Newsletter No. 170

H U M A N N U T R I T I ON EXPERT LECTURES O N STARVATION Prof. Christiani Jeya Henry, professor of human nutrition at Oxford Brookes University in the UK, delivered a lecture en t i t l ed 'The B i o l o gy o f Human Starvation: Lessons for the 21st Century' at the University on 26th September. The lecture is a Royal Society Kan Tong Po Visiting Professorship Public Lecture. Prolonged starvation has formed a part of religious ceremonies for centuries. The history of man is in large part a chronicle of his quest for food. Hunger, or fear of it, has played a major role in shap i ng human des t i ny. F r om a biological perspective, the study of starvation provides great insights into the limits of human adaptation. In the lecture, Prof. Henry reviewed the various studies of human starvation over the centuries, and described the mechanisms by which the human body adapts to f ood deprivation. He also presented new thoughts on the biology of starvation and illustrated the i nd i v i dua l i ty of the response to starvation. Prof. Henry is the Head of Food Sciences and Nu t r i t i on at Ox f o rd Brookes University and a research fellow at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. His major research interests are food/nutrient interactions, energy and protein metabolism, human growth, and refugee nutrition. He was i ns t r umen t al in i n i t i a t i ng a f ood fortification programme for refugees living in Malawi. Biomedical Engineers Vi s i t CUHK A delegation of 20 leading biomedical engineering experts from the US, UK, and France on the People to People Ambassador Program v i s i t ed the University on 18th September on their way to mainland China. A workshop on biomedical information engineering was organized on the same day by the Department of Electronic Engineering of the Un i ve r s i t y. The f unc t i on was sponsored by the Biomedical Division of the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers, co-sponsored by the CUHK Faculty of Eng i nee r i ng, and t echn i ca l ly co- sponsored by the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society. Members of the delegation discussed with Hong Kong's biomedical engineers the latest developments in the field. Founded in 1956 by the then US p r e s i d e nt D w i g h t Eisenhower, People to People Ambassador Programs aim at promoting friendly relations among all countries through scientific, professional, and technical exchange. The exchanges focus on specialized disciplines within the fields of medicine, law, agriculture, business, life science, education, sport, and the basic sciences. Mush r oom Expert i n Af r i ca Prof. Chang Shu-ting, emeritus professor of biology and director of the International Centre for Mushroom Biotechnology, visited the African states of Tanzania, Zambia, Lesotho, Malawi, and Namibia in July and August. In his capacity as a consultant to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS), Prof. Chang has been providing these countries with the knowledge and expertise required to establish cottage- and industrial-scale cultivation facilities for mushrooms both as a high-value food source and as a feedstock for the manufacture of dietary supplements. During his stay in Namibia, Prof. Chang took part in the proceedings of the Southern Africa Development Community Summit 2000 held in Windhoek, which was attended by the heads of state and prime ministers of 14 southern African countries. He also had the chance to discuss his vision of mushroom farming in Africa with Bakili Muluzi, the president of Malawi, on his visit to that country. More Support for CUHK Research Projects Six more research projects undertaken by staff members of the University have attracted sponsorship from the Innovation and Technology Fund and the Quality Education Fund: Innovation and Technology Fund projects: A Multilingual Digital Video Content Hub (HK$5,980,000) Principal investigator: Prof. Michael R. Lyu (Department of Computer Science and Engineering) Co-investigators : Jerome Yen, Wong Wing-shing, and Vincent Shen Hong Kong IP Multicast Initiative (HK$7,788,000) Principal investigator: Prof. Jack Lee Yi u-bun (Department of I n f orma t i on Engineering) Co-investigator. Prof. Chen Lian Kuan Development of Compound Formulation Products of GMP Standard Consisting Danshen f r om Zhong j i an, Sichuan, and Sanqi f r om Wenshan, Yunnan (HK$ 1,490,000) Principal investigator. Prof. K.P. Fung (Department of Biochemistry) Open Secure Time-stamping P l a t f o rm for E-commerce and Protection of Intellectual Properties (HK$4,757,000) Principal investigator: Dr. Stanislaus Hu (Information Technology Services Centre) Co-investigators: Mr. Philip Leung Kwong-hon, Mr. Anton Lam Shing-yung, Mr. Wong Siu-to, Mr. Leung Tak-cheung, and Mr. Philip Ling Ka-hong Quality Education Fund projects: Ut i l i za t i on of Neuro-cognitive Science for the Imp r ovement of Language Education of Hong Kong (HK$22,783,900) Principal investigator. Prof. To Cho-yee (Department of Community and Family Medicine) Early Childhood Environmental Education and Teacher Training (HK$228,160) Subcontractor: St. Joan of Arc Primary School Principal investigator. Prof. John Lee Chi-kin (Department of Curriculum and Instruction) School of Journalism and Communication Celebrates 35th Ann i versary Over 20 scholars and experts f r om seven ove r seas countries joined scores of local academicians and journalists at Clio Yiu Hall on campus f r om 24th to 26th for the International Conference on Communication Frontiers in the New M i l l e n n i u m , h e l d i n celebration o f the 35th anniversary of the CUHK School of Journalism and Communication. Pro-Vice- Chancellor Prof. Kenneth Young o f f i c i a t ed at the open i ng ceremony of the conference. Among the participants were famous figures in the field such as Everett M. Rogers, James Curran, David Weaver, Youichi Ito, and Oliver Boyd- Barrett. They presented papers and discussed important topics including journalism and communication education, impact of information technology on the media i ndus t r y, impact o f information technology on users, e- commerce, new media and culture, and press freedom in post-1997 Hong Kong.