2017 Symposium on "Reparative Medicine and Beyond"

After the opening remarks by Ronald Li, Director (HK node), MWLC, an extremely intensive day followed with 25 presentations limited to ten minutes each for everyone to get a glimpse of colleagues’ recent research. Between the five different sessions there were time for questions.

• Gonçalo Castelo-Branco, Danny Leung, Zongli Zheng and Angela Wu presented their research in the Epigenetics and genetics of stem and cancer cells session.
• Ken Yung, Linxian Li, Simon Elsässer and Anderson Shum presented their research in the State-of-the-art bioengineering part I session.
• Xin Zhao, Youhua Tan, Weiping Wang, Sijie Chen, Ran Wang and Bo Feng presented their research in the State-of-the-art bioengineering part II session.
• Fredrik Lanner, Tom Cheung, Ning Xu Landén, Jiahai Shi, Chunyi Wen and Chao Wan presented their research in the Stem cell and regenerative biology session.
• Christian Göritz, Francois Lallemend, Elly Ngan, Wenjun Xiong and Gary Tse presented their research in the Nervous system regeneration session.

During breaks the participants mingled and exchanged ideas. The symposium was aimed towards more junior researchers.

The day ended by a closing remark by Ola Hermanson, Scientific Director, MWLC.

The symposium “Reparative Medicine and Beyond” at Science Park took place on 17 February 2017 and was co-organized by Karolinska Institutet, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, The University of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

PROGRAMME

Epigenetics and genetics of stem and cancer cells
Harnessing microfluidics in few-cell and single-cell manipulations for biological discovery
Angela Wu, Assistant Professor
Division of Life Science, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Validation of gene rearrangement functions using the CRISPR-Cas9 system
Zongli Zheng, Assistant Professor
Ming Wai Lau Centre for Reparative Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Hong Kong (pending)

Epigenetic regulation of non-coding sequences in development and diseases
Danny Leung, Assistant Professor
Division of Life Science, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Modulating the epigenetic state of oligodendrocyte lineage cells to induce remyelination in multiple sclerosis
Gonçalo Castelo-Branco, Associate Professor
Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet

State-of-the-art bioengineering part I
All-aqueous droplet microfluidics for bioengineering
Anderson Shum, Associate Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong

Function of short peptides encoded by sORFs (sPEPs) for identifying new biomarkers and drug targets
Simon Elsässer, Assistant Professor
Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institutet

Biomaterials and biointerfaces for drug delivery, discovery, and tissue engineering applications
Linxian Li, Assistant Professor
Ming Wai Lau Centre for Reparative Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Hong Kong (pending)

Neural stem cell harvest using nanotechnology
Ken Yung, Professor
Department of Biology, Hong Kong Baptist University

State-of-the-art bioengineering part II
Photocrosslinkable gelatin for tissue regeneration
Xin Zhao, Assistant Professor
Interdisciplinary Division of Biomedical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Mechanical regulation of cancer cell plasticity
Youhua Tan, Assistant Professor
Interdisciplinary Division of Biomedical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Photoresponsive nanoparticles for drug delivery
Weiping Wang, Assistant Professor,
Dr. Li Dak-Sum Research Centre, The University of Hong Kong (HKU) - Karolinska Institutet Collaboration in Regenerative Medicine, The University of Hong Kong

Novel luminescent materials and methods for studying mechanobiology
Sijie Chen, Assistant Professor
Ming Wai Lau Centre for Reparative Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Hong Kong

Robotic microinjection for gene editing
Ran Wang, Postdoctoral Fellow
Department of Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong

CRISPR/Cas9-mediated nnock-in of large DNA in human cells
Bo Feng, Assistent Professor
School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chineses University of Hong Kong

Stem cell and regenerative biology
Pluripotency, embryonic stem cells and regenerative medicine
Fredrik Lanner, Assistant Professor
Department of Clinical Science Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institutet

Molecular regulation of adult stem cell quiescence and activation
Tom Cheung, Assistant Professor
Division of Life Science, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Regulatory RNAs in wound-edge keratinocytes: new perspectives towards treating chronic wounds
Ning Xu Landén, Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet

Shark antibodies engineer stem cell derived red blood cells for target therapies
Jiahai Shi, Associate Professor
Department of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong Kong

Fight osteoarthritis via directing endogenous mscs for repair
Chunyi Wen, Assistant Professor
Interdisciplinary Division of Biomedical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Hypoxia signaling and skeletal tissue regeneration
Chao Wan, Associate Professor
School of Biomedical Sciences, The Chineses University of Hong Kong

Nervous system regeneration
Central nervous system scarring and repair
Christian Göritz, Associate Professor
Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institutet

Genetic control of neuronal survival during development
Francois Lallemend, Associate Professor
Department of Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet

iPSC models for studying neural crest
Elly Ngan, Associate Professor
Department of Surgery, The University of Hong Kong

A gene therapy approach to stimulate retinal regeneration
Wenjun Xiong, Assistant Professor
Department of Biomedical Sciences, City University of Hong Kong

Modeling arrhythmias
Gary Tse, Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong