UM offers diploma course in quantity surveying to bridge local construction industry to international standards

The Centre for Continuing Education (CCE) of the University of Macau (UM) held a closing ceremony for the third intake of the Advanced Professional Diploma in Construction Commercial Management (Quantity Surveying). A total of 30 participants completed the programme and received a diploma, which is also recognised by the Chartered Institution of Civil Engineering Surveyors (CICES). During the event, Matthew Liu Ting Chi, director of UM’s CCE; Andrew Keung, chairman of CICES (Hong Kong Region) and CICES president’s representative (The Greater China); and Katherine Chan, supervisor of CICES (Macao Region), presented certificates to the participants. Wu Chou Kit, member of Macao’s Legislative Assembly and chairman of the Macau Institute of Engineers, also attended the ceremony. The diploma course is jointly offered by CCE of UM and CICES and consists of 210 study hours. The participants are mainly professionals from the sectors concerned and the instructors are from CICES.

To read the news on UM’s official website, please visit the following link:
https://www.um.edu.mo/news-and-press-releases/press-release/detail/57182/

UM team wins second place in entrepreneurship competition for university students

An entrepreneurial team from Cheng Yu Tung College at the University of Macau (UM) won second place in the 10th Xiangzhou District University Student Entrepreneurship Competition with their project ‘Malt Residue as Hard Carbon Anode Material’. According to the UM team, their idea was inspired by the thriving battery industry, leading them to explore the utilisation of malt residue as a raw material to produce hard carbon used in battery anodes, along with the potential of commercialising the technology. The team will continue to focus on the research and development of hard carbon anode materials, aiming to provide cost-effective and environmentally friendly electrode materials for enterprises that produce sodium-ion batteries and lithium-ion batteries. The development of such materials can promote the widespread adoption of renewable energy in the Greater Bay Area and Macao, thus contributing to creating a cleaner and more sustainable future.

To read the news on UM’s official website, please visit the following link:
https://www.um.edu.mo/news-and-press-releases/press-release/detail/57168/

UM awards scholarships to more than 400 outstanding students

The University of Macau (UM) today (22 November) held the Scholarship Presentation Ceremony 2023. During the ceremony, the university presented scholarships and academic prizes to 404 students for their outstanding academic performance.

UM Rector Yonghua Song congratulated the students and expressed gratitude to the donors of the scholarships and academic prizes. Following its five-year development plan, UM continuously enhances its academic layout and curriculum design, deepens collaborative education models and patriotic education, and actively encourages and supports students’ participation in the Greater Bay Area. As Macao accelerates efforts towards moderate economic diversification and the development of the Guangdong-Macao In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, UM maintains close collaboration with the SAR government, proactively adjusting and planning its strategies to effectively respond to new challenges and changes. The university has made remarkable progress and advancements in student enrolment, academic standards, as well as its local and international reputation, thereby establishing a solid foundation for future progress and development.

To encourage students to strive for excellence, UM offered more than 80 scholarships and academic prizes in the past year. In the 2022/2023 academic year, UM received a total of over MOP 4.4 million in academic prizes and scholarships from more than 50 institutions and individuals, which were awarded to more than 450 students. Some of the academic prizes were presented earlier at the Academic Prize Presentation Ceremony.

List of Awarded Students (Part 1): https://sds.sao.um.edu.mo/3d-flip-book/scholarship
List of Awarded Students (Part 2): https://sds.sao.um.edu.mo/3d-flip-book/scholarship-session-2/

To read the news on UM’s official website, please visit the following link:
https://www.um.edu.mo/news-and-press-releases/press-release/detail/57165/

UM achieves significant advances in research on oxytocin and social cognitive neuroscience

A research team led by Wu Haiyan, assistant professor at the Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences of the University of Macau (UM), has achieved significant advances in the field of oxytocin and social cognitive neuroscience. Their research provides new evidence and a corresponding mechanism on how oxytocin causes increased associations among inter-individual differences, and also provides inspirations for future research on the clinical and non-clinical applications of oxytocin. The research results have been accepted by several internationally renowned journals, such as Human Brain Mapping.

