A major

role model was Dr. Rita Levi-Montalcini, an eminent neuroscientist and currently the oldest living Nobel laureate. Dr. Levi-Montalcini, a legend in her own right, excelled in the face of insurmountable odds. She pursued her dreams despite the objections of her father, who believed that a science career would affect her duties of a wife and mother. During the early stage of her career, with no funding and under the circumstances of war, she continued to undertake outstanding research from a home laboratory to study the growth of nerve fibers in chicken embryos. These studies laid the groundwork for her future work that shaped the understanding of neurogenesis. Later in her career, she chose to make tremendous contributions click here to the development of neuroscience in her home country of Italy. I was thus inspired to always pursue scientific excellence and also to promote neuroscience and life science in Hong Kong. After receiving my PhD and postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School, I worked in industry, first as Laboratory Head at Lifecodes Corporation and then as Senior Staff Scientist at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, both biopharmaceutical companies based in the US. BMS-777607 clinical trial However, in 1993, I decided to return to Hong Kong with my family, and in spite

of not having any university administrative or teaching experience, I jumped at the opportunity to join the then newly established Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). Along with my colleagues, I enthusiastically embraced the challenge to help shape the life science programs at the university. During this period, science development was at its initial phase in Hong Kong; there were few commercial ventures and the biopharmaceutical industry was very much in its infancy. Therefore, in addition to developing the life science programs within the university, it was also our goal to lay the foundations for developing advanced neuroscience

research, and in time, the capabilities to undertake drug discovery as well. Thus, a vision was born. At HKUST, I decided to continue my work on trophic factors as well as neuronal development and synaptic plasticity, areas of interest that were sparked during the early stages of my career in the US. However, Levetiracetam the research environment was quite different from the US, and creative strategies had to be established. With dedication and determination, my research flourished and I rose through the ranks within the university. An important factor in this success was networking with previous mentors, peers, and other scientists in the field. As I worked to build my research portfolio and credibility, I also strived to turn my vision of developing a neuroscience hub in Hong Kong into a reality. For example, under my helm as Director of the Biotechnology Research Institute at the University, we established a multifaceted state-of-the-art drug discovery technology platform to drive local biomedical research toward a higher standard of excellence.