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ABSTRACT

Professor Ho is currently the director of the Office of Research and Knowledge Transfer offices at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). He obtained his undergraduate degree in Biochemistry and Economics from the University of California, Berkeley, but he chose Science instead of Economics for his further study as he has more confidence in studying Science. After he graduated from the University of California, he decided to develop his career in Hong Kong instead of California as he wanted to stay where he came from. He thinks that he is fortunate to find a job that is suitable for him. “Academic jobs actually don’t tie you down in one place,” he said, so over the years, even though he anchored in Hong Kong, he has a lot of opportunities to work overseas. Professor Ho’s research interest has been focused in three major areas: first, the field of opiate mechanisms, particularly in the relationship between the endorphins and acupuncture, in the mid-70’s to late 80’s. As opium is the most effective pain killer, he wanted to study why it can treat pain. Second, since the mid 80’s, Professor Ho became actively involved in promoting the development of molecular biology and biotechnology in Hong Kong. At the same time, he initiated a new research project in the cloning and application of fish growth hormones, which was aimed to find new measures to help the productivity of the local aquaculture industry. The third area of Professor Ho’s research is in discovering compounds from Chinese medicine which prevent the downregulation of the receptor for cholesterol uptake and this mechanism helps to lower blood cholesterol level. Professor Ho is an Honorary Research Professor of the School of Biomedical Sciences, Medical Faculty, of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the former Managing Director of the Hong Kong Institute of Biotechnology and an Emeritus Professor of the School of Life Sciences, Chinese University of Hong Kong.