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Sun Hung Kai Properties (SHKP) and The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) will present the 20^th installment of the widely acclaimed Sun Hung Kai Properties Nobel Laureates Distinguished Lectures next Thursday (17 October), featuring Prof. Barry James Marshall, 2005 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine on ‘Helicobacter Pylori: Modern Uses for the Ancient Bacterium’. During the lecture, Professor Marshall will share his scholarship with CUHK staff, students, alumni and members of the medical, political, commercial and education sectors. 

Although Helicobacter pylori is recognised as the pathogen that causes peptic ulcers and stomach cancer, its ability to colonise more than half of mankind and new evidence that it has infected humans probably for millions of years, suggests that there might be a useful role for this ancient organism. 

The lecture will review the molecular epidemiology of Helicobacter and describes the way that Helicobacter strains can be used to trace human migrations over the past millennia.  Consideration is given to the possible benefits of Helicobacter which might have relevance to the modern understanding of human association with commensal and perhaps ‘near commensal’ organisms such as Helicobacter.  New evidence has arisen suggesting the Helicobacter might play a beneficial role in controlling what could be an overactive immune system in the 21^st century. 

In the context of this new information a more thoughtfully approach might be taken to patients with Helicobacter, judiciously selecting persons for diagnosis and treatment.  The 21^st century may see the development of new Helicobacter products which can provide the benefits of this ancient human/bacteria association without the more modern pathogenic outcomes. 

Professor Barry James Marshall serves as Clinical Professor of Medicine and Microbiology at the University of Western Australia. He received his medical degree at The University of Western Australia in 1974. In 1981, Professor Marshall and Dr J. Robin Warren studied the presence of spiral bacteria in association with gastritis. In 1982, Helicobacter pylori (H.pylori) were cultured for the first time and they developed their hypothesis related to the bacterial cause of peptic ulcers and gastric cancer. In 1984, the World Health Organisation gave this recognition and that H.pylori was the main cause of stomach cancer. Marshall and Warren’s work is acknowledged as the most significant discovery in the history of gastroenterology and is compared to the development of the polio vaccine and the eradication of smallpox. 

Professor Marshall received the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (together with Dr J. Robin Warren) as well as several other national and international awards. Representative of these awards have been the Warren Alpert Prize, the Australian Medical Association Award and the Albert Lasker Award in 1995, the Gairdner Award in 1996, the Paul Enrlich Prize in 1997, the Dr A.H. Heineken Prize for Medicine, the Florey Medal, and the Buchanan Medal in 1998, the Benjamin Franklin Medal for Life Sciences in 1999, the Keio Medical Science Prize in 2002, the Australian Centenary Medal in 2003, the Western Australian Citizen of the Year in 2006, the Western Australian of the Year and The Companion in the General Division of the Order of Australia in 2007, and the Australian Society for Medical Research (ASMR) Medallist in 2011. 

Free tickets will be available to give Hong Kong people a chance to benefit from the distinguished scholar’s insight. Details are as follows: 

Lecture:
Date:          17 October 2013 (Thursday)
Time:          3:30 pm
Place:         Shaw Auditorium, 1/F, The Jockey Club School of 
                  Public Health and Primary Care, Prince of Wales
                  Hospital, Shatin, New Territories
Language:   English

Ticket collection:
Tickets are now available at the following outlets:

Tickets will be available while they last – one per person.  Public can also apply for online tickets at http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/nobellectures/2013-10/registration.html
Enquiries: 3943-8677 

The Sun Hung Kai Properties Nobel Laureates Distinguished Lectures were inaugurated in 2004 by SHKP with CUHK.  The series brings Nobel Laureates to speak to a broad cross-section of the community, to promote the discovery and the dissemination of knowledge, encouraging life-long learning and innovation.  After this 20th installment of the series, 27 Nobel Laureates or renowned scholars will have lectured in Hong Kong.