Speaker

Dr Albert Au is a specialist in Public Health Medicine. He has served in various areas of public health in the Department of Health since 2003. His work mainly focuses on surveillance, prevention, and control of communicable diseases, as well as managing major epidemics, including the SARS outbreak in 2023, H1N1 influenza pandemic in 2009, MERS, avian influenza, and COVID-19. From 2023 to 2024, he was Head of the Emergency Response and Programme Management Branch of Centre for Health Protection (CHP), responsible for developing contingency plans, coordinating drills and exercises to enhance public health crisis preparedness and response mechanisms, and overseeing the planning, implementation, and enhancement of various vaccination programmes. Currently, Dr Au serves as Head of the Communicable Disease Branch of CHP. He oversees communicable disease surveillance, epidemiological investigations of infectious disease outbreaks, enforcement of the Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance (Cap. 599) and the International Health Regulations, and implementation of other related public health measures. He is also an ex-officio member of the Scientific Committee on Emerging and Zoonotic Diseases of the CHP.

Prof. BLOCKI Anna Maria is an Associate Professor at the Institute for Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine (iTERM) and the School of Biomedical Sciences (SBS), Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). She received her PhD from the National University of Singapore in January 2013. Following that, she joined the Singapore Bioimaging Consortium (SBIC) at the Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR) as a postdoctoral researcher until 2015. In November 2015, Prof. Blocki was able to secure a competitive postdoctoral fellowship from the Charité Universitätsklinikum Berlin, Germany. In February 2018, she joined SBS and iTERM at CUHK as an Assistant Professor and was promoted to a tenured Associated Professor position in 2024. Since the beginning of 2022, she is also a Principal Investigator at the Centre for Neuromusculoskeletal Restorative Medicine. Prof. Blocki’s research interests lie in the area of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM) with particular emphasis on biomaterials, cell- and cell-derived product-based therapies for the treatment of noncommunicable diseases, such as ischemic diseases. In particular, she focuses on studying and tailoring cellular microenvironments such as the extracellular matrix (ECM) and develops bioactive therapeutics (e.g. biologics) for clinical application. Moreover, she utilizes her acquired expertise to engineer microphysiological systems, specifically involving microvasculature.

David Boehm, Founder of Miskawaan Health Group, was amazed by the transformative effects after personally experiencing Chlorogenic Acid extension in deep sleep duration, improvement in morning vitality and significant enhancement in immunoglobulin levels. This inspired him to introduce this revolutionary compound to Asian markets. Driven by a profound passion for functional medicine, David champions a philosophy that heals not just individuals, but also contributes to global wellness. As he often says, “If an herb has proven medicinal value or the potential to benefit human health—no matter where in the world it originates—I will undoubtedly study it thoroughly and explore its practical applications. This is not just a professional pursuit, but a personal passion rooted in my deep respect for traditional medicine and natural healing.  His commitment to holistic health and a vision where transformative care reaches communities worldwide and together with Chairman Zhang joined forces to develop and market this product under the brand name OROJIN.

Cai Hua is the General Manager of CITIC Healthcare Fund. His other roles include expert at CITIC Think Tank, senior researcher at the CITIC Reform and Development Research Foundation, vice president of the China Pharmaceutical Materials Association, deputy director of the Internet Healthcare Working Committee of the Internet Society of China, director of the China Geriatric Healthcare Research Association, and a standing member of the Pharmacoeconomics and Drug Evaluation Committee of the China Association for the Promotion of Traditional Chinese Medicine Research. He holds a CEIBS Executive MBA from Shandong University and a doctorate in pharmacoeconomics from China Pharmaceutical University. He previously served as regional general manager of Merck (China) and managing director of China Capital Partners.

A senior pharmaceutical engineer and master’s supervisor at Zunyi Medical College, he served as Director of the Biological Research Institute at Zhuhai United Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. and Director of the Guangdong Diabetes Biopharmaceutical Engineering Technology Center. He has 20 years of experience in recombinant protein drug development, particularly in the development and research of diabetes biopharmaceuticals, and has successfully marketed four biopharmaceuticals. He currently manages a pipeline of over 20 biopharmaceutical products, including those in diabetes, weight management, lipid management, skin health management, excipients, and animal health. His GLP-1/GIP/GCG triple agonist has successfully filed for registration in both China and the United States, has completed Phase 1 clinical trials, and in March of this year, licensed the rights outside of China to Novo Nordisk. He has received a second-class Guangdong Provincial Science and Technology Award and first-class Zhuhai and Zhongshan Municipal Science and Technology Awards.

