A family tragedy lies behind Nancy Ip Yuk-yu's quest to cure neuro-degenerative conditions such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.
'A few years ago, my mother's sister died with Alzheimer's disease,' said Professor Ip, who is an associate dean of science at the University of Science and Technology and a co-director of its Molecular Neuroscience Centre.
'Towards the end, she couldn't recognise any one of us. It affected my mother terribly. At one point, my mother - who is familiar with my research - asked whether there were cures for Alzheimer's and I had to say no.'
The renowned molecular neurobiologist was yesterday honoured in Hong Kong for winning this year's L'Oreal-Unesco award for women in science. She received the award - jointly given each year by the French cosmetic company and the UN body to five distinguished women scientists around the world - in Paris on March 11.
For decades, researchers believed brain cells could not re-grow after suffering damage from trauma such as serious head injury or brain dysfunction such as Alzheimer's disease. Most did not think a treatment could be found.
But in recent years, an elite group of researchers around the world, including Professor Ip, have discovered, and better understood, a family of proteins called neurotrophic factors.