Oxytocin, an important neuropeptide, has been proven to be closely linked to social adaptation, pro-social behaviours, and social cognition. At the behavioural level, oxytocin can modulate human abilities in recognising and memorising social cues such as faces and emotions. Specifically, some researchers have found that oxytocin can boost recognition memory for faces and increase amygdala responses to emotional faces. In addition, previous studies have shown that oxytocin can promote social bonding, navigate social interactions, and regulate the processing of salient information.

Self-other distinction plays a crucial role in daily social interactions and decision-making. Moreover, faces serve as the most salient stimuli in making social decisions that involve oneself or others. People adjust their altruistic behaviours and corresponding economic decisions according to the similarity between their faces and those of others.

The research team investigated the effects of oxytocin on the relationship between individuals’ functional connectivity and behaviour. They found that oxytocin significantly enhances the links between resting-state functional connectivity, task-state functional connectivity, and task behaviour performance. Subsequent analysis further revealed that the enhancement in these connections can be explained in part by the fact that oxytocin alters the functional connectivity of the brain in both resting and task states, mainly involving areas such as the limbic system, the prefrontal cortex, the temporal pole, and the temporoparietal junction.

The study employed a connectome-based predictive model (CPM) to examine whether functional connectivity in different states can predict task behaviour performance, and whether oxytocin can improve the prediction accuracy of functional connectivity in behavioural performance. A correlation analysis was conducted at the whole-brain level to assess the correlation between resting-state and task-state functional connectivity, and evaluate the effect of oxytocin on the relationship between functional connectivity in the two states. CPM can predict cognitive behaviour or personality traits on the basis of functional connectivity and has been widely used in brain-wide association studies (BWAS). It is often used to extract the most relevant features from functional connectivity in order to predict individual variability in behaviour, personality traits, or psychiatric symptoms. Many previous studies have demonstrated the robustness of CPM in predicting individual differences in fluid intelligence, attention, creativity, and cheating behaviours.

The study found that the group administered with oxytocin demonstrated significantly higher predictive accuracy in CPM compared to those administered with a placebo, in both resting and task states. Furthermore, the correlation between resting-state and task-state functional connectivity was notably stronger in the oxytocin group compared to the placebo group. Additional findings indicated that the CPM classifier could significantly distinguish the functional connectivity between oxytocin and placebo groups in both task and resting states. In the oxytocin group, most of the functional connections with larger weights in the CPM classifier were significantly correlated with behavioural performance, an effect not observed in the placebo group. These findings provide new evidence and a corresponding mechanism for how neuropeptides contribute to increased associations among inter-individual differences across different levels. They may inspire future interdisciplinary research on the clinical and non-clinical applications of neuropeptides.

Zhang Haoming and Chen Kun, PhD students at UM’s Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences are the co-first authors of the study. Bao Jin, a researcher at the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, also contributed to the study. The research project was supported by the Science and Technology Development Fund of the Macao SAR (File no: 0127/2020/A3 and 0041/2022/A), the Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (File no: 2021A1515012509), the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Macao Science and Technology Innovation Project (Category C) (File no: SGDX2020110309280100), the Start-up Research Grant of UM (File no: SRG2020-00027-ICI), and the Multi-Year Research Grant of UM (File no: MYRG2022-00188-ICI). The full version of the research article can be viewed at https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.26498.

To read the news on UM’s official website, please visit the following link:
https://www.um.edu.mo/news-and-press-releases/press-release/detail/57153/

UM holds Macao Humanities Forum on Chinese poet Wang Anshi’s poems

The Faculty of Arts and Humanities (FAH) of the University of Macau (UM) recently held the Macao Humanities Forum. The event featured Yang Xiaoshan, department chair in the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures at the University of Notre Dame and holder of a PhD in comparative literature from Harvard University. Prof Yang delivered a lecture titled ‘The Lure and Peril of Contrarianism: Wang Anshi’s Poems on Wang Zhaojun’. The lecture attracted more than 200 on-site and online participants, including faculty members and students of UM.

