The 2012 Croucher Senior Research Fellows are Dr Lu Liwei of the Department of Pathology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine; Dr. Alice S. T. Wong of the School of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science; and Professor Ed X. Wu of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering.

The fellowship is awarded by the Foundation to local academics who have excelled in scientific research work as judged by leading international scientists invited to provide confidential reviews of candidates nominated in a competitive exercise.

The value of each Senior Research Fellowship is HK$816,000, which includes a personal grant of HK$60,000 to the recipient for research expenses, and funds to the University to recruit replacement staff to take over the recipient’s duties for the period of the fellowship.

Dr Lu Liwei is an immunologist with internationally recognized expertise in studying lymphocyte development and its dysregulation in autoimmune diseases. Self-reactive B cells in human body attack people’s own immune system, leading to serious autoimmune diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, etc. Dr Lu and his research team have been doing research on B cells and identified a novel role of B cell activating-factor (BAFF) in regulating B cell function. The team has developed a new cell therapy to suppress autoimmune response which has been proofed effective in animal model with arthritis. His research brings new hopes to cure autoimmune diseases in human.

The research of Dr. Alice S. T. Wong focuses on signal transduction in cancer. In particular, cell adhesion molecules are very important for many physiological processes, which if deregulated, can contribute to cancer. The old view attributes their ability to affect cell functions to their adhesive properties. Dr Wong’s research findings have presented new evidence that questions this hypothesis and suggests a different scenario. Using new techniques and innovative methodologies, more recent research in her group endeavors to unravel the precise mechanism of cell adhesion dynamics pertinent to ovarian cancer development and metastasis, aiming to providing insights for the development of new therapies to this highly malignant and rapidly lethal human cancer not only in our local community but also worldwide.

Professor Ed X. Wu is an internationally recognized leader in the field of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) research. He has made numerous seminal contributions to in vivo magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods and their preclinical and clinical applications. They include diffusion characterization of neural and heart tissues, high-resolution investigation of capillary vasculature in brain and heart, development of gas-filled microbubbles, molecular imaging with manganese ions, and separation of ferritin and hemosiderin iron for monitoring patients with heart and liver iron overload.

Unlike conventional, coarse grain materials, nanocrystalline structures are made up of ultra-fine grains in the nanometer scale and a large number of grain boundaries. This unique structure gives nanocrystalline materials increased strength and other enhanced physical properties compared to convention materials. The technique, known as surface mechanical attrition treatment, utilises plastic deformation to refine the surfaces of metals and alloys, turning them into nano-sized crystallites.1 This method efficiently creates nano-structured surfaces without changing the chemical composition of materials. It also eliminates the bonding problems that occur when coating methods are used to deposit nanocrystallite layers onto metals or alloys. This flexible, low-cost approach has generated considerable interests in academia and industry, leading to four patents and numerous publications in international journals.

The two research teams are also studying nanotwinned materials, so called because the atomic structure on one side of a grain boundary is a mirror reflection of the other. Grain refinement confers strength to metals and alloys. However, this process reduces the ductility of the material, causing them to be broken easily when deformed. The unique boundary structure of nanotwinned materials is able to block dislocations from propagating throughout the metal or alloy, thus preventing the material from breaking easily when stressed. These metals and alloys thus have high strength as well as high ductility, two of the most desirable properties of materials used in modern technologies.

Professors Jian Lu and Ke Lu were awarded a grant under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) – Croucher Funding Scheme for Joint Laboratories. The highly-competitive CAS-Croucher Funding Scheme enables researchers in Hong Kong universities and the institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to work together on highly specific scientific topics with the intention, in the longer term, to establish a Joint Laboratory. Since the first selection exercise in 2004, a total of thirteen teams of researchers have been selected for support under the scheme. For more information on the scheme, and a list of projects supported since 2004 click here.

References:
1. Tong, W.T., Tao, N.R., Wang, J. Lu, J. & Lu, K. (2003). Nitriding Iron at Lower Temperatures. Science 299, 686-688.

2. Zhu, L., Ruan, H., Li, X., Dao, M., Gao, H. & Lu, J. (2011). Modeling grain size dependent optimal twin spacing for achieving ultimate high strength and related high ductility in nanotwinned metals. Acta Materialia 59, 5544-5557.

The Croucher Innovation Awards are open to scientists and scholars from all countries working in the natural sciences, technology and medicine who are in receipt of an offer of a tenure-track position from a university in Hong Kong. Candidates should have completed their doctorates with distinction less than six years ago.

The Foundation will consider nominations from universities in Hong Kong all year round. Interested applicants are advised to contact the research office of their university in Hong Kong for application details.

Press here for more details.

