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Research Postgraduates Excel at Geneva Exhibition of Inventions
HKU showcased some of its most groundbreaking research innovations that provide solutions to pressing human problems—spanning diverse areas such as biomedicine, vaccine development, artificial intelligence and ageing—at the 48th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva, winning a total of 19 awards. Two research postgraduate students, Wanying Wang and Chun Lung Chan, Derek, from the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, took part in the exhibition and the award-winning projects.
Derek is a member of Professor Sun Hongzhe’s project team, and their invention “Bismuth-based Cocktail Therapy for Coronavirus” won a gold medal. Under this project, the orally administrated bismuth drug colloidal bismuth subcitrate together with N-acetyl cysteine has been found to be a broad-spectrum anti-coronavirus cocktail therapy against multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants and different coronaviruses. This therapy is now in phase II/III clinical trial in Hong Kong, with a phase III trial underway in China. When asked about their experience at the exhibition, Derek shared, “We are glad that the judges and lots of clinical doctors who came to my booth were interested in the therapy and asked for detailed clinical data and pharmacokinetics. With the help of the gold medal award, this cocktail therapy can go even further and possibly on the market in the future.”
Wanying and Dr Edmund Tse’s project “On-site Fertilizer Production for Perpetual Farming” won the bronze medal for its spectacular contribution to agricultural technology. The electrochemical fluidic-based (EC Flow) device developed under this project is an energy-neutral system that fully integrates with solar panels and battery storage systems to detect and remove numerous toxic residual nitrates and nitrites in soil using renewable energy. Wanying commented, “It was an incredible experience where I had the chance to meet many like-minded individuals who are dedicated to entrepreneurship. It felt like being part of a close-knit HKU family. We engaged in discussions and shared details of our projects. It was truly refreshing to gain knowledge from various fields.”
For further details on HKU’s achievements at the 48th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva, please visit: https://www.hku.hk/press/news_detail_26060.html.