Brilliant Bioscientists Bound for Oxbridge

In his long autobiographical poem The Prelude, British romantic poet William Wordsworth recalls his days at Cambridge: ‘Near me hung Trinity’s loquacious clock, / Who never let the quarters, night or day, / Slip by him unproclaimed, and told the hours / Twice over with a male and female voice.’ The clock chimes and soaring Gothic spires of Oxbridge should keep two CUHK graduands good company, as they commence their studies in the oldest, tradition-steeped universities to pursue their dreams of scientific research.

Rice Siu, a biochemistry graduand, secured Esther Yewpick Lee Millennium Scholarship, one of the handsomest and most prestigious CUHK scholarships, at over one million, to pursue a DPhil—Doctor of Philosophy—in neuroscience at Oxford. Molecular biotechnology graduand Chris Ng is setting off for Cambridge on Gates Cambridge Scholarship, a renewable full award of $550,000 a year, to read for a PhD in pharmacology.

Afflicted with insomnia during junior high school, Siu had once suspended her studies. She caught up on schoolwork as her health condition improved in senior years, eventually making it to CUHK. At University, she took part in professor-led research projects, which studied protein structures of Helicobacter pylori—a bacterium found in people’s stomachs—and influenza viruses. As the pandemic struck, Siu assisted in organizing seminars on campus to help junior students missing out on lab classes learn about experimental research.

The hard times she experienced in early years brought Siu to sympathize with the vulnerable and sick. ‘Success is the understanding of equity. Equity is showing love and respect. Love yourself as you love others, and vice versa,’ she told CUHK Newsletter.

Prof. Shaw Pang-chui, the teacher whom she has an affinity with at the University, congratulated her on getting the scholarship. ‘It is great achievement for an undergraduate student,’ he said. ‘I hope Rice will strive toward the goal of becoming not only an accomplished scientist, but also a great scholar.’

Heading to Oxford, the cradle of neuroscience experts, Siu is going to unveil the mystery surrounding neural circuits and sleep mechanism, providing silver linings to those in need.

Ng is among the 74 Gates Cambridge scholars from 30 countries. Inspired by his mother who is a nurse, he cultivated an interest in biology and medicine when he was small. At CUHK, through Prof. Wong Kam-bo’s lively classes, he first learnt about the close connexion between protein structure and formation of diseases, how the former gives us a glimpse of the latter and in turn helps with drugs development. Later he joined Professor Wong’s lab, which has since sealed his fascination with protein research.

‘Chris worked as an intern in my research lab from 2018 to 2020. Supervising him was a joy as he has the quality of a promising scientist who works hard and works smart. I congratulate him for the award of the Gates Cambridge Scholarship, which allows him to pursue his dream to study PhD at Cambridge,’ Prof. Wong Kam-bo said, wishing his student all the best.

‘It is my honour to be one of the awardees and be able to contribute to the scholarship’s aim that is to create an extensive talent network to develop innovative solutions for some of the world’s hugest problems,’ remarked Ng.

‘With all the hearty support from professors in CUHK and the diversity of my programme’s curriculum, my entire journey of studying at CUHK becomes an immense inspiration to me to dive deeper into molecular biology research.’

At Cambridge, Ng will be joining the lab of pharmacology expert Laura Itzhaki to explore how protein structure may be modified for drugs against cancer and immune system diseases.

By amyli@cuhkcontents