Tag: Chinese University of Hong Kong

With strong support from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), Cornelius Gilbert – a recipient of the prestigious Belt and Road Scholarship – continues to unleash his full potential as he inches closer towards his goals of becoming the next high-flier in the financial sector and eventually a change agent in his motherland Indonesia.

Why CUHK?

Cornelius’s parents were deprived of the opportunity to obtain higher education, so the value of top-notch education was a strong point of emphasis throughout his upbringing. Therefore, when the opportunity to study at the top-ranked CUHK came knocking on his door, he jumped at it.

“The top-ranked CUHK provides me with numerous opportunities to grow and move closer to my goals. The level of support received throughout the application process was also unrivalled. The location of CUHK in the international financial centre of Hong Kong was a factor too given my interest in pursuing a career in the financial sector,” Cornelius explained.

Well-recognized internationally for its academic strength spanning across diverse disciplines, CUHK – ranked 38th in the world in the QS World University Rankings 2023 – offers more than 70 undergraduates programmes from eight faculties. Home to recipients of the Nobel Prize, Turing Award, Fields Medal and Veblen Prize, CUHK features distinguished scholars eager to inspire through high quality teaching and research.

CUHK recognizes academic rigor is only part of the equation so well-rounded support is provided to assist students develop into the best version of themselves.

“The university puts a lot of effort in making us feel comfortable. A game-changer for me and other international students is the guaranteed accommodation. It’s comfy and most importantly inexpensive, especially when you compare it to how much it costs to rent a place in the city,” Cornelius said.

CUHK Experience

Currently a third-year student of the Quantitative Finance and Risk Management Science Programme at CUHK, Cornelius is enjoying his fruitful learning experience which has helped him build a strong foundation instrumental to his goal pursuits.

“The courses are really well-designed while the professors are extremely approachable and helpful. I receive email responses to questions even on off days,” he said.

“Most importantly, there are a plethora of learning opportunities outside the classroom such as workshops, mentorship programmes, case competitions, and internship opportunities and exchange opportunities as well. Financial technology is an area that intrigues me as I wish to start a company providing financial technology solutions in Indonesia at a later stage of my career and I’ve been given numerous opportunities to explore this here.”

“I’ve learned a great deal from joining these events. Workshops conducted by seasoned executives have offered me insights into learning more about the stakeholders in different industries and other events have enlightened me in terms of career development,” Cornelius said, adding that his two internships matched through CUHK were eye-opening since he was able to apply theoretical knowledge to real life situations across sectors and reaffirm finance as his preferred career choice.

A worthwhile once-in-a-lifetime journey

He remains as hungry to learn as ever while his growth mindset developed at CUHK has made him become more resilient when facing setbacks.

“I used to get mad in high school whenever I came second. However, in CUHK, you’re surrounded by brilliant students who are a lot smarter than you and this really forces you to think of ways to up your game such as becoming more efficient,” he said.

“My experience here has certainly helped me develop. Regardless of what the future holds, I will forever reminisce on it as one that has unquestionably helped transform my life

Hailing from the culturally diverse city of Munich, Franz-Jakob Bodenmeier has found himself a natural fit at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) as he aspires to pursue a career in the project management side of the renewable-energy industry.

Blood runs in the family

Heavily influenced by his father who manages renewable-energy investments, Jakob developed an interest in this area at a young age. It came to no one’s surprise when he chose to study economics as his university major but his decision to study abroad did come as a shock to some.

Why Hong Kong and CUHK?

“With everything considered, it was just the best option. Hong Kong is an international city that serves as a bridge between the East and West so studying here opens a lot of doors, and there’s also no better place to learn business pitching and hone my soft skills,” he said, adding that his previous 6-month exchange experience in Beijing also played a role in his decision.

“Similarly, CUHK is a university where East meets West. One can get the best of both worlds by developing an Asian perspective on top of the international one deeply ingrained in the city. In addition, there is a great mix of local and non-local students at CUHK so it’s nice to meet and learn from people from all walks of life,” Jakob explained.

As one of the selected few currently studying in The Chinese University of Hong Kong-Tsinghua University Dual Undergraduate Degree Programme in Economics, Jakob receives the best economic training in Asia and will spend four years in total, two years each in respective universities before graduating with two of the most prestigious bachelor’s degrees in Asia.

Ranked 47th and 30th in QS’ World University Rankings by Subject 2022 in Economics and Econometrics respectively, CUHK and Tsinghua University empower students to develop insightful global and Asian perspectives as they develop connections by accessing both alumni networks.

