Leading global scientists to join HKUST in Alzheimer’s research

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology will set up a center in the city for research on Alzheimer’s disease — a global challenge facing aging societies.

The university announced the move on Wednesday as it signed an agreement with Boston Children’s Hospital — a Harvard Medical School teaching hospital — the Paul F. Glenn Center for the Biology of Aging at Stanford University’s School of Medicine and University College London.

The Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases will be established in the Hong Kong Science Park later this year. Experts from the four universities will conduct neuroscience research at the center in order to better monitor and understand Alzheimer’s disease.

Research will also focus on the aging mechanism of human brains to give clues to prevent the disease.

Officiating at the signing ceremony, Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-Ngor said neurodegenerative diseases — particularly Alzheimer’s — were becoming more prevalent in aging populations.

“Although our understanding of neurodegenerative diseases continues to advance, there are few effective treatments available, either to delay the onset or to affect the course of Alzheimer’s and other daunting neurodegenerative diseases,” Lam said.

She expressed the hope that four of the world’s leading institutions can achieve significant advances in the diagnosis and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.

At the same occasion, Nancy Ip Yuk-yu, vice-president of research and development at HKUST and also head of the project, said Alzheimer’s disease “was a major health crisis of our time”.

“But limited knowledge of the disease is hindering the development of urgently needed diagnostics and therapeutics,’’ she added. Ip is also a senior neuroscientist.

Noting that the center will also collaborate with the University of Tokyo, Ip said she expects more collaboration with mainland and overseas institutions in future.

Locally, the center will work with Queen Elizabeth Hospital, the Prince of Wales Hospital and the Haven of Hope Christian Service to collect more samples for research.

Meanwhile, the center will also be the perfect training ground for young scientists, Ip said. It will contribute to the further development of science in Hong Kong in the long run, she ventured.

According to World Health Organization data, at least 50 million people worldwide have dementia, with an annual increase of nearly 10 million new cases. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia; it can contribute to 60 to 70 percent of all dementia cases, the WHO said. To the point,