Professor Xavier Wong wins the Healthy Longevity Catalyst Awards (Hong Kong) for the exercise-ageing molecule study

We are pleased to announce that Professor Wong Hoi Leong Xavier (School of Chinese Medicine) has been granted the Healthy Longevity Catalyst Awards (Hong Kong) for his project, “Investigating the impact of exercise-inducible metabolites on physiological ageing”.

Rather than retiring quietly, senescent cells, old and damaged cells, persist in the body. Their strong association with ageing and age-related diseases makes them a prime target for new anti-ageing treatments. Grounded in Professor Wong's preliminary research, the exercise-induced molecule produced during muscle metabolism has been shown to reverse senescence by restoring the proliferative capacity of senescent cells in an animal model with premature ageing.

In this project, Professor Wong, in collaboration with Dr Asthana Pallavi, will further investigate the molecule’s anti-ageing potential in the context of physiological ageing. They will assess its impact on age-related functions, such as physical performance, cognitive ability, and cellular ageing. The study aims to provide a potentially applicable and feasible therapeutic strategy to mitigate senescence-related pathologies and the ageing process itself.

Professor Wong serves as a principal investigator at the School of Chinese Medicine, leading a team with expertise in biology, neuroscience, and microbiome research. In collaboration with clinicians and bioinformaticians, the pioneering work from his laboratory has led to multiple groundbreaking findings published in top-tier journals, including Nature Communications, Cell Host & Microbe, Nature Metabolism, Developmental Cell, and more.

The Research Grants Council (RGC) has collaborated with the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) of the United States for the Healthy Longevity Catalyst Awards (Hong Kong) (HLCA (HK)) since 2022. It aims to call for innovative ideas to extend the human healthspan and improve overall well-being as they age.

We congratulate Professor Wong on this achievement, reflecting HKBU's steadfast commitment to health science research.