Prof. MAK King Lun Kingston (麥經綸)

Dr Mak received his PhD from The University of Hong Kong and continued his postdoctoral training at the National Institute of Health (NIH). He started his own research program in the School of Biomedical Sciences in The Chinese University of Hong Kong as Assistant Professor. He worked at Guangzhou Institute of Regenerative Medicine of Health, Bioland Laboratory and Guangzhou National Laboratory as Principle Investigator before joining City University of Hong Kong. He received a number of awards for his research works including American Society of Bone and Mineral Research Young Investigator Award, Webster Jee Young Investigator Award, Gordon Conference Bone and Teeth Travel Award, Fellows Award for Research Excellence Travel Award, NIH and Talent awards from Guangzhou Province, China. Currently, his research focuses on dissecting the roles of key factors in regulating skeletal tissue regeneration and energy metabolism.

Skeletal Biology • Skeletal diseases • Tissue regeneration • Stem cell biology • Mechanobiology and energy metabolism

Our lab is interested in studying the roles of important signaling pathways in regulating tissue homeostasis, regeneration and disease pathogenesis. Specifically, we are interested to study the molecular mechanisms in the context of the skeletal system including the interactive regulations among chondrocytes, osteocytes, adipocytes, myocytes and tenocytes. The requirement for the niche establishment for the dynamic interactions with MSCs and HSCs within the bone marrow is also a focus in our lab. With the understanding of the interactions across different but closely related cell lineages in the skeletal system, we expect to set the foundation which essentially aid the development of new therapeutic approaches for tissue regeneration to help patients suffering with various skeletal diseases such as osteoarthritis, osteoporosis as well as certain skeletal cancers and metabolic disorders. In addition, we are also interested in studying the interactions between bone and energy metabolism. The skeleton is considered as one of the largest organs in mammals and it has been recently shown that bone is actively involved in glucose metabolism, energy expenditure as well as male fertility. These findings open up a totally new direction for the possible use of therapeutic treatments that are not previously considered. We aim to identify additional secretory factors derived from the bones that will regulate the metabolism of other organs. These findings will significantly advance the field of integrative physiology and delineate the important physiological functions of the bones, which previously misinterpreted as an inert organ.