At the forum, Joaquim Kuong, assistant dean of FAH, discussed the significance of studying Chinese poetry. Zhang Yue, assistant dean of FAH, highlighted Prof Yang’s academic achievements and his influence on the study of classical Chinese poetry in the Tang and Song dynasties, in particular on the poetry of Wang Anshi. Zhang also introduced Prof Yang’s latest publication.

During the lecture, Prof Yang first presented Wang Anshi’s two poems on ‘Mingfei qu’ (Song of Princess Ming), with a focus on the three most controversial lines. He then discussed the issue about whether these lines blurred the division between the Chinese and the barbarians, and reviewed the evaluations and interpretations by Huang Tingjian, Zhu Bian, Luo Dajing, and other scholars on the lines. Taking into account the context of the poems and the political landscape at that time, he also analysed the criticism of Wang Anshi’s poetry in relation to the political discourse spanning from the late Northern Song dynasty through the early Southern Song dynasty. In addition, Prof Yang discussed the similarities and differences between the matching poems (heshi) and original poems of Ouyang Xiu and Sima Guang in terms of format, theme, and the use of allusion, providing another perspective to understand Wang Anshi’s poetry. He also talked about the commentaries of Zhu Xi and Li Bi, who freed Wang Anshi from political criticism and attributed the controversies to his pursuit of innovation. Prof Yang further explored the controversies arising from Wang Anshi’s two poems. He concluded that the criticism directed at Wang Anshi’s poems stemmed from the attackers’ political and moral biases towards the poet, rather than from any inherent flaws in the poems themselves.

During the Q&A session, Prof Yang engaged in in-depth discussions with UM students and faculty, as well as online participants. He emphasised the importance of maintaining a solid understanding of historical materials and engaging in careful text reading, despite the impact of the digital humanities.

This was the first lecture of the Macao Humanities Forum for the 2023/2024 academic year. The forum, which is held every academic year, aims to provide a platform for world-renowned scholars in different fields of the humanities to share their latest research findings with local teachers and students. The themes of the previous editions have covered a wide range of fields, including literature, linguistics, history, translation, and arts.

To read the news on UM’s official website, please visit the following link:
https://www.um.edu.mo/news-and-press-releases/press-release/detail/57152/

UM holds Healthy University Week to promote healthy lifestyle

The University of Macau (UM) held the Healthy University Carnival 2023, the first event of the 17th Healthy University Activity Series, to encourage university members to lead a healthy lifestyle, and raise awareness of environment protection, as well as personal and campus safety. In his speech, UM Vice Rector Ge Wei said that as this year marked a new phase of the anti-pandemic measures, he was pleased to see the active participation of guests and UM members in the health promotion activities again. The university attaches great importance to the physical and mental health of its staff and students; it actively encourages them to maintain healthy habits and strive for a balance between their work, studies, and personal lives. Activities of the Healthy University Carnival included a presentation ceremony for first aid training course certificates, artistic cycling and rope skipping performances, as well as games and medical testing booths set up by various government departments.

To read the news on UM’s official website, please visit the following link:
https://www.um.edu.mo/news-and-press-releases/press-release/detail/57135/

UM makes significant breakthrough in computer science and improves computing resource efficiency

A research team led by Xu Cheng-Zhong, chair professor in the Faculty of Science and Technology (FST) of the University of Macau (UM), and Xu Huanle, assistant professor in FST, have made significant breakthroughs in the field of cloud computing. The team has designed an innovative resource management system that can improve the efficiency of computing resource use and reduce CPU resource use by nearly 1.6 times. The research results have been published in ACM Transactions on Computer Systems (ToCS), a leading computer science journal.

The artificial intelligence sector is undergoing rapid technological change. With a soaring demand for computing resources, optimising the efficiency of computing resources and accommodating larger computational workloads have become challenges for the cloud computing industry. To improve efficiency in the use of computing resources, the team has designed a new resource management system called Erms. The system is capable of dynamically deploying resources and optimising resource scaling based on actual workloads, and, for the first time, achieving optimal resource management in large-scale, complex microservice scenarios. In addition, the team has designed a new set of scheduling strategy to optimise resource allocation for shared microservices, which significantly improves the efficiency of resource utilisation. Compared with existing microservice systems, Erms can reduce the likelihood of SLA (service-level agreement) violations to one-fifth of the original risk, and achieve nearly 1.6 times savings in CPU resources.

