Team:Hong Kong HKUST/hp/interview

Professor Albert Yu is the chairman of the Hong Kong Biotechnology Organization (HKBIO), and is also a professor of the Department of Neurobiology in Peking University, China. As an entrepreneur and a scientist, Prof. Yu gave us realistic insights to our project. Meeting Prof. Yu helped us to evaluate our project beyond the laboratory environment and to think about the possible future application as a biotechnology product. Towards the end of the interview, we also talked about the bio-ethics and bio-safety issues regarding synthetic biology.

Professor Juliana Chan is a professor of medicine and therapeutics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). She is also director of the Hong Kong Institute of Diabetes and Obesity, CUHK, co-director of CUHK-Prince of Wales Hospital International Diabetes Federation Centre of Education (IDFCE), and chief executive officer of the Asia Diabetes Foundation. With extensive knowledge on diabetes, obesity and clinical practice, Prof. Chan brought to our attention practical aspects of developing treatments for medical purposes. Meeting Prof. Chan helped us to understand more about the biochemistry of diabetes. Also, by giving us information on current treatments for obesity and diabetes, she allowed us to consider our work in context. Towards the end of the interview, we also talked about the regulations for the development of new treatments in medical fields.