Alzheimer’s
disease is an
incurable and irreversible neurodegenerative
disease, and a form of cognitive dysfunction.
There are cur rently about 35 million people
worldwide suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
Every 67 seconds someone in the US develops
Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists have been studying
the disease since its discover y in 1906 by the
German physician Dr. Alois Alzheimer, for whom
the disease is named. HKUST’s very own world-
renowned neurobiologist, Prof. Nancy Ip, has
devoted 30 years into examining the functioning
of our brain and the contr ibuting factors of
neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s
disease.
Prof. Nancy Ip was born and raised in Hong
Kong. Deeply inspired by her secondary school
teachers, she pursued her undergraduate studies
in chemistry and biology at Simmons College in
Boston. Her passion in research was sparked by
her final year project related to the composites of
penicillin. After obtaining her bachelor’s degrees,
Prof. Ip entered Harvard Medical School and
received her PhD degree in Pharmacology. She
worked at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., New
York, as a senior staff scientist before joining HKUST
in 1993. Currently, she is the Dean of Science,
the Morningside Professor of Life Science, the
Director of State Key Laboratory of Molecular
Neuroscience at HKUST, and Academician of the
Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Prof. Ip i s wel l - known for her pioneer i ng
resea rch i n neu rot roph i c facto r s (p rote i ns
responsible for growth and maintenance of
neu rons). By i dent i f y i ng va r i ous membe r s
of neurotrophic factors and examining thei r
biological mechanisms and functions in neurons,
Prof. Ip and her collaborators demonstrated
the significance of these proteins in neuronal
survival and function. For instance, one of the
factors served an important role in facilitating
communication between neurons. These findings
神經科學的先鋒 :
葉玉如教授
Neuroscience Pioneer:
