June 2018
In loving memory of Mrs Tessy Cheng Grove (莊真莊, 1962-2013), her friends, as executors of her will, fulfilled her wish in making a gift in support of cancer research.Tessy moved to Hong Kong at the age of 19 to start her life in the city she would make her home. She worked for numerous companies over a long and illustrious career, and touched many lives in the process. In her last few years, Tessy fought a tough and brave battle with stomach cancer, passing away in 2013 with the same grace and dignity with which she lived.Co-ordinated by one of the executors, Mrs Bhavna Soni Shivpuri, and after careful consideration, a gift of more than HK $1 million was made to the University in support of research on “Characterization of the suppressing role of SOSTDC-1 in gastric cancer metastasis”. On June 8, 2018, Tessy’s friends visited the HKU Centre for Cancer Research for the unveiling of the plaque.
Led by Professor Guan Xin-Yuan, this research aims to study the suppressing role of the SOSTDC-1 gene in gastric cancer metastasis in order to identify whether the gene could be used as a new bio-marker to predict the metastasis status and outcome in patients with gastric cancer, as well as to check whether the SOSTDC-1 gene can be used as a new therapeutic strategy in the prevention of gastric cancer metastasis.
Professor Guan is the Sophie Y M Chan Professor in Cancer Research, and Director of the Centre for Cancer Research at HKU. He and his research team are investigating cancer stem cells and cancer microenvironments. Another aspect of his work is in the molecular characterisation of tumour microenvironments, and he is also researching the identification and characterisation of cancer-related genes and micro-RNAs in hepatocellular, oesophageal and nasopharyngeal carcinomas.
The recipient of many honours and awards, Professor Guan is listed among the top 1% of the most cited scholars by the ISI’s Essential Science Indicators. He has published more than 310 peer-reviewed papers in international journals.
Centre for Cancer Research: https://www.med.hku.hk/ccr/
