Speaker

Chen Ruixiang, Professor at ​Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, former Director of the Department of Mathematics and Physics at the College of Chinese Materia Medica, and member of the Teaching Guidance Committee. Vice Chairman of the ​Beijing Research Society of Traditional Chinese Medicine Orthopedics and Traumatology. Awarded the ​Outstanding Contribution Award​ by the UNESCO Association in 2014. Key academic achievements: established a modern logical system for Chinese characters; his monograph was selected as an official gift book for the ​2008 Beijing Olympics Cultural Exchange Activities​ and licensed merchandise for the ​2010 Shanghai World Expo; developed an axiomatic system for modeling fundamental principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine theory and diagnosis/treatment algorithm models; constructed the ​11-tier Life Philosophy System of Chinese Culture; served as first editor or co-editor for over 10 nationally planned textbooks; led or participated in more than 10 scientific research projects.

Xuemei Chen received a B.S. degree from Peking University, China in 1988 and a doctorate from Cornell University, USA in 1995. After postdoctoral training at California Institute of Technology, she started her assistant professor position in 1999 at the Waksman Institute at Rutgers University. She was promoted to associate professor in 2005 and won the Board of Trustees Research Fellowship for Scholarly Excellence at Rutgers University. She moved to University of California, Riverside in 2005 as an associate professor and was promoted to full professor in 2009 and distinguished professor in 2013. In 2006, she received the prestigious Charles Albert Shull award from American Society of Plant Biologists. In 2011, she was elected an AAAS Fellow. She was an HHMI-GBMF investigator from 2012 to 2018. In 2013, she was elected into the US National Academy of Sciences. She received the Martin Gibbs Medal from American Society of Plant Biologists in 2023 and the Qiu Shi Outstanding Scientist Award from Qiu Shi Science & Technologies Foundations in 2024. In 2023, she returned to China to take up a full-time academic position and currently serves as Chair Professor and Dean of the School of Life Sciences at Peking University, as well as Director of Beijing Advanced Center for RNA Biology (BEACON). Her work has focused on flower development, small RNAs, and RNA modifications in plants.

Dr. Qiang Cheng obtained his Ph.D. from Peking University in 2016 and subsequently completed his postdoctoral training at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center (UTSW) during 2017 to 2021. Since September 2021, Dr. Cheng established his research lab as an Assistant Professor at Peking University. His research interests focus on mRNA targeted delivery. The core is to innovate lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery technology to achieve targeted delivery of mRNA in tissues and cells, providing a powerful tool for precise mRNA-based therapy to address unmet clinical needs. To date Dr. Cheng has developed tissue-targeted (SORT, PILOT, STAR) and cell-targeted (SELECT) mRNA-LNP delivery platforms, enabling targeted delivery and treatment of mRNA drugs in various major organs and cells, including the liver, lungs, spleen, bone, muscle, thymus, kidneys, and tumors. These works have been published as first or corresponding author in journals including Nature Materials (2025, 2021), Nature Nanotechnology (2020), Nature Communications (2023, 2020), PNAS (2023, 2021), and Advanced Materials (2024, 2023, 2018). Notably, the Selective Organ Targeting (SORT) mRNA-LNP technology was highlighted in “Seven Technologies to Watch in 2022” by Nature. Several international patents resulting from his research have been commercialized, leading to the advancement of at least two pipeline projects into Phase 1 clinical trials and the initiation of multiple new mRNA drugs into Investigator Initiated Trial (IIT).

Dr. Cheng Wei Wei works at the Expert Department of Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, a national-level expert in stroke diseases and geriatrics. With a postgraduate degree in medicine and dual master’s and doctoral degrees, she has been engaged in medical teaching and research as well as clinical practice for 50 years. In 1993, as a national medical postgraduate student was admitted to the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, where she studied under Professor Zhou Wenquan. In 1993,s he passed the exam with excellent grades and ranked first in the credit list, earning 120 credits. Average score: 89.8 points. After graduating from the Graduate School of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, she pursued a part-time doctoral program with excellent academic performance. She passed the examinations and completed the required doctoral credits. The first batch of mentorship mentors of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and postgraduate supervisors of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences. The Graduate School of the Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Tsinghua University, exceeded its target and passed the required credits for master’s and doctoral courses with excellent grades. All course exams were passed with excellent grades after classroom study at the Tsinghua & Columbia Global Policy Research Center. Later, She studied under dozens of professors, including Academician Tian Jinzhou, Professor Cao Hongxin, Professor Nie Huimin of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Professor Huang Yining and Professor Wu Liwen of Peking Union Medical College, Professor Wang Yongjun, a member of the Academic Division, and Professor LIYING, a senior professor of neuroscience at the University of Michigan. In the past three years, she has continued her research and study at Tsinghua University: taking courses such as neuro-linguistics, psycholinguistics, and syntax, completing all courses in the lifelong education Classroom of the School of Economics and Management at Tsinghua University, the “Philosophy Class” of Tsinghua University, and the Advanced Research Class on the Transformation and Development strategy of the Pharmaceutical Industry at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences of Tsinghua University.

