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Laboratory for Synthetic Chemistry and Chemical Biology

Laboratory for Synthetic Chemistry and Chemical Biology

A Tripartite Alliance Forged to Harness the Power of Chemical and Biomedical Science

Institutes

We envision that by integrating the strengths of the HKU-ICL-PKU tripartite alliance and industrial partners, the Laboratory will evolve into a world-class centre for discovery of therapeutics and diagnostics that will showcase Hong Kong’s potential to develop innovative chemical and biomedical research enterprises. I hope to see and contribute to the quest of making relatively non-toxic medicines to improve survival outcomes for cancer patients a reality
Professor Chi-Ming Che, Zhou Guangzhao
Professor in Natural Sciences and Head of the Department of Chemistry at The University of Hong Kong

A Tripartite Alliance Forged to Harness the Power of Chemical and Biomedical Science

Improving survival outcomes in cancer patients is the ultimate goal for every treatment. But to make it a reality, discovery of new medicines and modalities for anti-cancer treatments will be required. This is the dual challenge researchers from around the world working at the Laboratory for Synthetic Chemistry and Chemical Biology are undertaking.

Drawing on world-class talent from both East and the West, a tripartite alliance has been forged among three renowned international universities in Hong Kong, Mainland China and the United Kingdom to work with local research organisations to set forth on a journey to conduct impactful research in drug discovery and biomedical diagnostics using advanced synthetic chemistry and chemical biology.

The Laboratory aims to integrate chemical science and biomedical science to develop new molecular medicines and diagnostics tools for the analysis and treatment of human diseases, in particular, cancer. New chemotherapeutic agents with advanced selective targeting of cancer cells and relatively non-toxic natural product compounds derived from traditional Chinese medicines for treatment of drug-resistant and metastatic cancers will be evaluated and used in precision and personalised oncology and immuno-oncology as future cancer treatments.

Four interdisciplinary programmes will be conducted in the Laboratory: 

  • Synthetic Chemistry
  • Chemical Biology of Natural Products and Chinese Medicine
  • Metal Anti-cancer Medicine, Diagnostics and Theranostics
  • Multi-Omics and Innovative Analytical Technologies.

The Laboratory plans to build strategic collaborations with international and national institutes and the pharmaceutical industry, particularly in the Greater Bay Area, to co-develop innovative patentable drug leads and medical diagnostic probes. It also plans to attract a critical mass of talent who share a passion for research and desire to nurture the next-generation of young scientists for interactive collaboration and dialogue between academics and industries in Hong Kong, China and the United Kingdom.

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