In 2018, this cross-institutional research project led by HKUST was awarded HK$31.2 million by the Research Grants Council under the Theme-based Research Scheme (TRS) 2018/2019 (Eighth Round). The project aims to address the urgent need for new and innovative therapies for the treatment of age-related neurodegenerative disorders, including the highly prevalent Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Recent advances in somatic cell reprograming into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) have become an opportunity for the identification of patient-specific factors to be identified, thereby, leading to advances in personalized therapy development.

Building upon a previous TRS-funded research project that identified regulatory mechanisms for the differentiation and proliferation of neural stem cells, the current project aims dissect the pathological mechanism underlying AD by employing state-of-the-art iPSC-derived platforms and CRISPR-Cas9 genome-editing technologies. To date, a total of 94 publications have resulted that have pushed our understanding of the disease. Continuation of the project will bring us one step closer to the development of novel therapies, including personalized medicine, that can ameliorate or even reverse the devastating effects of AD, thus improving the prospects of the quality of life in those affected.

First members’ meeting

First management committee meeting

RGC review visit

First annual symposium