The University of Macau (UM) has appointed Chair Professor Chuxia Deng, a leading American Chinese scientist in the field of life sciences, as the dean of its Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS). He was a senior investigator of the Senior Biomedical Research Service (SBRS) at the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH), the chief of the Mammalian Genetics Section at the United States National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), an investigator of the NIDDK’s Genetics of Development and Diseases Branch, and a postdoctoral fellow of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School. After assuming office as FHS dean, Prof Deng plans to focus on building a state-of-the-art infrastructure and operating system for the faculty and will assist the faculty to make important scientific discoveries in medical sciences and health care to fill the gaps in these areas in Macao. 

Prof Deng has outstanding achievements in academic research and administrative management. He has made significant contributions to research on cancer and metabolic diseases, cancer and ageing, cancer stem cells, and the breast cancer susceptibility gene, BRCA1, particularly in the pathogenic mechanism of breast cancer. He is the author or co-author of over 310 papers with a total citation frequency of over 30,000 and an H-index of 96. Prof Deng is a tenured investigator of the NIDDK, and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has received numerous awards in recognition of his outstanding achievements in teaching and research, including the NIH-APAO Outstanding Achievement Award (2000, NIH, USA), the Outstanding Overseas Scholar from National Science Foundation (2002, China), and the NIDDK Director’s Award. 

“UM entered a phase of rapid development after former Chinese President Hu Jintao expressed his ‘five first-rates’ expectations for the university in 2009,” Prof Deng says. “And the new campus has made it possible for UM to achieve a quantum leap and reach a higher ranking in a relative short period of time. The new campus brings unprecedented opportunities, but also a big challenge. I hope to contribute my knowledge to the development of education and science, and it is a great honour to be a part of UM’s team effort to develop the university into a world-class institution.” 

UM’s FHS, which was founded in 2013, will conduct basic research, applied research and translational research in several major areas of life sciences, including chronic diseases, aging, immunology, infectious diseases, neurological disorders, and cancers. “After assuming office as FHS dean, I will focus on building a state-of-the-art infrastructure and operating system for the faculty to realise first-class teaching and research,” says Prof Deng. “I will also carry out research in the fields of cancer, medical sciences, and health care, and assist the faculty to make important scientific discoveries to fill the gaps in these areas in Macao. I hope that these efforts will help the industrial diversification of Macao in the long run.”  

UM believes that under the leadership of Prof Deng, the FHS will achieve its mission to train the next generation of scientists and professionals in health sciences for Macao and the region, and become a regional education hub with international reputation for biomedical sciences at both postgraduate and undergraduate levels.


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