"Hong Kong is in a unique position to study the practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine in its pure form because it is illegal for Chinese medicine practitioners to use Western diagnostic and treatment modalities. However, integrating Chinese and Western medicine is practised by most individuals in the community. HKU, with our wide spectrum of world class experts in different scientific fields, offers fertile research ground for this Professor who would strive to combine the best of both systems to formulate the new medicine of the 21st century, as directed by our former Minister of Health, Professor Chen Zhu. Hence your support for the research on Integrative Medicine would be deeply appreciated."
Professor Vivian Taam Wong
Vivian Taam Wong Professorship in Integrative Medicine
Professor Jia Wei is a renowned scientist in the field of translational and integrative medicine, known for his significant contributions to scientific research and academia. He completed his M.S. and Ph.D. in radiopharmaceutical science at the University of Missouri-Columbia and quickly rose to the rank of full professor by the age of 36. With over 30 years of experience in the medical field, Professor Jia has held various administrative positions, including Executive Vice Dean of the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Tianjin University (2001-2002); Associate Dean for Research at the School of Pharmacy at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (2003-2008); and founding Director of the Center for Translational Biomedical Research at University of North Carolina at Greensboro (2008-2013). Furthermore, he has served as Director of the Center for Translational Medicine at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University affiliated 6th People’s Hospital since 2010, Associate Director of the University of Hawaii Cancer Center (an National Cancer Insitutue-designated Cancer Center) from 2013 to 2019, and recently, as Acting Dean of School of Chinese Medicine at Hong Kong Baptist University (2023-2024). Presently, he holds the position of Chair Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy at the LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong.
Professor Jia’s research is primarily focused on unraveling the intricate molecular mechanisms that connect metabolic disruptions in gut microbial-host co-metabolism to the development of metabolic disorders and gastrointestinal cancer. By gaining a deeper understanding of these mechanisms, his goal is to pinpoint potential therapeutic targets and develop more effective treatments for these debilitating conditions. Additionally, Professor Jia has been at the forefront of applying metabolomics and systems biology approaches in Chinese medicine research. He established the Center for Chinese Medicine and Systems Biology at Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in 2005, paving the way for integrative medicine research in this field.
Moreover, Professor Jia’s lab operates a highly esteemed metabolomics platform. Over the past two decades, they have built a cutting-edge metabolomics program that focuses on the quantitative profiling of endogenous small-molecule metabolites and trace elements from various biological specimens, such as blood, urine, saliva, cell lysates, and tissues obtained from both experimental animals and human subjects.
Professor Jia Wei is a distinguished member of the Academia Europaea, having been elected to the Physiology & Neuroscience Section in 2023. His outstanding contributions to the field of scientific research have earned him consistent recognition on the "Highly Cited Chinese Researchers" list by Elsevier and the "World's top 2% scientists" list by Stanford University. Notably, his groundbreaking research on the interaction between melamine in infant formula and childhood gut bacteria, leading to kidney toxicity, was selected as one of the top ten scientific breakthroughs by Science magazine in 2013.
Jia Wei
