Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 2007

Point ing a New Way for Pros tate Cancer Treatment Researchers from the Departments of Anatomy and Surgery, including Prof. Anthony Ng (left) and Prof. Franky Chan (right), discovered a new cell signalling pathway that is implicated in the development of prostate cancer. They found that stimulation of the expression of ERR , a particular sub- type of oestrogen receptor-related receptors (ERR), either directly or by means of the ERR -specific drug DY131, can significantly suppress the growth of two prostate cancer cell lines, LNCaP and DU145. The finding, published in the leading international journal Cancer Research , implies the presence of a new therapeutic target for prostate cancer — the fourth most commonly diagnosed male tumour in Hong Kong. Over 700,000 new cases are diagnosed each year worldwide. RGC Research Grants 2007–2008 A total of 167 research proposals submitted by academic and research staff of the University have been awarded HK$107.487 million (22%) of Competitive Earmarked Research Grants from the Research Grants Council (RGC) for the year 2007–08. These projects fall into four subject disciplines: biology and medicine (45); engineering (51); physical sciences (29); and the humanities, social sciences and business studies (42). The University also received HK$14.97 million (23%) from RGC's Direct Allocation to finance small research projects. News in Brief 41