Four research teams led by Engineering faculty members from different departments were awarded the Healthy Longevity Catalyst Awards (Hong Kong) 2022 in the Healthy Longevity Global Competition. The competition is founded by the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) of the United States and sponsored by the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. It is a multiyear, multimillion-dollar international competition seeking breakthrough innovations to extend human health and function later in life. Prof. Bara
Professor Barbara Chan of Department of Mechanical Engineering and the team members received the award for the project title 'Engineered osteochondral tissue (eOCT) as advanced therapeutic treatment for osteoarthritis (OA)'.
About the project: Osteoarthritis (OA) is among the most prevalent degenerative disorders in aged populations worldwide. It affects the entire joint with eroded cartilage, compromised osteochondral interface and abnormally remodelled bone, leading to severe pain, reduced motility and poor quality of life. The research team developed engineered osteochondral tissue (eOCT) with proper zonal organization using bone marrow (BM) MSCs that could effectively modify OA. This work could lead to novel therapeutics for OA, contributing to the grand challenge in healthy longevity.
For details of the project, please visit
(From left) Dr Chun Hoi Yan, Department of Orthopaedics & Traunatology, Professor Barbara Chan, Department of Mechanical Engineering, HKU; Professor Patrick Shu-Hang Yung and Proessor Michael Tim-Yun Ong, CUHK