Newsletter No. 202

Rar e Boo k Roo m Open s a tUniversit y Librar y The Rare B o ok Room o f the Un i ver s i ty Library System was officially opened on 19th April on the third floor of the Tin Ka Ping Building after two years of preparation. The elegant room decorated in the style o f a t r a d i t i o n a l Chinese study features a Chinese rare book collection, consisting o f over 850 classical titles i n more than 14,000 vo l umes i n t r a d i t i o n a l s i l k - stitched fascicles. They date from the Yuan Dynasty (1260-1368) to the end of the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty (1795). The Western rare book collection contains mainly Western language books published before 1900, including Clavdii Galeni per gameni Ars medica, quae et ars parva b y Ga l en ( 1549 ), Authentic A ccount of an Embassy from the King of Great B r i t a i n to the Emperor of China b y Sir George Staunton (1798), and La Chines et les Chinois b y Escayrac de Lauture (1877). Officiating at the opening ceremony were Mr. Miao Qihao, deputy director of Shanghai Library, Prof. Arthur K.C. L i , vice-chancellor o f the University, Prof. P.W. L i u, pro-vice-chancellor, Prof. Jao Tsung I (left) , Wei Lun Honorary Professor, and Dr. Co l i n Storey, University Librarian. To mark the room's o f f i c i al opening, a Joint Exhibition of Chinese Rare Books was held from 20th Ap r il to 3rd May 2002, featuring a total of 40 invaluable items from the ULS and Shanghai Library. Some of the titles were published as early as the Five Dynasties (907-960). This was the first time the University had displayed such items and it is hoped that the project w i l l arouse the interest o f the public in Chinese culture. As part of the exhibition, two public lectures were delivered by experts f r om Shanghai Library. ' How to Appraise and Preserve Chinese Rare Books' was delivered on 20th April in the Sino Building, and 'What Makes a Book Rare? The Study of Chinese Silk-stitched Bound Books' on 27th April in the Esther Lee Building. Pro-vice-chancellor Prof. P.W. Liu (left) presenting a souvenir to Mr. Miao Qihao Conference Takes Close Look at Cancer Trials i n Asia T he Seventh An n u al Sc i en t i f ic Symposium o f the Hong Kong Cancer Institute took place on 5th and 6th March under the theme of 'Cancer Trials in Asia' at the Royal Plaza Hotel. The sympos i um covered topics i n c l u d i n g t r i a l s m e t h o d o l o g y, transnational research, cancer trials i n action, bioinformatics, data management and t r i a l s m o n i t o r i n g, i n d u s t ry perspective in drug development, and the running of multicentre trials. The Cheng Suen Man Shook Lecture was delivered during the symposium by Prof. Elizabeth Eisenhauer f r om the National Cancer Institute o f Canada Clinical Trials Group. Her lecture was e n t i t l ed ' The I mp o r t a nt Ro le o f Academic C l i n i cal Trials Groups i n Global Drug Development'. Dr. Richard Simon f r om the D i v i s i on o f Cancer Treatment of the US National Cancer Institute gave an introduction to DNA microarray gene expression data. Dr. Charles Erlichman from Mayo Clinic shared his experience in translating laboratory science into Phase I trial. And the vice-presidents and medical directors f r om f o u r ma j or p h a rma c e u t i c al c omp a n i es d e l i v e r ed i n s i g h t f u l presentations on how f u t u re d r ug development should proceed in Asia. The con f erence f i n i s hed w i t h a panel discussion on models for multicentre t r i a l s among c o o p e r a t i ve g r o up representatives f r om Europe, No r th America, and Asia, as well as participants from relevant industries. New Clinic Offers One-stop Disease Prevention Service T he Healthy Active Living Clinic of the Fa c u l ty o f Me d i c i ne was o f f i c i a l ly opened on 18th Ap r i l. The clinic was set up with donations from the Convocation of The Chinese University to provide the public w i t h one-stop se r v i ce i n hea l th p r omo t i on and prevention against diseases. Located at the School o f Public Health in the Prince of Wales Hospital, the c l i n i c o f f e rs a set o f u n i f i ed programmes t o i den t i fy unhea l t hy lifestyles and provide nutritional and exercise-related consultation to improve lifestyle habits. Other services available include cardiovascular risk prediction, cardiorespiratory fitness assessment, o s t e o p o r o s is and f r a c t u r e r i s k assessment, and assessment of nutrition and women's health. The clinic also p r o v i d es a v e n ue f o r e x e r c i se prescription for patients w i th chronic diseases. The opening ceremony of the clinic took place in the Postgraduate Education Centre of the Prince of Wales Hospital. Officiating at the ceremony were Ms. Lina Yan, chair of the Convocation of CUHK, Dr. Charles Wang, convener of the f und - r a i s i ng commi t t ee o f the Convocation, Prof. Sydney Chung, dean o f the Faculty of Medicine, Prof. Jean Woo, director of the School o f Public Hea l t h, and Prof. Chan Ka i -m i n g, p r o f e s s o r o f o r t h o p a e d i cs an d traumatology. CUHK Staff Win Fam i ly Me d i c i ne Research Award T he Hong Kong College of Family Physicians Best Research Award 2001 was presented to Prof. Cynthia S. Y. Chan, Prof. Wun Yuk-tsan, Prof. J.A. Dickinson, Dr. Chan Kwok -wa i, Dr. Andy Cheung (adjunct staff), and Mr. Peter Chan o f the Depa r tment o f Community and Family Medicine last mon th a t the Con j o i nt Fe l l owsh ip Conferment ceremony of the Hong Kong College of Family Physicians. This is the second t ime i n t wo years that the department has won the award, and the w i n n i n g p r o j e c t was e n t i t l e d 'Communication Skills of Experienced General Practitioners: Is There Room for Improvement and How Much Can It Be Improved?'