Newsletter No. 44

No.44 July 1993 CUHK Newsletter 30th Anniversary Celebration Activities Highlights for Summer 30th Anniversary Satellite Exhibition Date: 3rd to 5th August Venue: Ocean Terminal First International Conference on Mushroom Biology and Mushroom Products Date: 23rd to 26th August Venue: Sir Run Run Shaw Hall and Sha Tin Town Hall Organizer: Department of Biology HK$29 Million from the RGC for 56 Research Projects This year, the University has again outdone other tertiary institutions in the competitive bid for research grants made available by the Research Grants Council (RGC). For 1993-94 the Government has made available a total of HK$155 million to seven local tertiary institutions for research purposes: $49 million has been directly allocated to these institutions to finance projects costing less than $200,000 each; $6 million has been set aside for central allocation to strengthen the research base in various institutions; and $100 million has been earmarked for 192 deserving research proposals submitted by the academic and research personnel in the seven UPGC-funded institutions. Among the 192 research proposals selected by the RGC for support, 56 (i.e. 29 per cent) are CUHK projects. These 56 projects receive government grants totalling HK$29.348 million, or 29.5 per cent of the RGC budget for the purpose. In terms of the number of projects supported and total allocations received, the University achieved the highest score among the seven institutions. Here is a summary of the results of the RGC deliberations on bids submitted by seven local tertiary institutions: Institution No. of Project Supported Amount Allocated HK$million Percentage CUHK 56 29.348 29.5 University of HK 42 27.344 27.4 HK University of Science & Technology 44 20.435 20.5 City Polytechnic of HK 22 9.784 9.8 HK Polytechnic 18 8.39 8.4 HK Baptist College 9 3.818 3.8 Lingnan College 1 0.6 0.6 192 99.718 100.0 The 56 successful projects from CUHK fall into eight different areas: administrative, business and social studies (9); architecture (1); arts and language (2); biological sciences (6); computer science, information technology and mathematics (6); electrical and electronic engineering (3); medicine (17); and physical sciences (12). Further details about these projects will be given in the August issue of the CUHK Newsletter. The University's Research Committee has announced that applications for RGC research grants for 1994-95 are now being invited. Details and application forms are obtainable from the Research Administration Office (Ext.7866). Another Surgical Feat by University Doctors On 28th May, a team of doctors from the Faculty of Medicine set new records in the medical history of Hong Kong. They performed the first ever liver transplantation for a child. It was the first reduced-sized liver transplantation in Hong Kong. It was also the territory's first live-related liver transplantation. The operation involved the removal of part of a healthy man's liver, tailoring the liver graft to suit the needs of his three-year-old daughter, removing the child's diseased liver, and transplanting the father's liver graft to the child. The child, suffering from liver decompensation and a high level of bilirubin in her body, had been put on the waiting list for urgent cadaveric liver transplantation in March. As no cadaveric liver donor was forthcoming and her condition continued to deteriorate, her father volunteered to donate part of his liver to save her. It was a major surgical operation, technically extremely difficult because it involved four to five meticulous anastomoses as well as other metabolic and haemostatic problems. As the patient was a child, her frailty and small size posed additional difficulties. Surgeons had to operate under enormous tension and employ the use of optical magnification equipment during the process. The successful comp l e t i on of the operation marks a new era of paediatric hepatobiliary surgery in Hong Kong. It offers a solution to the lack of liver donors for children with terminal liver diseases. It demonstrates the Prince of Wales Hospital is able to provide a full spectrum of surgical options in treating children with biliary atresia. It further places Hong Kong among the few leading medical centres in the world capable of performing successful live-related liver transplantations. 3