PolyU PhD student Mr LI Xiang from the Department of Health Technology and Informatics obtained the Gold Award in the SHBC Student Awards (Open Category) of the SHBC Scientific Competition hosted in the Singapore Health and Biomedical Congress (SHBC) in Singapore in October 2024. Mr LI’s award-winning project, “Hepatic PTPRD: A Novel Regulator of Glucose Homeostasis”, was supervised by Prof. WONG Chi-ming, Associate Professor from the same department.

The project integrates with an in vivo study to develop new biomarkers and therapeutic molecules to treat diabetes. Single nucleotide polymorphisms in receptortype tyrosine-protein phosphatase delta (PTPRD) have been suggested to be associated with diabetes, although the underlying mechanism is not yet understood. As a protein, PTPRD helps regulate signalling pathways in cells. These pathways are vital for different cellular processes. The research findings suggested that a reduction in hepatic PTPRD may contribute to this association. Mechanistically, the N-terminal cleavage product of PTPRD was found to trigger insulin secretion, potentially aiding glucose homeostasis. Therefore, the circulating N-terminal fragment of PTPRD could serve as a novel biomarker and therapeutic agent for diabetes.

Organised by the National Healthcare Group (NHG), SHBC is NHG’s annual flagship event. The congress annually attracts over 3,600 delegates from a wide spectrum of backgrounds, comprising healthcare professionals, scientists, administrators, community care partners, industry experts, researchers and students.