Page 23 - Gerald Choa Memorial Fund Annual Report 2018-19

Thomas LAU (Medicine Year 3)

Awardee of Gerald Choa Memorial Fund Scholarship for Student Activities 2018–19
Thank you for granting us the scholarship for the project “Comprehensive Research Training for Medical Students —
Characterization of motor cortex dynamics in Parkinsonian and L-DOPA induced dyskinetic states”.

The project is dedicated to offering a comprehensive research opportunity in Basic Neuroscience. Six medical students,
attached to Professor Owen KO’s research laboratory on Neuroscience, have been working on the aforesaid project under
my mentorship.

Under personal instructions, the students acquired a fundamental understanding of Basic Neuroscience research, which
included highlights such as observing animal surgery, in vivo imaging and using conventional approaches to Molecular
Biology. There is substantial training with hands-on bench work alongside data analyses. All the techniques are central to
multiple domains of biomedical research and are highly translatable. Medical students who would like to further pursue the
fields of science might benefit immensely.

In addition, four students and I attended the 6th Asian and Oceanian Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders
Congress (AOPMC) in Hangzhou on 12 –14 April 2019, under the mentorship of Professor Vincent MOK, Head of Division of
Neurology, Department of Medicine & Therapeutics, CUHK. The students noted that despite the difficult contents, they
managed to have a solid grasp of both the clinical management and fundamental aspects of the pathology of Parkinson’s
disease. More importantly, with the generous amount of time Professor MOK spent with the mentees, they were able to
familiarise themselves with the basic etiquette in an academic setting, as well as gain valuable experience by chatting with
disease experts at the Congress.

Once again, on behalf of all the participants, I would like to thank the Gerald Choa Memorial Fund for its generous support.
We hope to host similar projects in the near future.

(2nd right) Thomas LAU

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