Titled ‘Optimizing Resource Management for Shared Microservices: A Scalable System Design’, the paper is the first study to fully address microservice multiplexing scenarios. It has been published in ACM Transactions on Computer Systems (ToCS). The journal enjoys a high reputation in the field of computer system and has published many significant research results on computer operating systems, networks, databases, and distributed systems. Since its inception 40 years ago, the journal has included only a limited number of papers from China, and the abovementioned paper is the first contribution from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Prof Xu Cheng-Zhong and Prof Xu Huanle are the corresponding authors of the study. Luo Shutian, a doctoral graduate co-trained by UM and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (now a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University), is the first author. The research project was supported by the Science and Technology Development Fund of the Macao SAR (File no: 0024/2022/A1), the Key Research and Development Program of the Ministry of Science and Technology (File no: 2019YFB2102100), and the Guangdong Province Key Research and Development Program (File no: 2020B010164003). The full version of the research article can be viewed at https://doi.org/10.1145/3631607.

Furthermore, Prof Xu Cheng-Zhong’s team was awarded the sole Best Paper award at the ACM Symposium on Cloud Computing 2021 for their paper titled ‘Characterizing Microservice Dependency and Performance: Alibaba Trace Analysis’. This marks the first instance of a scholar from China (including Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) receiving the award since the conference’s establishment in 2009.

Both of the abovementioned papers are the results of the team’s collaboration with the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Alibaba, an international and leading cloud computing company. The team has been funded by the Alibaba Innovative Research Program for five consecutive years and received the Alibaba Outstanding Collaborative Project Award in 2022. Mei Hong, chairman of the China Computer Federation and director of the Academic Committee of the State Key Laboratory of Internet of Things for Smart City, said that cloud computing plays a key role in the wave of smart cities and artificial intelligence models, adding that the publication of the two important papers indicates that UM’s research in the field of cloud computing has achieved international standing.

To read the news on UM’s official website, please visit the following link:
https://www.um.edu.mo/news-and-press-releases/press-release/detail/57126/

UM invites experts and scholars to discuss MSAR Government’s Policy Address for 2024

The Centre for Macau Studies (CMS) of the University of Macau (UM) held a seminar on the Policy Address for the Fiscal Year 2024 of the Macao SAR today (15 November). Experts and scholars were invited to discuss the policy address and provide suggestions for the future governance of Macao. During the seminar, experts and scholars expressed their support for the objective of ‘Consolidate Development and Enhance Diversification’ of the policy address. They also believe that the ‘1+4’ strategy, Macao-Hengqin integration, as well as the development of various infrastructures are extensions of the policies of previous years, which can promote the future social development of Macao in an orderly manner.

Agnes Lam Iok Fong, director of UM’s CMS, chaired the seminar. Tong Kai Chung, president of the Macau Institute of Management, said that the main theme of the policy address is ‘Consolidate Development and Enhance Diversification’, which focuses on post-pandemic economic and social recovery and is in line with the global high-interest rate environment in the future. The policy address puts national security as the main priority, and the ‘1+4’ strategy has a clear layout with a reasonable arrangement catering to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, as well as the community economy. In addition, he suggested extending the community economy to other traditional communities, preventing the infiltration of gaming elements when revitalising the old areas, and taking full advantage of the neighbouring international aviation hub to attract international tourists. Kwan Fung, assistant professor in UM’s Faculty of Social Sciences (FSS), believes that the policy address conveys the message of striving for progress while ensuring stability. ‘Stability’ refers to safeguarding people’s livelihoods through welfare support, housing policies, and support for small and medium-sized enterprises, with an emphasis on consolidating the results of the post-pandemic economic recovery, thereby giving society greater confidence to forge ahead in the coming year. ‘Progress’ focuses on economic development, in particular how to take a step toward economic diversification. He also pointed out that in addition to giving further deliberation on emerging industries, the policy address also involves deepening the community’s understanding and participation in diversification, among which exploring measures to attract international tourists seems to be a relatively straightforward development path in the short term in 2024.

