Newsletter No. 216

Upcoming Anniversary Celebrations February 23rd (Sunday ) Kick-off Ceremony of the CUHK 40th Anniversary Celebrations and the Starting Ceremony of the Round-the-CU Walkathon and Carnival The walkatho n wil l raise funds for th e Cancer Centre of th e Faculty o f Medicin e t o support healt h car e workers an d cance r patients o n their 'Roa d t o Cance r Cur e Time: 10.3 0 a.m . to 5.0 0 p.m . Venue: Lingna n Stadiu m Enquiries: 260 9 787 2 March 1st (Saturday ) 40th Anniversary Distinguished Lecture* Speaker: Prof . Ja o Tsung-I, We i Lu n Honorar y Professo r Time: 10.3 0 a.m . Venue: Lectur e Theatre 1 , Esther Le e Buildin g Language: Putonghu a Enquiries: 260 9 889 3 4th (Tuesday ) 40th Anniversary Distinguished Lecture* Speaker: Prof . Le e Yuan-tseh, Nobe l Laureat e i n Chemistry 1986 ’ President o f Academia Sinica , Taiwan, an d 200 3 Distinguished Visitin g Schola r o f Unite d College , CUH K Topic: Globa l Trends i n Educational Refor m Time: 4.3 0 p.m . Venue: Si r Ru n Ru n Shaw Hal l Language: Englis h Enquiries: 260 9 889 3 * Tickets to the lectures will be available at the box office of Sir Run Run Shaw Hall, CUHK; the Tsim Sha Tsui Teaching Centre, 1 3 / F, Oriental Centre, 67 Chatham Road South, Tsim Sha Tsui; and the Central Teaching Centre, 1/F, Bank of America Tower, 12 Harcourt Road, Central, from 22nd February 2003. Each person is entitled to a maximum of two tickets. First-come-first-served. Please visi t http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/40thanniversar y fo r the lates t information . Lab Animal Services Centre Receives ISO 9001:2000 Certification D uring 2002 the Laboratory Anima l Services Centre (LASEC) managed to satisf y al l condition s fo r IS O 9001 : 2000. A s o f 200 3 LASE C i s a qualit y audited laboratory animal facility, the first such facility i n Hong Kong . The centre' s certificatio n bod y BVQI, headquartere d i n London, foun d that LASEC ha d fully complie d with al l conditions o f ISO 9001:2000 a t the firs t inspection. Thi s means LASEC wil l no t need to be audited again until June 2003. Three o f th e ke y aspect s o f ISO 9001 : 2000 ar e th e productio n o f a qualit y manual, th e identificatio n o f custome r needs, an d th e maintenanc e o f wel l trained staff. LASEC has always had these three conditions as the foundation stones of its operations . The LASE C qualit y manua l i s available on-lin e (a t http://www.lasec . cuhk.edu.hk) . LASEC' s customer s ar e continually bein g surveye d b y th e centre's Qualit y Contro l Department . The leve l o f customer satisfactio n wit h its servic e i s very importan t becaus e i t helps th e centr e t o maintai n qualit y standards, and enables i t to better serv e the scientific research community o f the University. The Task Force to Advise on Institutional Integration Holds Consultation Sessions T he Tas k Forc e t o Adv i s e o n Institutional Integratio n o f Th e Chinese Universit y o f Hon g Kon g issued a consultatio n pape r afte r it s fourth meetin g hel d o n 27t h Januar y 2003, invitin g CUH K staff , students , alumni, an d othe r member s o f th e University communit y t o commen t o n issues related to institutional integratio n and t o rais e issue s tha t hav e bee n overlooked. And a t it s f i f t h meetin g o n 10t h February 2003 , the Task Force decide d to hol d thre e consultatio n session s fo r members of the University communit y t o express thei r view s o n the subject . Th e first an d second sessions too k plac e o n 15th and 17th February respectively. The third and final session will take place from 12.30 p.m. to 2.00 p.m. on Monday, 24t h February a t Lecture Theatr e 1 , Scienc e Centre, CUHK . Un i v e r s i ty member s ar e als o welcome t o giv e thei r comment s b y writing to the Secretary of the Task Force (Mr. Jacob Leung, University Secretary ) before 24th February. Updated informatio n relate d t o institutional integratio n ca n be found at http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/inst-integration. CUHK Pharmaceutica l Research Gives Rise to New Immune Booster A new-generation Yunzh i produc t proven t o b e thre e t o si x time s more poten t i n stimulatin g th e immun e system than othe r Yunzh i extract s ha s been develope d followin g a researc h project undertake n b y th e University' s School o f Pharmacy . The project identified the key activ e constituent o f Yunzh i tha t i s readil y permeable t o the body's intestina l wall s and ca n therefor e b e e f f e c t i v e l y absorbed. I t the n develope d advance d p r op r i e t a ry t echno l og y t o obtai n ma x i mum concentration s o f thi s constituent. Based on the results of this research, Oncozac, an APG-containin g wild Yunzhi product ha s bee n manufacture d b y PuraPharm t o provid e cance r patient s undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy with a convenien t ora l alternativ e t o current immun e syste m stimulants . Current immun e booster s hav e t o b e administered i n hospital by injection and under the supervision of doctors. Being a safe complement, Oncozac is suitable fo r self-administration t o counterac t mil d symptoms o f compromise d immunit y caused by invasive cance r treatments . Oncozac ca n b e use d a s a complementary therap y wit h standar d cancer treatment s t o alleviat e th e side - effects of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. These include susceptibilit y t o infection , reduction o f red and white bloo d cells , oral ulcers, hair loss, nausea and vomiting, loss o f appetite , sever e weight los s an d pain. New Research Awards Established T o recognize research accomplishments of youn g an d aspirin g facult y members an d to encourage excellence i n research, the University ha s establishe d the Young Researcher Award and the Best Resea r ch Ou t p u t b y Resea r c h Postgraduate Student s Award with effec t from 2003-4 . The Young Researcher Award Seven awards ofHK$100,000 each will be awarded to facult y members nominated, one each, by the seven faculties. Candidate s must b e full-tim e teacher s a t assistan t lecturer grade or above under the age of 40. A faculty member canb e awarded up t o two times. Nominations for the researcher with the best research output will be invite d from the faculty deans in November each year. Award recipients will each be conferred a plaque (o r certificate ) an d an amount o f HK$ 100,000 in the for m of a research grant with no conditions attached, except that all unspent balance upon the staff's departure will be credited to his/her department. Award for the Best Research Output by Research Postgraduate Students Seven awards of HK$25,000 each will be awarded t o postgraduat e student s nominated, on e each , b y th e seve n faculties. Candidates must be current full- time postgraduat e students . Eac h postgraduate studen t may be awarded up to tw o times . Nomination s fo r th e postgraduate studen t w i t h th e bes t research output wil l b e invited from the faculty dean s i n Novembe r eac h year . Award recipients wil l eac h be conferre d a plaque (o r certificate ) an d a prize o f HK$25,000 i n cash. More informatio n i s available a t the Research and Technology Administration Office (Ext . 888 4 or 8885) . 1 No. 216 19thFebruary 2003