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The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) will present the Wei Lun Public Lecture on “Gene-Environment Interactions in Lung Cancer” by Professor David Christiani, Professor of Occupational Medicine and Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School next Tuesday (10 March).

The tobacco taxation increase in the recently announced budget 2009-10 has induced increasing concern with the association between lung cancer and smoking. Although the majority of cases of lung cancer can be attributed to cigarette smoking, only 10% of smokers develop bronchogenic carcinoma. Evidence is accumulating that an individual’s risk of disease can be significantly affected by interactions between genetic polymorphisms and environmental factors. An explanation for this observation is that host factors influence individual susceptibility to tobacco smoke. One such susceptibility factor is the group of pleiotropic genes that control activation and detoxification of potential carcinogens. Other susceptibility factors are related to defects in DNA repair, alterations in tumor suppressor genes, angiogenesis, and alterations in tumor invasiveness factors. Polymorphisms in genes associated with these functions may also be involved in lung cancer development. All of these important issues will be discussed in this public lecture.

Born and educated in the United States, Professor Christiani obtained his Doctor Degree in Medicine at Tufts University in 1976. He then furthered his studies at Harvard University, where he received his Master Degree in Public Health (Occupational Medicine) in 1980 and a Master Degree in Science (Physiology) in 1981. Professor Christiani has been appointed as Director of Education and Research Center for Occupational Safety and Health, Harvard School of Public Health since 1996, and has held a variety of service posts with academic links at international level, as well as regional and local level within the United States.

Professor Christiani’s major research interests are environmental molecular epidemiology, specifically gene-environment interactions. He has developed new methods for assessing health effects after exposure to carcinogens and other toxicants. Professor Christiani has conducted biomedical research and he has developed a wide network of collaborations and contacts not only within the United States, but China, Taiwan, Bangladesh, Africa and Central America. With his international reputation in occupational and environmental health, he has been advisor of National Health Research Institutes of Taiwan, Asia Consortium for the Study of Cancer, International Lung Cancer Consortium (ILCCO), and CUHK.

Professor Christiani has been very active in editorial activities for academic journals. He has been invited to serve as a board member of Environmental Health, Environmental Health Perspectives, Toxicogenomics, Chinese Medical Journal (English Edition), and Carcinogenesis. He also serves as peer reviewer for a number of prestigious journals which include Lancet and New England Journal of Medicine.

In recognition of his academic work and professional activities, Professor Christiani has been awarded Sweet Endowed Lectureship (2004) by St. Louis University Medical School and Harriet Hardy Award (2004) by New England College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

Professor Christiani’s lecture will take place at 4:00 p.m., 10 March, at Kai Chong Tong, G/F School of Public Health, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin. Public is welcome to register online at http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/cpr/christiani/

The Wei Lun Visiting Professorship / Fellowship Scheme of CUHK was established through a generous donation by the Wei Lun Foundation Limited with the aim to invite eminent scholars from around the world to visit and give lecture at CUHK.

Media representatives are welcome to cover the lecture. Feature interview with Professor Christiani can be arranged via the Communications and Public Relations Office at 2609-8501.