Lei Chun Kwok, associate professor in UM’s Faculty of Business Administration (FBA), is concerned about macroeconomic policies. He believes that the policies on land resources, human resources, investment attraction, and diversified industries, as set out in policy addresses over the years, are being implemented in an orderly manner in line with national strategies. With regard to attracting tourists in the future, the focus will be on expanding international tourist sources. He pointed out that the recovery of the tourism market in Northeast Asia, which has higher purchasing power, is still relatively slow after the pandemic, and the government should pay attention to the situation of the market concerned. In addition, in the current high-interest rate environment, the high cost of borrowing could have an impact on Macao’s bond market. Lok Man Hoi, associate professor in UM’s Faculty of Science and Technology (FST), is concerned about urban development policies. He said that the policy address covers the orderly development of the related projects mentioned in the previous edition. However, he pointed out there seems to be a contradiction between the ‘Northbound Travel for Macao Vehicles’ policy and the promotion of the popularisation of electric vehicles. The ‘Northbound Travel for Macao Vehicles’ policy may provide an incentive for the public to buy new vehicles; however, the electric vehicle market may not offer car models that satisfy their preferences. The proposal to ‘increase the proportion of new energy vehicles to 70 per cent’ mentioned in the policy address is a bold idea, which undoubtedly requires supportive policies. He also looks forward to the implementation and enforcement of environmental emission standards in the future.

Wong Seng Fat, associate professor in UM’s FST, analysed the policy address from nine aspects, namely the silver industry, urban planning, arts and cultural industries, sports industry, Chinese-Portuguese industry, tech industry, talent schemes, popularisation of science, and aviation logistics. Among these, he emphasised the cultivation and retention of core talent in various industries, issues related to production transformation and innovation, the effectiveness of the popularisation of science in middle schools and universities and the relevant product extension, as well as how to take full advantage of the logistics of airports and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge. Furthermore, he stated that the authority should expedite the construction of the fifth bridge to assist the Macao-Taipa Bridge in solving the development issues posed by urban development. So Siu Ian, associate professor in UM’s FBA, acknowledged the planning and development direction of industrial diversification and the ‘1+4’ strategy. However, she believes that relevant policies should be in place for further implementation. Regarding the development of the ‘City of Performing Arts’, she pointed out that Macao has an advantage in terms of venue and facilities, but it is necessary to conduct market segmentation and balance the development of personnel in the industry, so as to benefit the local market with international opportunities. As for the development of the ‘City of Sports’, she suggested that the market can be divided into ‘sports + culture’ and ‘sports + tourism’. This approach involves selecting sports projects with development potentials and strengthening corresponding supervision. With regard to invigorating old areas, the development of the six historical and cultural areas requires exploring the characteristics and cultural significance of each area and avoiding identical development plans. She added that it is necessary to take account of their impact on the daily lives of the public and conduct regular evaluations and reviews.

Lei Chin Pang, assistant professor in UM’s FSS, believes that the gaming operators’ efforts to revitalise the six historical and cultural districts have both benefits and drawbacks. On the positive side, the gaming operators demonstrate efficiency and proactiveness. However, there are also drawbacks, such as a lack of clear understanding of local culture and an effective platform to communicate with the public. In addition, an excessive focus on commercial elements in the revitalisation projects may negatively impact people’s lives and traffic in the city. Regarding the entertainment industry, Prof Lei believes that Macao has successfully nurtured talented individuals over the past decade, who have also achieved good results outside of Macao. The policy of establishing a ‘City of Performing Arts’ may focus on establishing related markets to attract these individuals to develop in Macao. Pun Chi Meng, executive director of Caritas Macau, expressed concern about the overall development and welfare of young people in Macao. He believes that, due to the future responsibility of taking care of the elderly, economic housing may not be young people’s preferred housing option. Moreover, the location of the Macau New Neighbourhood in Hengqin, and competition from talent from outside Macao are sources of worry for the young people. Therefore, Pun suggests that the government should pay more attention to the challenges they face. On a positive note, he pointed out that the government’s decision to permanently include an allowance for carers is beneficial to the social service sector.

