to explore possibilities of collaboration between MWLC and universities in Hong Kong.