Newsletter No. 28

CUHK Newsletter No28 March 1992 has its own blood supply network. By keeping the network intact, doctors are able to use it to cover the hole, giving the wound a good surface to heal. Over the past five years, more than 130 such operations have been performed at the Prince of Wales Hospital, with a success rate of 98 per cent. The surgery has been highly commended by internationally renowned ear surgeons and as the reconstructive technique is developed locally, it has been named after the territory as the ‘Hong Kong Flap'. The viable 'Hong Kong Flap' raised during surgery ready for the reconstruction to begin. University to Benefit from More UPGCGrants for Research The Research Grants Council of the University and Polytechnic Grants Committee (UPGC) recently considered 21 proposals submitted by six local tertiary institutions to strengthen their research base, and decided to allocate grants totalling $5 million to finance two schemes, both of which were proposed and supported by the University: 1. HK$2.5 million to subsidize the cost of a Massively Parallel Computer to be installed at The Chinese University and managed by the University for research purposes. The University will make available the use of the equipment to other tertiary institutions, but users will have to pay a management fee. 2. HK$2.5 million to subsidize the cost of a Transmission Electronic Microscope to be installed at the City Polytechnic. As a major supporter of this project, The Chinese University shares the use of themicroscope with the City Polytechnic, the Hong Kong Polytechnic and the Baptist College. In addition to these two grants, the UPGC will disburse HK$1.2 million to six institutions for the acquisition of personal computers for researchers in the fields of arts, the humanities, social science, and business. The Chinese University will receive $0.2 million for the purpose, and the Research Committee w i l l deliberate on how the money should be spent. The Chinese University has been a major beneficiary of the research funds made available annually by the Government through the UPGC. In 1991-92 alone, CUHK received 35.4 per cent of its $63 million budget for research projects costing over $200,000, and 23.3 per cent of its $30 million budget for direct grants to finance smaller projects costing less than $200,000. Professor of Pharmacology Gives Inaugural Lecture Prof. Robert Jones, professor of pharmacology, delivered his inaugural lecture on 28th February. In his lecture entitled 'Discovering Drugs: An Unpredictable Occupation', Prof. Jones pointed out that the plant kingdom had historically been a rich source of useful drugs, and interest in medicinal plants was still high among pharmacologists. Progress in the research in natural drugs, he said, was closely linked to advances in synthetic and analytical organic chemistry. This has been well demonstrated by one broad class of drugs 一 the receptor antagonists, the best known examples being the β-blockers, which are important anti-hyperthensive agents. Prof. Jones then drew on his research experience in relation to antagonists for the thromboxane A2 receptor to explain how difficult it was to predict the relationships between chemical structure and biological activity. Open Day to introduce Postgraduate Engineering Programmes The Faculty of Engineering staged an open day on Saturday, 15th February to introduce its postgraduate programmes to prospective applicants. A series of talks on individual programmes were organized and guided tours of laboratories were arranged. Prof. Omar Wing, dean of the Faculty of Engineering, and departmental representatives were on the spot to explain the planned development of the faculty, financial aid for students and application procedures, and to answer questions raised by the participants. The open day attracted some 150 visitors. 2