- Grant & Fund
- Expressions Winter 2022
Faculty Scholar Received China’s NSFC Young Scientists Fund
Stimulate Cell with Biomaterials to Promote Tissue Regeneration
Dr Wei Qiao, Clinical Assistant Professor in Applied Oral Sciences & Community Dental Care
Dr Wei Qiao, Clinical Assistant Professor in Applied Oral Sciences & Community Dental Care received the National Natural Science Foundation of China’s (NSFC) Young Scientists Fund 2022. This is the first time the Fund is open to researchers in Hong Kong.
Dr Qiao and his team have been exploring the development of novel orthopaedic/dental biomaterials and investigating the host tissue response to said biomaterials. Under the project “Construction of biomimetic piezoelectric biomaterial for bone regeneration through bioelectrical modulation of immune-neural axis”, his team aims to establish a novel extracellular matrix material capable of generating bioelectric signals to “talk with” immune cells and sensory neurons.
I am also very grateful because the fund will be distributed in the form of cross-border remittance to directly support my research at the HKU Faculty of Dentistry.
Their recent finding showed the innate immune system and the peripheral nervous system work collaboratively to regulate tissue regeneration. This discovery and their most recent proposal for bioactive materials led the team to this Fund. “I am honored to be awarded NSFC Young Scientists Fund, as it is one of the most competitive awards for young researchers in mainland China. I am also very grateful because the fund will be distributed in the form of cross-border remittance to directly support my research at the HKU Faculty of Dentistry. I look forward to the implementation of this project very soon,” said Dr Qiao.
Through this cell-material “conversation”, Dr Qiao’s team hopes to offer clinicians more flexibility to control bone regeneration. It is also their expectation that the research findings will enable them to secure other local research support or attract industrial partners to commercialize the new biomaterial in Hong Kong to benefit both patients and clinicians in the near future.
The NSFC Young Scientists Fund supports young researchers to conduct scientific research on their preferred topics.