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Two renowned scholars, Professor Qin Ling and Professor Yu Jun from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)’s Faculty of Medicine (CU Medicine), have been elected as Foreign Members of the Academia Europaea this year for their distinguished achievements.

Professor Qin Ling, Choh-Ming Li Professor of Orthopaedics and Traumatology and Assistant Dean (Mainland Affairs) of CU Medicine, has played a pivotal role in musculoskeletal disease research since joining CUHK in 1994. He currently holds the position of Director of the CUHK Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Research Institute (Futian) and the Musculoskeletal Research Laboratory. Professor Qin has made remarkable achievements in the field, advancing the understanding of the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of bone metabolic disorders and the healing enhancement of musculoskeletal injuries. He has paved the way for innovative approaches to developing biodegradable metals for orthopaedic applications.

“I am grateful for the honour bestowed upon me by the Academy. This recognition is a testament to the collaborative efforts of our incredible team, who have dedicated themselves to musculoskeletal research. We aim to conduct further high-quality research to provide patients with better treatment,” Professor Qin remarked.

Professor Qin is a past President of the International Chinese Musculoskeletal Research Society. He holds a joint professorship at Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology (SIAT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and serves as Director of SIAT’s Center for Translational Medicine and Research and Development and its Institute of Biomedical and Health Engineering. Professor Qin has published over 400 research articles in international peer-reviewed journals, including Nature Medicine, Nature Communications and Advanced Science. In honour of his valuable contributions, he has received several awards, including the 2020 China Patent Award Silver Medal from the State Intellectual Property Office and the 2020 Berton Rahn Research Award from the AO Foundation. His outstanding achievements were celebrated with the Gold Medal at the International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva in 2022.

Professor Yu Jun, Choh-Ming Li Professor of Medicine and Therapeutics and Assistant Dean (Mainland Affairs) of CU Medicine, has been actively involved in gastroenterology research since joining the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics at CU Medicine in 2005. She currently serves as the Director of both the State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease and the Institute of Digestive Disease. Over the years, Professor Yu has made significant contributions in the areas of gastrointestinal cancers in relation to the genomic and epigenomic molecular mechanisms, gut microbiota and fatty liver disease, as well as basic and translational research in cancer biomarkers and cancer therapy.

“I feel very honoured to be elected as a foreign member of the Academia Europaea and would like to dedicate this achievement to my colleagues, research students and collaborators who have inspired and encouraged me. We shall continue to unravel the mysteries of gastroenterological diseases to improve the lives of patients worldwide,” said Professor Yu.

In recognition of her work, Professor Yu has garnered numerous accolades, including the State Natural Science Award in 2016 and 2020. Notably, Professor Yu became the first Asian and the first woman outside the US to receive the American Gastroenterology Association Council Oncology Research Mentor Award in 2017. She was also recognised as one of the Top 10 Scientists in Global Gut Microbiome Research in 2019. In 2021, she received the Chinese Medical Women’s Association Wuzhou Women Science & Technology Award – Research Innovation Award for Preclinical Medicine, and in 2022, she received the Guanghua Engineering Science and Technology Award. Her remarkable accomplishments have positioned her as one of the “2022 Best Female Scientists”, ranking in the Top 3 nationally. To date, Professor Yu has published more than 550 peer-reviewed publications (205 papers IF>10 and 101 papers IF>30) in world-renowned scientific journals, including Nature, Nature Biotechnology and Cancer Cell. In the MoE Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output Awards (Science and Technology) 2022, Prof Yu’s research team was the only one from Hong Kong to receive the first-class award.