The research team of Dr. Li Min, Associate Professor of the School of Chinese Medicine, collaborated with the group of Dr. Yue Zhenyu from the Department of Neurology and Neuroscience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA, on a research project entitled “NRBF2, a novel Beclin1-PI3K-III complex component, regulates autophagy and prevents ER stress-induced toxicity”. The project received the Best Poster Award recently at the European Molecular Biological Organisation (EMBO) International Conference held in Norway. It was one of the three best posters selected out of 99 presentations this year under the theme “Autophagy: Molecular mechanism, physiology and pathology”.  

Autophagy is a highly conserved cellular mechanism for the degradation and recycling of long lived protein and damaged organelle, involved in a wide range of human diseases, including neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. The collaborative research study aims to expand the current knowledge on the molecular mechanism of autophagy regulation in the mammalian system.  

Dr. Li Min’s research interest is mainly in identification and development of natural autophagy regulators for the prevention and/or treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease. She said there were over 200 participants at the EMBO International Conference this year and only three posters out of the 99 papers were selected to receive awards. The award not only recognised the research collaboration and effort of the two teams, but also highlighted the outstanding achievement and contribution of the School of Chinese Medicine to research at the international level.