HKUST Biochemistry Department’s Head and Chair Professor Nancy Ip has been named Leader of the Year 2008 in the Research Category.
Leader of the Year is an annual event organized by the Sing Tao News Corporation Limited since the award’s inception in 1994. The award seeks to honor individuals who have made outstanding contributions both within their fields and towards Hong Kong’s development and success.
An internationally renowned neuroscientist, Professor Ip has dedicated her efforts towards neuroscience research. She is well-known for her discoveries in the biology of neurotrophic factors, which are proteins that promote the survival, development and maintenance of neurons in the nervous system. Her research has led to the identification of neurotrophic factors as potential pharmaceutical agents for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. Professor Ip has also discovered mechanisms by which connections between nerve cells are formed and maintained. Her findings have shed light on how abnormal communication between nerve cells in diseased brains may be targets for treatment.
Professor Ip has published nearly 200 scientific papers, with more than 13,000 SCI citations, and holds 20 patents. Along with her remarkable scientific achievements, she works tirelessly to promote science locally. She is a founding member of the Asia-Pacific International Molecular Biology Network and a board member of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation. Under her leadership, HKUST has been selected as the leading institution on “Molecular Neuroscience: Basic Research and Drug Discovery” Area of Excellence (AoE) to conduct leading edge research in neuroscience.
Commenting on this achievement, Professor Nancy Ip said, “I am delighted that my research efforts have received recognition from the Hong Kong community and I will continue to work towards improving the lives of millions of people afflicted with incurable brain diseases.”
Professor Nancy Ip obtained her doctorate degree in pharmacology at Harvard University, after which she began her seminal research in neuroscience while working as a Senior Research Scientist at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc, a leading pharmaceutical company in the United States. She returned to Hong Kong in 1993 to join HKUST, where she now heads the Department of Biochemistry.
In recognition of her outstanding contributions to neuroscience research, Professor Ip has received numerous awards and honors including the State Natural Science Award (China’s highest honor in the natural sciences) and the L’OREAL-UNESCO for Women in Science Award (making her the first honoree in life sciences from China). She has been elected as an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and a fellow of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World. More recently, she was awarded the Scientific and Technological Progress Prize of Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation, and the Medal of Honor by the Hong Kong SAR Government.
This is the second time an HKUST scientist won this distinguished accolade. HKUST Dr William M W Mong Chair Professor of Nanoscience Ping Sheng also won the same award in 2001.
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May Cheung
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