Road to Taste the Fruit of Success
Road to Taste the Fruit of Success
Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine
PhD
Chen Guolan, who is a fourth year PhD student in Science, innovated an intelligent phenotypic prediction platform named “Gene-to-Health Plus” with his team, achieving a remarkable success in The 8th Hong Kong University Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition. They strived to impress the judges and eventually attained the Second Prize in the Entrepreneurship Proposal group.
The team won the Second Prize.
“We notice that Polygenic Scoring technology is powerful as it can be applied to different areas like human healthcare, pet genetics and agricultural breeding. It is foreseeable that this technology will be prevalent in the future and we really hope to utilise this valuable technology to benefit the world! Hence, my teammates and I took the initiative to devise a new business plan,” said Guolan. The team applied the acquired knowledge and they have innovated a business solution which could provide data science of genetic prediction service and create health benefits of genetic testing.
Recounting his journey of joining the competition, Guolan expressed that he has learnt a lot from the fruitful experience. “This experience has definitely improved my interpersonal, communication and teamwork skills! I have also gained more understanding regarding the business sector and the start-up ecosystem. More impressively still, it makes me be more explicit about the potential market demand for innovation and I deeply believe that this experience could help me better prepare for my future career,” Guolan noted.
Speaking of the challenges, Guolan recalled that he and his teammates joined numerous competitions before and it was not plain sailing at the start. “We had reflections after joining different competitions,” Guolan said, “and we would polish our project plan. We are glad that our efforts paid off!” he expressed. He and his teammates actively participated in different programmes and competitions. For instance, the team became the candidates of Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) Fast-Track Incubation Programme and they also joined the HKSTP IDEATION Programme.
Guolan gained success in the competition.
To end, Guolan expressed his gratitude to his supervisor Mr. Pak Chung Sham for supporting his team. “Our supervisor would motivate us to challenge ourselves by joining different events and competitions. We are grateful that he always gives us numerous encouragement and confidence,” Guolan noted. He also showed thanks to his teammates including Alex, Jason, Talia for their significant contribution.
Guolan and his teammate giving a presentation.
Written by:
Ivan Cheung
Year 3, Faculty of Arts
January 2023