Wing Tat Lee Awardees Named

Four faculty members were named recipients of the 2017 Wing Tat Lee awards, funded to establish cooperative research programs between BUSM and Chinese universities, with particular emphasis on those in Hong Kong, while further deepening the friendship and mutual understanding between these institutions.

COM Joseph MizgerdJoseph P. Mizgerd, ScD, Director of the Pulmonary Center, Professor of Medicine, Microbiology, and Biochemistry, will study Rhinovirus C, a recently discovered respiratory virus that may be an important cause of pneumonia and may exacerbate asthma, especially in children. This project will develop tools to study the virus, including the specific lung cells it infects and the immune response it elicits, laying the groundwork for important new and more substantial lines of collaborative research. Dr. Wan Yi (Renee) Chan at the Chinese University of Hong Kong will provide the virus, quantify viral burdens, and also contribute imaging and molecular analyses. Dr. Mizgerd received his ScD from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

 

COM Tatfong NgTatfong Ng, PhD, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology, will co-organize an inaugural symposium with Dr. Amy Cheuk Yin Lo at The University of Hong Kong between the two departments of Ophthalmology. This symposium provides a platform for eye researchers in both departments to share and exchange scientific knowledge on the latest approaches in vision science, establishing a strong connection and laying the foundation for new collaborations in basic and clinical vision research. Dr. Ng received his PhD in Anatomy from The University of Hong Kong.

 

 

COM Shanshan SheehyShanshan Sheehy, MD, ScD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, will develop computational and bioinformatics algorithms to analyze electronic medical records data to determine if flare and inflammation-related arthritis can be identified using Natural Language Processing. Dr. Sheng Yu at Tsinghua University will provide his statistical expertise on the Natural Language Processing methodology and give a seminar in August to develop further collaborations. Dr. Sheehy received her MD from Fudan University, Shanghai, China, her ScD from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health and her MsC from McGill University in Canada.

 

COM Qiong ZhouQiong L. Zhou, PhD, Assistant Professor of Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics, will collaborate with professors Chunhong Huang and Zhangping Liao and Sijiao Na, a PhD student now in Dr. Zhou’s laboratory, all from Nanchang University School of Medicine. They will study the molecular mechanisms of Western-Type High-Fat Diet-induced obesity and Diabetes focusing on immune cells, neutrophils, and how they change with diets and aging. Dr. Zhou received her PhD from King’s College, University of London.