Professor Philip Chiu is Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Shun Hing Education and Charity Fund Professor of Robotic Surgery, Director of Multi-Scale Medical Robotics Center, and Director of Endoscopy Center, Institute of Digestive Disease of The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is also a Steering Committee member of Health and Medical Innovation Development of the Health Bureau of the HKSAR Government.

Professor Chiu is a pioneer in minimally invasive procedures, having performed Hong Kong’s first endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for the treatment of early gastrointestinal cancers in 2004, as well as the world’s first robotic gastric ESD and colorectal ESD in 2011 and 2020 respectively. His research interests include esophageal cancer management, minimally invasive and robotic esophagectomy, novel endoscopic technologies for diagnosis of early GI cancers, endoscopic surgery, as well as robotics for endoluminal surgery. Professor Chiu has published nearly 400 peer-reviewed manuscripts and 6 book chapters. Among these, his seminal world’s first robotic colorectal ESD clinical study earned Endoscopy’s Most Innovative Paper Award (2024). Other accolades include the State Scientific Technology and Progress Award from the People’s Republic of China (2007), 2^nd class award in Technological Advancement, Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China (2011), Spirit of Hong Kong Award on Innovation (2020), two Gold Medals with Congratulations of Jury at the International Exhibitions of Inventions of Geneva (2019, 2023), Honorary Member of the European Association of Endoscopic Surgery (2023) and Foreign Member of the Academia Europaea (2025).

Dr. Ricky Chiu is a pioneering biomedical engineer, inventor, entrepreneur, and educator devoted to advancing diagnostic technology and global health. As Founder and CEO of PHASE Scientific, Dr. Chiu developed PHASiFY™, a patented liquid-phase extraction platform that redefines sensitivity in liquid biopsy and infectious disease diagnostics, enabling more accurate and accessible testing for cancer and infectious diseases. His work includes leading the development of the worlds first urine DNA-based HPV test for non-invasive cervical cancer screening, which leverages patented technology for highly accurate results and broad impact on women’s health globally. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Chiu led teams in developing and distributing high-efficiency RNA extraction kits and rapid antigen tests, supporting mass testing in Hong Kong and globally. With over 55 granted patents, successful regulatory approvals, and collaborations across Asia and the U.S., Dr. Chiu has established PHASE Scientific as an international innovator in diagnostics. He is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where he promotes innovation and talent development through academic engagement, lectures, and hands-on industry-academia initiatives.

Xiaoying Chu is the Director of Global Collaboration & Partner Publishing (Asia), Science/AAAS. In her role, Xiaoying leads the Science/AAAS Asia team, being responsible for developing and executing the strategic plans for collaborations with universities and associations, representing the Science family of journals in the region, working on scientific meetings, workshops, prizes, and publishing projects. Xiaoying played a key role in the establishment of AAAS’s Science Partner Journal (SPJ) program in 2017, and launch of the first partner journal in AAAS’s history – Research, in collaboration with CAST (China Association for Science and Technology) in 2018. Seventeen SPJ titles have been published by the AAAS.

Mr Johnson Chui joined HKEX as Managing Director and Head of Global Issuer Services in September 2024.

In his role, Mr Chui leads HKEX’s Global Issuer Services teams based in Hong Kong, Mainland China, London and Singapore, driving the Group’s efforts to further diversify and expand its listed issuer base.

Mr Chui has more than 25 years of experience working in international capital markets. Prior to joining HKEX, he held senior positions at Nomura, where he was Managing Director, Vice Chairman of Investment Banking and Head of Equity Capital Markets, Asia ex-Japan.

Prior to Nomura, Mr Chui spent nearly 18 years at Credit Suisse, where he was Head of Equity Capital Markets for Asia-Pacific and a member of the Operating Committees for Global Equity Capital Markets and Asia Pacific Investment Banking & Capital Markets. He has also held senior investment banking roles at Citigroup and Goldman Sachs in Hong Kong.

Mr Chui holds Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Commerce (Finance) degrees from the University of New South Wales in Australia.

At Fox Chase Cancer Center, Temple Health, Sangeeta Bardhan Cook, PhD, MBA, leads the institution’s AI and digital health strategy, forging high-impact partnerships across industry, academia, and start-ups to accelerate the clinical deployment of machine learning innovations. She oversees technology transfer, intellectual property, licensing, and joint ventures for AI platforms, and has driven Fox Chase’s pioneering investments in companies such as Nucleus and Segmed AI. In collaboration with Temple Health leadership, she helped establish an internal AI governance framework to ensure the ethical and scalable deployment of data-driven solutions across the health system, with a special focus on oncology. She mentors spin-off ventures from ideation through commercialization globally and routinely advises on health economics models for AI-enabled diagnostics and therapeutics designed to accelerate treatment decisions now and in the future.

Dai Hongbin, a senior economist, is currently the Vice Chairman of Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. He graduated from Zhongnan University of Economics and Law in 2000 with a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Economics. From 2008 to 2011, he studied at Wuhan University, receiving a Master of Management. He graduated from China Pharmaceutical University in 2024 with a Doctor of Science. He has worked at Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. since July 2000. He is a member of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, Vice President of the China Pharmaceutical Industry Association, Vice President of the China Pharmaceutical Innovation Promotion Association, an expert in Shanghai’s three leading industry mother funds appointed by the Shanghai Municipal Government, and a member of the first Listing Committee of the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s Science and Technology Innovation Board.