Croucher Scholars and Fellows who wish to apply please send an email to cfadmin@croucher.org.hk enclosing a copy of their employment offer letter for consideration.

With the support of the Croucher Foundation, five full-cost scholarships will be awarded by the Cambridge Science Summer School to talented Hong Kong undergraduate students participating in the 2012 summer school, to be held in Cambridge over eight weeks starting in July 2012.  Eligibility is restricted to permanent Hong Kong residents.

If you are an undergraduate student in Hong Kong and are interested in attending the course and/or applying for one of the scholarships offered with the support of the Croucher Foundation please visit the web site of the Cambridge Science Summer School for more information.

Dr Tak-Sing Wong, a 2010 Croucher postdoctoral fellow and his colleagues at Harvard University have applied the strategy of the plant to create a new material that repels just about any type of liquid and does so even under harsh conditions like high pressure and freezing temperatures.

The bio-inspired liquid repellence technology, described in the 22 September 2011 issue of the scientific journal Nature should find applications in biomedical fluid handling, fuel transport, and anti-fouling and anti-icing technologies. It could even lead to self-cleaning windows and improved optical devices.

“The effect is similar to when a car hydroplanes, the tires literally gliding on the water rather than the road,” says Wong. “In the case of the unlucky ants, the oil on the bottom of their feet will not stick to the slippery coating on the plant. It’s like oil floating on the surface of a puddle.”

Inspired by the pitcher plant’s elegant solution, Wong and his colleagues designed a strategy for creating slippery surfaces by infusing a nano/microstructured porous material with a lubricating fluid. Like the pitcher plant, these surfaces are slippery for insects, but also repel a wide variety of liquids including oil.

By contrast, current state-of-the-art liquid repellent surfaces have taken cues from a different member of the plant world. The leaves of the lotus resist water due to the tiny microtextures on the surface; droplets balance on the cushion of air on the tips of the surface and bead up.

However, this “lotus effect” does not work well for organic or complex liquids. And if the surface is scratched or subject to extreme conditions, liquid drops tend to stick to or sink into the textures rather than roll away.

“This new repellent fluid surface offers additional benefits, as it is intrinsically smooth and free of defects,” says Wong. “Even after we damage a sample by scraping it with a knife or blade, the surface repairs itself almost instantaneously and the repellent qualities remain, making the surface self-healing.” The surface can be made optically transparent, and is therefore ideal for optical applications and self-cleaning, clear surfaces.

Reference: T-S Wong et al, Nature, 2011, 477, 443 (DOI:10.1038/nature10447)

This year the Foundation has made 9 postdoctoral and 14 doctoral awards, to a total of about HK$20 million, helping students to pursue work at Harvard, MIT, British Columbia, Northwestern, UC San Francisco, UC Berkeley, Caltech, Ohio State, Stanford, Colorado State, Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial, Berlin, Karolinska and CNRS, Montpellier among others.

We are now inviting applications for awards tenable from autumn 2012.

Croucher Fellowships for postdoctoral research (not for full-time career positions)

For: graduates who obtained doctoral degrees after July 2010; students in the final year of their doctoral studies; qualified medical doctors.

Tenable: at institutions outside Hong Kong.

Normally covers: airfare, a living subsidy, a conference grant and allowances, up to a maximum of two years.

Croucher Scholarships for full time PhD studies

For: First Class Honours graduates; or students expecting to attain an MPhil degree before September 2012; or final year undergraduate students (offers will be conditional on obtaining First Class Honours by July 2012).

Tenable: at institutions outside Hong Kong.

Normally covers: full tuition fees, airfare, a living subsidy, a conference grant, and allowances, for up to and including the third year of PhD studies.

Croucher Studentships for full time PhD studies

For: First Class Honours graduates; students expecting to attain an MPhil degree before September 2012; final year undergraduate students (offers will be conditional on obtaining First Class Honours by July 2012).

Tenable: at universities in Hong Kong.

Normally covers: HK$50,000 per annum up to and including the third year of PhD studies – may be held concurrently with a university postgraduate studentship or other awards.

How to apply

You must include detailed scientific proposal of your intended research, as well as an indication of your preferred institutions. So allow plenty of time to complete your application.

Starting from 2010, all applications should be submitted to the Croucher Foundation online at www.croucher.org.hk. For the 2012-13 selection exercise, applications should be submitted by 5p.m. on 15th November 2011 at the latest. Croucher Fellowships and Scholarships are highly competitive, so to ensure fair competition, we do not welcome requests from any individuals for help or counselling.

Through partnership agreements with French and German institutions, and the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford, the Foundation will specially favour Hong Kong students with a number of full awards for pursuing research studies in topics in natural science, technology or medicine. For more information and access to the online application system, please click here.