Macau-UK Biomedical Journal Club
About
The Macau-UK Biomedical Journal Club is finally up and rolling! Co-founded by myself, Ashley Wong, and Brandon Ma in November 2024, this club provides a platform for discussions in the wide field of “biomed”. We meet every Friday at 4 PM and each week one of us gives a talk about something cool or interesting from their field.
The schedule (tentative) is listed below. If you’d like to join or learn more, please feel free to contact me!
| Date (4–5:30 PM) | Presenter | Program | Affiliation | Topic |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-11-21 | Ashley Wong | MPhil in Genomic Medicine | University of Cambridge | Stem cell therapy paper discussion |
| 2024-11-28 | Ashley Wong | MPhil in Genomic Medicine | University of Cambridge | Stem cell therapy, bioinformatics and multi-omics techniques 1 |
| 2024-12-13 | Ashley Wong | MPhil in Genomic Medicine | University of Cambridge | Stem cell therapy, bioinformatics and multi-omics techniques 2 |
| 2024-12-20 | - | - | - | Christmas break |
| 2024-12-27 | - | - | - | Christmas break |
| 2025-01-03 | - | - | - | Christmas break |
| 2025-01-10 | Elena Chan | MSci Biochemistry | UCL | Biochemistry; replication stress, aging, mTOR pathway |
| 2025-01-17 | Ashley Wong | MPhil in Genomic Medicine | University of Cambridge | PhD interview presentation and mock interview |
| 2025-01-24 | Frank Li | MPharm Pharmacy | University of Manchester | Food thickener and drug bioavailability; intern experience; Alzheimer pathology |
| 2025-01-31 | - | - | - | Break |
| 2025-02-07 | - | - | - | Break |
| 2025-02-14 | - | - | - | Break |
| 2025-02-21 | - | - | - | Break |
| 2025-02-28 | - | - | - | Break |
| 2025-03-07 | Kin Chao | PhD Computational Chemistry | University of Southampton | Introduction to bio-molecular dynamics simulations and drug discovery process, computational bio/chemistry research |
| 2025-03-14 | Brandon Ma | PhD Biochemical Engineering | UCL | Biochemical Engineering PhD research: addressing mAB aggregation / viral filtration system |
| 2025-03-21 | Frank Li | MPharm Pharmacy | University of Manchester | Literature/ paper discussion |
| 2025-03-28 | - | - | - | Break |
| 2025-04-04 | Sherry | PhD Engineering | University of Cambridge | Bioanalysis/ Automated imaging |
| 2025-04-11 | - | - | - | Easter Break |
| 2025-04-18 | - | - | - | Easter Break |
| 2025-04-25 | Kitty | PhD Computational Chemistry | Imperial College London | Computational modelling on Modelling of therapeutic proteins/ antibody |
| 2025-05-02 | Quang Le (Guest Lecture) | - | Meta | Career talk/ experience in bioinformatics/ computer science/ academia and industry |
| 2025-05-09 | - | - | - | Break |
| 2025-05-16 | - | - | - | Break |
| 2025-05-23 | - | - | - | Break |
| 2025-05-30 | - | - | - | Break |
| 2025-06-06 | - | - | - | Break |
| 2025-06-13 | Maggie (Guest Talk) | PDRA Engineering/ E-Textiles | University of Southampton | Overview of E-textile technologies for healthcare applications + insights from her PhD journey |
| 2025-06-20 | Break | |||
| 2025-06-27 | Break | |||
| 2025-07-04 | Elena (Guest Talk) | PDRA Cancer Research | ETH Zurich | PDRA/ PhD research in Cancer Science (epigenetics and breast cancer) + insights from her PDRA/ PhD journey |
| 2025-07-11 | Summer Break | |||
| 2025-07-18 | Summer Break | |||
| 2025-07-25 | Summer Break | |||
| 2025-08-01 | Summer Break | |||
| 2025-08-08 | Summer Break | |||
| 2025-08-15 | Summer Break | |||
| 2025-08-22 | Summer Break | |||
| 2025-08-29 | Summer Break | |||
| 2025-09-05 | Summer Break | |||
| 2025-09-12 | Summer Break | |||
| 2025-09-19 | TBA | |||
| 2025-09-26 | TBA |
Guest Talk Series Summary
| Talk # | Date | Speaker | Affiliation | Title / Topic | Recording Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2025-05-02 | Dr. Quang Le | Meta / Formerly Oxford, Sanger Institute, Google, JP Morgan | Career Talk in bioinformatics and software engineering: academia vs industry | Watch here |
| 2 | 2025-06-13 | Dr. Maggie Liu | University of Southampton | E-textile technologies for healthcare + PhD journey | Watch here |
| 3 | 2025-07-04 | Dr. Elena Sou | ETH Zurich / Formerly University of Liverpool, A*STAR Singapore | Epigenetics and breast cancer research + reflections on doing a PhD across UK/Singapore + life in Zurich | Watch here |
Talk 1 – Dr. Quang Le
Speaker Bio:
Dr. Quang Le is a highly experienced bioinformatician and software engineer. He currently works as a Senior Software Engineer at Meta, and previously held research and engineering roles at Google, JPMorgan, and several academic institutions including the University of Oxford, University of Portsmouth, and the Wellcome Sanger Institute. For the past 10 years, he has worked in industry, holding roles at major organisations including Google and JPMorgan before moving to Meta.
Session Overview:
In this talk, Quang will share personal stories that reflect on his career path, key decisions, and what he might have done differently in hindsight. He will also discuss the challenges, lessons, and insights he has gained from his time in both academia and industry.
Recording: Watch here
Talk 2 – Maggie Liu
Speaker Bio:
Meijing (Maggie) Liu is a PhD candidate in Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Southampton and a Research Fellow at the E-textile Innovation Lab, Winchester School of Art. Her research focuses on advanced e-textile fabrication for healthcare applications.
Session Overview:
In this talk, Maggie gave us an introduction to the world of e-textile research and how these innovative technologies are being used in real healthcare applications. She also spoke about some of the challenges she’s faced during her PhD journey and shared practical tips and insights from her experience.
Recording: Watch here
Talk 3 – Elena Sou
Speaker Bio:
Elena is currently a Postdoctoral Research Associate at ETH Zurich, working in the field of cancer sciences and epigenetics. She previously finished her PhD with the 2+2 A*STAR PhD scheme with the University of Liverpool and the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) in Singapore. She finished her master’s studies and BSc studies also in the UK both in the biomedical/ cancer related field.
Session Overview:
In this talk, Elena shared her research on breast cancer and epigenetic regulation, and reflected on her journey from undergraduate to postdoc. She also opened up the session for a lively Q&A at the end, where we discussed everything from her academic projects to what life is like living and working in Zurich compared to the UK.
Recording: Watch here