Chan Kin Sun, assistant professor in UM’s FSS, pointed out that in addition to universal, targeted, and supplementary social security measures, the government can introduce more market-oriented social security measures. Examples of such measures include the recently introduced senior housing project, as well as financial products tailored for the elderly, such as reverse mortgages. There is also a need to align the senior housing project with urban renewal policies. Prof Chan also believes that for long-term development, Macao should focus on collaboration with cities in the western part of the Pearl River in the development high-tech industries in order to create more development opportunities for industries in Macao. Sou Kuai Long, assistant professor (by courtesy) in UM’s FSS, acknowledged the government’s focus on residents’ mental health. Data shows that despite the end of the pandemic, the tendency towards suicide has not declined, and the happiness and life satisfaction of young people in Macao remain below average. These indicate that people are still experiencing significant stress. Prof Sou expressed hope that relevant policies can be improved and implemented to address these concerns. In addition, he believes that the revision of the education system presents an opportunity to include content related to technology and the psychological wellbeing of youth in the curriculum. For example, the government may improve vocational and technical education to improve the perception of ‘technical workers’ among the general public, so as to encourage more young people to consider pursuing careers in these fields.

To read the news on UM’s official website, please visit the following link:
https://www.um.edu.mo/news-and-press-releases/press-release/detail/57097/

UM develops novel magnetic soft robots with on-demand hardening

A research team led by Xu Qingsong, professor in the Department of Electromechanical Engineering of the Faculty of Science and Technology at the University of Macau (UM), has developed a novel on-demand hardening magnetic soft robot. With the advantages of on-demand hardening and flexible deployment, the robot not only can perform a given task alone with high output forces, but can also be used in conjunction with existing surgical robots, representing a significant advance in the design and application of magnetically controlled robots. The research results have been published in Research, an internationally renowned journal under Science.

Magnetically controlled robots have shown great advantages in medical applications because of their wireless actuation and control characteristics. However, in actual clinical applications, existing magnetically controlled soft robots have limitations, such as limited functions, small output force, and low structural stiffness. Therefore, there is an urgent need for more flexible and adaptive deployment strategies and design methods to fully utilise the performance of magnetically controlled robots and improve their functions. The magnetically controlled soft robot developed by Prof Xu’s research team is capable of switching its stiffness quickly and in a controlled manner, adhering flexibly to the surface of various objects, and providing powerful output forces. The research results offer a promising way to enable magnetically controlled robots to perform more powerful control functions.

The research team’s experimental results show that using a mixture of magnetic particles and non-Newtonian fluidic soft materials to produce magnetic soft robots can achieve programmable hardening, controlled adhesion, soft reconfiguration, and other properties. By applying an external magnetic field, a 1-gram magnetic soft robot can leverage its adhesion and magnetic actuation to pick up an object 300 times its weight. The soft robot can adhere to a variety of object surfaces, enabling the ability of magnetic actuation with improved performance. The soft robot can be used in conjunction with traditional surgical robots to provide precise magnetic navigation and control, as well as a broader range of functions, including adhesion grasping and related operations. In addition, the non-Newtonian properties of the soft robot can be activated by applying a rapidly changing wireless magnetic field. This enables the robot to change between fluid and solid forms in real time and a controlled manner, facilitating swift liquid-solid phase transitions.

The magnetic soft robot developed by Prof Xu’s research team has the following advantages: 1) It has an ultra-soft structure and good adhesion properties that allow flexible deployment, and it can be used in collaboration with existing surgical equipment; 2) Its adhesion properties can be controlled and adjusted by an external magnetic field, which helps perform more functions; 3) It can achieve swift programmable hardening and improve its mechanical strength and stiffness, and provide significant output forces. According to the research team, the realisation of a powerful magnetically controlled robot is of great value for advanced medical applications, and the proposed design ideas and utilisation strategies have reference significance for research in the field.

