UM Scholars Make Scientific Discoveries with Global Impact
- Written by: Telegraph Magazine
The groundbreaking scientific discoveries made by these distinguished scholars and their teams have greatly advanced the university's global influence and Macao's development as an innovation hub. 
Top-tier academics are vital to the academic and research advancement of a university. UM's faculty boasts leading scholars from diverse cultural backgrounds who are actively engaged in cutting-edge research in their respective disciplines. Notably, Chuxia Deng, Chair Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences; Chen Xin, Distinguished Professor and Director of the Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences; and Yuen Ka-Veng, Distinguished Professor in the Faculty of Science and Technology, have made remarkable achievements in cancer research, immunology, and civil engineering respectively.
Chuxia Deng: Advancing Cancer and Precision Medicine Research
Prof Chuxia Deng, a prominent figure in life sciences, has a successful track record in cancer research, focusing on precision oncology, oncogenes and tumour suppressor genes, gene targeting, and drug development. Notably, his breakthrough work involves using BRCA1 mutant mouse models to identify new targets for triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), a highly aggressive form of cancer. His research innovations span a 24-hour cancer drug screening biochip, drug susceptibility testing using patient-derived organoids, and 3D tumour slice culture technology.
Since joining UM in 2014, Prof Deng and his research teams have published 150 papers in top journals, with over 4,300 citation counts. His leadership has significantly boosted the Faculty of Health Sciences's research output, elevating the number of publications from 43 in 2014 to over 2,400 by 2024, with more than 60,000 citation counts, including over 400 publications with an impact factor ≥10. As the chief scientist of the Ministry of Education Frontiers Science Center for Precision Oncology at UM, Prof Deng spearheads cutting-edge cancer research to enhance early cancer diagnosis and advance personalised treatment for cancer patients through precision medicine.
Chen Xin: Leading the Way in Innovative Immunotherapy
Prof Chen Xin, a renowned scholar in immunology and Chinese medicine, has led groundbreaking studies that advances a safer and more effective treatment for cancer and autoimmune diseases. His team in the Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences (ICMS) at UM, in collaboration with the US National Cancer Institute (NCI), discovered that targeting a specific protein called TNFR2 can enhance anti-tumour immune responses and kill cancer cells, bringing new hope to cancer patients.
Under Prof Chen's leadership, ICMS has made significant progress in the internationalisation of Chinese medicine. Upholding the motto of 'seeking innovation through tradition', the institute has produced many research results with global impact. A series of international symposia have also been held to promote global academic exchange and strengthening international partnerships in the field of Chinese medicine. In addition to advancing innovative research and development, ICMS is also dedicated to training Chinese medicine professionals to support the development of the 'big health' industry.
Yuen Ka-Veng: Setting the Foundation for Bayesian Methods in Civil Engineering
Prof Yuen Ka-Veng is the leading scientist of the State Key Laboratory of Internet of Things for Smart City at UM and an eminent engineering expert in Macao, specialising in Bayesian inference, structural health monitoring, and machine learning. According to Web of Science, Prof Yuen is ranked 2nd worldwide in terms of the number of journal publications of Bayesian in all engineering disciplines. In 2024, Prof Yuen was awarded the 15th Guanghua Engineering Science and Technology Prize by the Chinese Academy of Engineering in recognition of his contributions to engineering technology and engineering management.
His pioneering work in developing new Bayesian methods tailored to real-world engineering scenarios has had a significant impact on the advancement of engineering practices and technologies. The methods have been extensively applied not only to structural health monitoring of major structures in mainland China and Hong Kong, but also in many other fields such as air pollution modelling, soil mechanics, rock mechanics, computational physics, disaster mitigation, neuroscience, smart transportation, and communications engineering.
The achievements of these scholars highlight UM's commitment to academic excellence and innovation, and to establishing Macao as a leading hub for scientific research. The success of these scholars and their teams has not only enhanced UM's global reputation and amplified Macao's role in promoting technological development in the Greater Bay Area, but has also contributed to the city's economic diversification.Hashtag: #UniversityofMacau #UM
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About the University of Macau
Founded in 1981, the University of Macau (UM) is a comprehensive research-oriented public university of international standing in Macao, with a multicultural campus and a system of whole-person education underpinned by faculties and residential colleges in an international education setup. Eighty per cent of its faculty members are from outside Macao. With English as the primary medium of instruction, the university is committed to producing innovative and socially responsible graduates with a global mindset and international competitiveness.
Website: https://www.um.edu.mo/
