Bulletin No. 2, 2016

46 Chinese University Bulletin No. 2, 2016 intellectuAl cross-currents Shaw Laureates Shed Light on Rett Syndrome Therapy Two 2016 Shaw laureates in Life Science and Medicine delivered lectures on 28 September at Shaw College to 430 staff and students from CUHK and local universities, professionals in the field, as well as secondary school teachers and students. Prof. Adrian Bird (2nd right), Buchanan Professor of Genetics, Wellcome Trust Centre for Cell Biology, University of Edinburgh lectured on ‘From DNA Methylation to Brain Function’, while Prof. Huda Zoghbi (2nd left), Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular and Human Genetics Baylor College of Medicine, talked about ‘Rett Syndrome: From the Clinic to Genomes, Epigenomes, and Neural Circuits’. They were awarded for their discovery of the genes and the encoded proteins that recognize one chemical modification of the DNA of chromosomes.The modification influences gene control as the basis of the developmental disorder Rett syndrome. Principal of St. Hugh’s College, University of Oxford on Justice The Rt. Hon Dame Elish Angiolini, DBE QC, Principal of St. Hugh’s College, University of Oxford, was invited to hold a public lecture under the Mok Hing Yiu Visiting Professorship Scheme on 29 September. As the former Lord Advocate, the head of Scotland’s prosecution service, and the first woman in the 500-year history of that post, Dame Elish was made a DBE in 2011. Talking on the theme ‘Justice and the Misunderstood’, she explored the extent to which knowledge of human behaviour influences the responses of systems of justice. From Ebola Epidemic to Brutal Hospital Attacks The University hosted the LUI Che Woo Prize—Prize for World Civilization Public Lecture on 5 October. Mr. Rémi Carrier (left) and Dr. Natasha Reyes (right), representatives of Médecins Sans Frontières and awardees of the prize in the welfare betterment category, spoke on ‘From the Worst Ebola Epidemic to the Brutal Hospital Attacks—the First-hand Experience and Perspective of Médecins Sans Frontières’. Nobel Laureate on Scientific Research and Clean Energy Prof. Steven Chu, William R. Kenan, Jr., Nobel laureate in Physics 1997, former US Secretary of Energy, Professor of Physics and Professor of Molecular and Cellular Physiology of Stanford University, was invited to visit United College in October as the College’s Distinguished Visiting Scholar in 2016–17. He delivered lectures on ‘A Random Walk in Science’ and ‘Energy, Climate Change and a Low Cost Path Forward’. Professor Chu was the first scientist to hold a cabinet position and the longest serving Energy Secretary.