Prof. CAO Jinghua，Director, Committee for International Cooperation and Overseas Affairs of the Chinese Society Biotechnology. Prior to this position，he served as Executive Director of the Secretariat of the Alliance of International Science Organizations (ANSO). An English major and graduate from the Beijing Foreign Languages Institute in 1982 and a master in international politics from CCNY, US in 1987, he worked in different posts in international affairs at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) such as Deputy Director of the Office of External Financing, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Deputy Director and Director of the Office of American and Oceanian Affairs, Bureau of International Cooperation (BIC), Assistant Director, Deputy Director General and Director General of BIC, CAS. He also worked as a Second and First Secretary in the S&T Section of the Chinese Embassy in Washington D.C. from 1995 to 1997. His research interests are science policy and international cooperation in science and engineering. His publication includes a few articles in international SCI journals.

Dr. William Cao brings over 30 years of R&D experience in biotech industry, including founding two Nasdaq-listed companies: Gracell Biotechnologies (formerly Nasdaq: GRCL) and Cellular Biomedicine Group (formerly Nasdaq: CBMG), with focus on novel cell therapies for cancer and autoimmune diseases. His industry experience also includes roles at Chiron (later Novartis and Bayer) and Affymetrix (now ThermoFisher Scientific).

Dr. Cao holds a Bachelor of Medicine degree from Fudan University Medical College of Shanghai, China, and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the Medical College of Virginia. He pursued extensive academic research in immunopharmacology at Harvard Medical School and Stanford Medical Center, authoring over 100 publications, including manuscripts, issued patents, and applications for advanced cell therapies.

On February 22, 2024, Gracell was successfully acquired by AstraZeneca for $1.2 billion, marking it as the first Chinese biotech company fully acquired by a multinational corporation. Dr. Cao has received several prestigious honors, including PharmaVoice 100 Most Inspiring Life Science Leaders Award, BioCentury/BayHelix M&A Deal of the Year 2024, and the HYSTA Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2024. Dr. Cao is a sought-after speaker at professional conferences, such as the 2024 Harvard China Forum to share his entrepreneurial insights.

Dr. Yuhong Cao received her B.S. in chemistry from Linfield College, OR, USA (2011). She conducts graduate work on the development of a nondestructive nanostraw system for longitudinal living cell sampling with Prof. Nicholas Melosh at the Stanford University, CA, USA and got her Ph.D in materials science and engineering (2018). She pursued her postdoctoral training on T cell engineering by applying CRISPR-Cas technology with Prof. Peidong Yang in partnership with Prof. Jennifer Doudna at the University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA and then returned to Stanford University for her second postdoctoral training with Prof. Steven Chu. She returned to Beijing, China where she joined the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, CAS as a professor and principal investigator.

Mr Lot Chan studied pharmacy in UK and public health in Hong Kong. He has joined the Department of Health of the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region for 30 years. For may years he has been involved in the approval of pharmaceutical products registration and clinical trials, import/export control of medicines, licensing and inspection of pharmaceutical traders, and enforcement of drug-related laws. During his service in the Department of Health, Mr Lot Chan has led the application for the accession to the Pharmaceutical Inspection Co-operation Scheme and the statutory regulation of advanced therapy products.

Currently, Mr Lot Chan is the Assistant Director of Health, responsible for the preparatory work of the establishment of the Centre for Medical Products Regulation (CMPR).

Piu Chan, MD, PhD, Professor of Neurology and Geriatrics, is the Chair of the faculty of Geriatrics and the Director of Clinical and Research Center for Parkinson’s Disease (PD), Capital Medical University. He serves as the director of the National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders and the Parkinson’s Disease Center of Beijing Institutes of Brain Disorders, Xuanwu Hospital. He is also the council member of the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics (IAGG), past Secretary of the IAGG Asia-Oceania Region, and the deputy President of the Chinese Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics (CAGG). He has participated in the development of WHO ICOPE project and its implementation in China. Dr. Chan has participated in drafting the Clinical Diagnostic Criteria for PD and for Prodromal PD of MDS. He published more than 400 peer-reviewed SCI articles with a Google H-index of 92. Dr Chan has been the Principal Investigator for more than 10 international and domestic multi-center clinical register trials, served as consultant for NMPA-CDE. He is currently serving as associate editor of Neuropharmacology and Therapy.