Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) has received a donation of HK$10 million from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust to support the establishment of the JC STEM Lab of ChemProbes.

The Laboratory aims to foster transdisciplinary research into the development of new molecular probes as diagnostic imaging tools and translate them so they can be utilised in biomedical or clinical applications. It will also offer training to researchers of the laboratory and its collaborative partners on the design, synthesis and validation of diagnostic probes, helping to address the talent shortage in this field in Hong Kong and southern China.

The laboratory has been established under the leadership of its Director, Professor David Parker, Global STEM Chair Professor of the Department of Chemistry at HKBU. Professor Parker is a world-renowned chemist and a fellow of the Royal Society of London who joined HKBU in October 2022 under the Global STEM Professorship Scheme, which was launched and is supported by the HKSAR Government.

The 'JC STEM Lab of ChemProbes' will focus on the development of rare-earth-based molecular probes as bio-imaging agents for use in optical imaging for pre-clinical cellular and tissue studies. The probes could potentially be widely utilised in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and in various diagnostic and optical imaging protocols. It is hoped that they will eventually be translated for use in human applications in collaboration with partners in academia and industry.