Theses by Three New UM PhD Graduates Extolled by International Examination Committee

Three PhD students from the Institute of Chinese Medical Science (ICMS) of the University of Macau (UM), namely Jianli Gao, Fengqing Yang and Yuanjia Hu, have passed the doctoral thesis oral defense with excellent scores. Moreover, their research achievements have won highly praise from the Examination Committee comprised of eminent scholars from Harvard University, The University of Chicago, The University of Pittsburgh, The University of California, Berkeley, the University of Cambridge, the Austrian Research Centers, The Australian National University, National University of Singapore, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Peking University, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, and UM. Their research was funded by the Science and Technology Development Fund and UM Research Committee respectively.

Ms. Jianli Gao is UM’s first PhD graduate in Biomedical Sciences specializing in pharmacological studies and also ICMS’s first female PhD graduate. Ms. Gao has all along been devoted to pharmacological studies on the effectiveness of Yanhusuo San in fighting the tumor system. During her doctoral study period she published 13 academic theses, among which nine were published on SCI journals. The title of her doctoral thesis is The Anticancer Effects of Yanhusuo San: Mechanism of Actions Study. Yanhusuo San is a traditional Chinese compound medicine mainly used for promoting blood and qi circulation as well as relieving menstrual pain. Adopting the molecular oncological methodologies and techniques, her thesis studies the role of Yanhusuo San in affecting tumor metastasis at the molecular level. She said: “the research results, combined with the clinical application of Yanhusuo San and Zedoary, suggest that Yanhusuo San has an important clinical application value in the supplementary treatment of terminal-stage cancers. This research will play a significant role in promoting the exploration of alternative research methodologies with respect to traditional Chinese compound medicines”

Chaired by UM’s Vice Rector Professor Simon Shun-Man Ho, the Examination Committee was comprised of Professor David Yue-Wei Lee, Director of the Bio-organic and Natural Products Laboratory of Harvard University, Professor Alex F. Chen, Director of VA Vascular Surgery Research, Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Professor Tong-Chuan He, Director of Molecular Oncology Laboratory, University of Chicago Cancer Research Center, Professor Tai-Ping Fan from the Department of Pharmacology, School of the Biological Sciences, University of Cambridge, Professor You-Yong Lu from Beijing Molecular Oncology Laboratory, Beijing Institute for Cancer Research & School of Oncology, Peking University, Professor Yi-fan Han from the Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology of Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Associate Professor Simon Ming-Yuen Lee from ICMS of UM, and Professor Wang Yitao, Director of ICMS and Ms. Gao’s doctoral supervisor. Besides being unanimously extolled by the Examination Committee members as an outstanding doctoral thesis, the paper has also earned Ms. Gao a position of Postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Chicago where she is about to pursue her further study.

The title of Yang Fengqing’s thesis is Quality Evaluation of Natural and Cultured Cordyceps. For a long time, many scientific researchers have been devoted to the study of artificial fermented Cordyceps Sinensis products. However, few people have ever carried out any systematic study on natural Cordyceps Sinensis. Yang Fengqing’s research has laid a solid foundation for the development of research on artificial Cordyceps Sinensis with characteristics of its natural counterpart. During his doctoral study period, he scored 43 research achievements including 25 theses published on a variety of journals (23 were published on SCI journals), nine conference theses (among which three won second-place or third-place “Outstanding Thesis Award”), six book chapters and three domestic patents (among which one has been awarded the invention patent by the State Intellectual Property Office of P.R. China). Yang Fengqing’s doctoral thesis isolated and identified 38 compounds from the natural Cordyceps Sinensis, thus greatly deepening the understanding of the chemical composition of Cordyceps Sinensis and providing an invaluable reference tool for nurturing quality artificial Cordyceps Sinensis.

Chaired by UM’s Vice Rector Professor Rui Martins, the Examination Committee was comprised of Professor Ong Choon Nam, member of the Occupational and Family Medicine of Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine and Director of the Life Sciences Institute of the National University of Singapore, Professor Frantisek Svec who concurrently serves as Facility Director of Molecular Foundry of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory of the University of California, Berkeley and Chief Editor of the Journal of Separation Science, Professor Yu-Kui Zhang, Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences and Director of the National Chromatographic Research and Analysis Center of Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, CAS, Professor Zhong-Zhen Zhao, Programme Director of BPharm/CM of Hong Kong Baptist University, Professor Lin Ge from the Department of Pharmacology of the Faculty of Medicine of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Professor Wang Yitao, Director of ICMS of UM, and Associate Professor Li Shaoping from ICMS of UM who wasYang Fengqing’s doctoral supervisor. The Examination Committee highly praised the fruitful research achievements scored by Yang Fengqing during the doctoral study period, saying that Yang’s thesis is of superb quality and has important academic and application value.

Yuanjia Hu is UM’s first PhD graduate in Biomedical Sciences specializing in Medicinal Administration. During his doctoral study period Hu published 32 academic papers including 22 papers published on a variety of academic journals (e.g. SCI, SSCI, CSCI and CSSCI) and ten international conference papers, one of which was selected as best paper in 2007 in the Journal of Medical Marketing, a peer-refereed journal in Nature Publishing Group, another was published on an A+ SSCI academic journal. During his doctoral study period he also extensively participated in various international academic exchange activities and won numerous international awards. In March, 2007 he was invited to attend a meeting in France with financial support for conferences by European Business School INSEAD. Through fierce competition, in June, 2007 he was granted the “Excellent Student Award” by the U.S. Drug Information Association and was invited to attend its annual meeting in the U.S. with full funding. In August, 2008 he stood out from many outstanding graduate students recommended by numerous famous universities from Hong Kong and Macao and was invited to the Austrian Research Centers for an eight-month further study stint under the PhD scholarship granted by the EURASIA-PACIFIC UNINET. The title of his doctoral thesis is Pharmaceutical Patent Valuation Based on Technology Innovation and Applications in the Industry. His research samples were comprised of 913 U.S. drug patents. Based on empirical analysis, his research results show that technical indicators have a significant impact on a drug’s patent value. Moreover, he established an early-stage, high-efficiency, and low-cost drug patent valuation model. Yuanjia Hu said: “our research results can be widely applied by drug manufacturers in various areas such as production selection and market development, technology licensing and intellectual property management, project evaluation and venture capital, and firm valuation and M&A.”

Yuanjia Hu’s doctoral thesis oral defense is the first doctoral thesis oral defense chaired by UM’s Rector Wei Zhao after he assumed office. The Examination Committee was comprised of Professor David Yue-Wei Lee, Director of the Bio-organic and Natural Products Laboratory of Harvard University, Professor Josef Fröhlich, Director of the Systems Research Department of the Austrian Research Centers, Professor Zhongwei Zhao from the College of Arts and Social Sciences of the Australian National University, Professor Xue Liu from the Guanghua School of Management of Peking University, Professor Yifan Han from the Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology of Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Assistant Professor Ying Bian from ICMS of UM, and Professor Yitao Wang, Director of ICMS and Hu’s doctoral supervisor. All members unanimously agreed to rate Hu’s thesis as “Very Good with Honor and Distinction”. Professor Josef Fröhlich said overall UM’s doctoral thesis oral defense is of very high standards, and Hu’s excellent performance has left a particularly deep impression on him.

Caption: (from left to right) Three PhD students from ICMS of UM, namely Jianli Gao,Fengqing Yang and Yuanjia Hu, have passed the doctoral thesis oral defense with excellent scores