CUHK is well-recognized internationally for its academic strength that spans across diverse disciplines. QS’ World University Rankings by Subject 2022 placed twenty one CUHK subjects in the world’s top 50 with seven subjects, specifically anthropology, communication and media studies, computer science and information systems, medicine, nursing, philosophy, and theology, divinity and religious studies ranked first in Hong Kong.

Paving the path to success

Despite not naturally possessing superhuman adaptive skills, Jakob has fully immersed himself in life at CUHK.

“There’s very comfortable accommodation, awesome people, excellent teaching, speedy assistance from different departments, as well as meaningful events and activities held to assist us in developing critical career skills,” he said.

One activity Jakob joined was the CUHK Mentorship Programme (CUMP) where he met professionals from different industries and obtained invaluable advice about career planning and development, while the CUHK Host Family Programme has allowed him to build closer connections with professors eager to impart years of wisdom and share their ways on developing the necessary skillset for future success.

CUHK also regularly organizes workshops, events, and seminars about internship opportunities to help students work towards their future goals, which include the Bloomberg Academy held in June this year.

“The support provided is unmatched. You can feel the University really cares about us and goes the extra mile by doing everything they can to support our development,” he added.

Looking back, Jakob has no doubt that to study in CUHK and Hong Kong has been the right decision.

“Everything that drew me here in the first place has lived up to expectations. The cherry on top is the warmth and sense of belonging I feel here. Everything is perfect.”

The Microbiota I-(MagIC)-Centre of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has identified distinct gut microbiome profiles associated with post-acute COVID-19 syndrome, commonly known as ‘long COVID’.

These gut microbial signatures can be used to predict the risk of developing long COVID in patients with acute infection and to diagnose long COVID in recovered patients with persistent unexplained symptoms. This is the world’s first study to demonstrate gut microbiota as a key determinant of long COVID. The results have been published in a leading international journal, Gut.

More than 500 million people have suffered from COVID-19 globally. This study in Hong Kong found that up to 80% of recovered patients developed long COVID at six months, characterised mostly by fatigue, poor memory, difficulty in sleeping and hair loss in the weeks and months after the initial infection.

Decoding the links to specific long COVID symptoms

The study found that some 76% of patients had at least one persistent symptom six months after recovery from COVID-19. Contrary to conventional belief, factors such as age, gender, co-morbidities, severity of COVID-19, and the use of antibiotics or anti-viral drugs were not associated with the occurrence of long COVID.

Interestingly, it was found that patients with long COVID had less diverse gut microbiome, while the gut microbiome of patients without long COVID was similar to that of uninfected people. Using a machine-learning model to analyse over 1,400 stool samples, the team has identified ‘bacteria signatures’ that can predict long COVID with over 90% sensitivity and specificity.

For example, a lack of certain ‘friendly’ immunity-boosting bacteria was strongly associated with persistent respiratory symptoms such as cough or shortness of breath, whereas the abundance of certain pathogens was linked to fatigue and neuropsychiatric symptoms including difficulty in sleeping, poor memory and loss of taste.

It follows that the team can potentially utilise gut microbiome as a biomarker to predict, detect and treat long COVID; in particular, different bacteria signatures can account for different ‘subtypes’ of long COVID symptoms according to the organs predominantly involved.

Preventing and treating long COVID

In a pilot study of recovered COVID-19 patients who received a novel gut microbiome immunity formula (SIM01) developed by CUHK, 90% of them did not develop long COVID at six months. A large-scale randomised trial is underway to confirm the efficacy of this formula, which offers hope for the prevention and alleviation of long COVID.

Prof. Francis Chan, Dean of Medicine and Co-Director of MagIC Centre, remarked, ‘Our findings demonstrate that individuals’ gut microbiome profiles affect their susceptibility to long COVID. Our discovery does not only for the first time offer a scientific explanation for long COVID, but also provides an effective tool for prediction, diagnosis and treatment of this global health problem.’

Prof. Siew Chien Ng, Professor and Director of MagIC Centre, added, ‘Our study showed that microbiome-based profiling is potentially useful for risk assessment, timely diagnosis and targeted treatment of long COVID. These new findings also indicate that, in addition to hastening recovery from acute COVID-19 infection, our microbiome immunity formula (SIM01) is potentially effective in preventing long COVID.’

This study was funded by Inno@HK of the Innovation and Technology Commission of the HKSAR Government.

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