Hong Kong Baptist University’s researchers adopting interdisciplinary approach to major health challenges receive accolades
The HKBU’s “Outstanding Research Output Award 2024” honours two researchers in the School of Chinese Medicine (SCM).
The researchers’ award-winning papers in the Health and Drug Discovery cluster focus on potential therapeutic interventions for Alzheimer’s Disease and obesity.
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Alzheimer's disease (AD) and obesity are two significant health challenges impacting Hong Kong’s aging population: they not only strain the healthcare system but also affect the overall quality of life for individuals and communities.
Statistics from the Department of Health (DH) show that the number of people aged 60 and above with dementia in Hong Kong is projected to soar more than threefold to over 332,600 people from 2009 to 2039. The rising prevalence of AD puts extra strain on Hong Kong due to its rapidly aging population.
Over 332,600 people aged 60 and above in Hong Kong may develop dementia in 2039
On the other hand, obesity rates have surged. According to the DH’s Population Health Survey 2020-22, 32.6 percent of persons aged between 15 and 84 were obese. Obesity is a major risk factor for many chronic diseases, including hypertension, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, and sleep apnoea.
To tackle these challenges, researchers at the School of Chinese Medicine (SCM) at HKBU have adopted an interdisciplinary approach, producing significant outputs that may contribute to potential solutions. Among them, Dr Ashok Iyaswamy, Research Assistant Professor at the Mr & Mrs Ko Chi Ming Centre for Parkinson's Disease Research, Teaching and Research Division, and Dr Xavier Hoi Leong Wong, Associate Professor in the Research and Development Division, have produced important papers and received honours from HKBU’s Outstanding Research Output Award 2024. The award recognises excellent research outputs produced by HKBU researchers from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024.
Obesity is a major risk factor for many chronic diseases
Dr. Iyaswamy’s study, “Fe65-engineered neuronal exosomes encapsulating corynoxineB ameliorate cognition and pathology of Alzheimer’s disease,” focuses on the interaction between two proteins – APP and Fe65 – in an AD brain and a novel approach to deliver Corynoxine-B to the brain using engineered exosomes. This leads to the amelioration of cognitive functions such as learning and memory and reducing Aβ pathogenesis in AD preclinical models, demonstrating the potential of Fe65-EXO-Cory-B as an effective therapeutic intervention for AD.
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Dr. Wong’s award-winning paper, “Artesunate treats obesity in male mice and non-human primates through the GDF15/GFRAL signalling axis,” shows that treatment with artesunate, an artemisinin derivative approved by the FDA for the treatment of severe malaria, effectively reduces body weight and improves metabolic profiles in preclinical models of obesity, including male mice with overnutrition-induced obesity and male cynomolgus macaques with spontaneous obesity, without inducing nausea and malaise.
Finding treatment for AD
Dr Ashok Iyaswamy
Dr Iyaswamy’s research expertise lies in understanding the molecular mechanisms and pathophysiology of AD and other neurodegenerative diseases; developing potential methods for brain drug delivery systems and biomaterials for diagnosing neurodegenerative diseases; and identifying possible benefits of Chinese herbal medicine for the prevention and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.
