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Professor Zhang Ge, Associate Dean (Research) of Chinese Medicine and Director of the Technology Development Division, leading the Law Sau Fai Institute for Advancing Translational Medicine in Bone and Joint Diseases of HKBU, together with experts from Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital under the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, have been awarded the First Prize of the Shanghai Science and Technology Progress Award for their project, “Molecular Mechanisms and Clinical Precision Diagnosis and Treatment of Hereditary Bone Diseases”. This prestigious award is established by the Shanghai Municipal Government, aims to encourage innovative research and foster a supportive environment for scientific advancement.

The award-winning project collected a vast number of samples and established a diverse family resource repository of genetic bone diseases. The clinical phenotype spectrum and pathogenic gene mutation spectrum of major types of hereditary bone diseases in the Chinese populations were delineated, providing strong support for clinical diagnosis, treatment, and research.

Osteogenesis imperfecta is a rare hereditary bone disease with no effective drugs for treatment. The team discovered that the serum sclerostin levels in patients with osteogenesis imperfecta are significantly higher than those in healthy individuals and developed a nucleic acid aptamer named “Apc001” that specifically targets sclerostin loop3. This aptamer Apc001 promotes bone formation in mice with osteogenesis imperfecta, and has received orphan drug designation and rare pediatric disease designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The team is planning to submit an Investigational New Drug application for the treatment of osteogenesis imperfecta in both China and the U.S.

Earlier this year, the project has already won the First Prize of Shanghai Medical Science and Technology Award.

Congratulations to Professor Zhang and his team! The School is dedicated to fostering a dynamic environment that supports technology transfer to create real-world impacts for society.

Related news: Joint team from SCM and Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital receives First Prize of Shanghai Medical Science and Technology Award