Prof Xu Qingsong is the corresponding author of the study, and Xu Zichen, a PhD student in the Department of Electromechanical Engineering of UM’s Faculty of Science and Technology, is the first author. PhD student Chen Yuanhe also contributed to the study. The research project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (File no: 52175556), the Science and Technology Development Fund of the Macao SAR (File no: 0102/2022/A2, 0004/2022/AKP, and 0153/2019/A3), and UM (File no: MYRG2022-00068-FST and MYRG-CRG2022-00004-FST-ICI). The full version of the research article can be viewed at: https://spj.science.org/doi/abs/10.34133/research.0262

To read the news on UM’s official website, please visit the following link:
https://www.um.edu.mo/news-and-press-releases/press-release/detail/57070/

UM offers precise treatment option for non-small cell lung cancer patients

A research team led by Elaine Leung Lai Han, professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) at the University of Macau (UM), has unveiled critical insights into the responding phenotype of the effectiveness of immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. They identified a set of immune subtypes that are enriched in non-responders to ICB therapy, which can provide a non-invasive and feasible method for early and timely monitoring of treatment response. The research results have been published in the renowned journal Nature Communications.

Although ICB therapy is known to produce durable clinical responses in a selected group of NSCLC patients, not all patients can benefit from it. Therefore, early identification of progression is crucial for treatment selection for patients. To achieve better effectiveness with ICB therapy, parameters indicating favourable response are critically needed. Several predictors of the response to programmed death-1 (PD-1) blockade have been reported, such as the presence of tumour-infiltrating T cells, high programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression in biopsies, microsatellite instability (MSI), Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (KEAP1) and Serine/Threonine kinase 11 (STK11) mutations test and the tumour mutational burden (TMB). However, these parameters are hampered by the limited longitudinal observation window, the small number of parameters, and the lack of systematic, unbiased bioinformatic pipelines, which has resulted in a paucity of indicators predicting response state to date. Longitudinal investigation is important to trace markers associated with acquired resistance since the anti-PD1-mediated immune response is dynamic during treatment cycles. Currently, it is unclear whether non-invasive approaches, such as peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) profiling, can be used to predict responses to ICB therapy by identifying the relevant responding cell types. Prof Leung’s research team has made a breakthrough and their study provides new insights for understanding the underlying immunological mechanisms of primary and acquired resistance.

The study followed 25 NSCLC patients for at least 30 months and used innovative high-dimensional CyTOF and multiplex cytokine approaches to examine patients’ blood samples. This allowed the researchers to gain insights into immune populations, their molecular profiles, and functional characteristics. By analysing immune cell responses, the research team identified key markers that can predict the efficacy of anti-PD-1 therapy. The study discovered that the presence of specific immune cell subsets, in particular CD8+CD101hiTIM3+ (CCT T) cells, can predict treatment efficacy. The findings have far-reaching implications for the future development of NSCLC treatment. By utilising advanced techniques to analyse the immune response, the researchers have identified novel predictive markers for treatment efficacy. These insights shed light on precision therapy and contribute to a better understanding of treatment resistance mechanisms.

Prof Leung, Prof Liu Liang at the Second Affiliated Hospital of the Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, and Cao Yabing, a doctor at Kiang Wu Hospital in Macao, are the co-corresponding authors. Prof Leung, Prof Li Run-Ze at the Second Affiliated Hospital of the Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, and Prof Fan Xing-Xing at the Macau University of Science and Technology share the first authorship. The research project was supported by the Science and Technology Development Fund of the Macao SAR (File no: 0063/2022/A2 and 001/2020/ALC), 2020 ‘Qi-Huang’ Young Scholar programme of the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Janssen Therapeutic Fund (File no: ICD#1101175), 2020 Guangdong Provincial Science and Technology Innovation Strategy Special Fund of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Joint Lab (File no: 2020B1212030006), Start-up Research Grant of UM (File no: SRG2022-00020-FHS), Faculty of Health Sciences of UM (File no: 82204677), Science and Technology Projects in Guangzhou (File no: SL2022A04J00459), and Technology Research Projects of State Key Laboratory of Dampness Syndrome of Chinese Medicine (File no: SZ2022KF20). The full version of the research paper can be viewed at https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-40631-0.

To read the news on UM’s official website, please visit the following link:
https://www.um.edu.mo/news-and-press-releases/press-release/detail/57052/