What you'll study
Musculoskeletal disorders are the leading cause of disability
worldwide. Globally, there are over 900 million people aged over 65 (12.0% of the
world population). By 2030, over 30% of the Hong Kong population will be over
65 and the estimated incidence of osteoporosis will be one in three women over
50 and one in five men over 65.
Osteoarthritis (OA) and tendinopathies with chronic pain will affect 30%
of the population of Hong Kong. The
estimated healthcare and related social costs will be about HK$100 billion per
year in 2030, which is a huge financial burden to Hong Kong. All of these conditions are associated with
reduced healing/regenerative potentials. Regenerative medicine is an emerging
discipline using cells, biological factors and tissue engineering techniques to
enhance regeneration potential, which provides a new dimension for the
treatment of these disabling disorders and will transform clinical practice.
Mainstream research centres on running
research projects to control and regulate the production of therapeutically-relevant
cell types from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and induced pluripotent stem
cells (iPS) towards osteogenic, chondrogenic and tenogenic lineages; to
optimize cell expansion and differentiation protocols; to explore novel
biomaterials for stem cell delivery; to validate the efficacy of stem cell
therapy in animal models of osteoporotic fracture, OA and tendinopathies; and to
develop good clinical practice (GCP) for stem cell therapy and establish a stem
cell bank with good manufacture practice (GMP) laboratory facilities for
clinical applications. Hence, it is important to teach the principles of stem
cell biology, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine to postgraduate
students and inspire them with the state-of-the-art research findings and
clinical applications.
This summer course is designed to teach students the fundamentals of stem cell biology, their applications in
regenerative medicine using musculoskeletal disorders as examples. The faculty team has a unique strength of
expertise and track record: all the lecturers are active and world-renowned researchers
in the field of stem cell biology, developmental biology and tissue engineering;
we will teach the established stem cell culture methods and demonstrate the
facilities including a GMP stem cells culture facilities to students how the
stem cells are prepared, cultured, identified and used for clinical
applications.