Karolinska Institutet establishes research base in Hong Kong and China after record donation

Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet is to set up its own research base in Hong Kong. This initiative is made possible by a donation of $50 million, by Hong Kong-based businessman Ming Wai Lau. This is one of the largest private donations ever received by Karolinska Institutet.

The Ming Wai Lau Center for Regenerative Medicine will comprise two nodes, one in Stockholm and one in Hong Kong, and will allow scientists from Hong Kong, China and around the world to work together in an independent research environment under the auspices of Karolinska Institutet.

Research focus of new center

The Center’s research focus will be on three major disease areas in which Karolinska Institutet and several Hong Kong universities possess unique expertise. One of its objectives is to use stem cell technology to rebuild damaged tissue, focusing, for example, on heart tissue damaged by infarction, spinal injury and finding a cure for Parkinson’s disease, and on repairing a damaged liver using stem cell transplants.

“This exceedingly generous donation from Ming Wai presents unprecedented opportunities to do groundbreaking research in these extremely important disease areas,” says Anders Hamsten, Vice Chancellor of Karolinska Institutet, adding: “The new center will provide our university with a pathway to critically important knowledge and bring us closer to key partners.”

“It is with great pleasure and enthusiasm that I support world-leading research into regenerative medicine being done at Karolinska Institutet and the deepening of existing research partnerships between Karolinska Institutet and the top universities in Hong Kong and China,” says Ming Wai Lau.