Prof. Rudolf Wu from Hong Kong University paid a visit to IHB on April 20.

Prof. Rudolf Wu and Prof. Kenneth M. Y. Leung from Hong Kong University paid a visit to Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IHB) on April 20, 2015. During their visit, they gave academic lectures with the title of “Functional responses of marine ecosystem to hypoxia” and “Temperature-dependent chemical toxicity models and their implications on derivation of water quality criteria and ecological risk assessment” for IHB researchers.  

Prof. Rudolf Wu began his lecture with a question “What is hypoxia?”. He systematically explained the definition of hypoxia, and listed the universal global hypoxia and series of changes in marine ecosystems caused by hypoxia. Based on his laboratory work, Prof. Wu demonstrated the endocrine disrupting effects caused by hypoxia on the physiological structures, hormone levels, quality of eggs and sperms, reproductive fecundity and global DNA methylation in fish, and then drew a conclusion on how all these revealed the relating molecular mechanisms.  

Different from other speakers, Prof. Kenneth M. Y. Leung began his lecture with his experiences during master and doctoral studies. He patiently explained the mechanisms of temperature-dependent chemical toxicities to aquatic ecototherms based on both literature review and empirical laboratory studies. In his lecture, Prof. Leung pointed out that most of the organisms have the highest tolerance to chemicals at their optimal temperature (OT) where they displayed the highest value of median lethal or effect concentration. This tolerance will decrease as the temperature departs from the OT, displaying inverse “V” shaped changes.  

Prof. Leung proposed and verified a model theory about temperature-dependent chemical toxicities. Prof. Wu’s interesting lecture and Prof. Leung’s vivid explanation aroused the interests of the audience and triggered heated discussion between the audience and the speakers.  

 Prof. Rudolf Wu is the Director of the School of Biological Sciences, University of Hong Kong, and the Director of the Centre for Marine Environmental Research and Innovative Technology (MERIT), one of the “Areas of Excellence” (AoE) in Hong Kong, and also the founding Director of the State Key Laboratory in Marine Pollution. Prof. Wu’s research primarily focused on the molecular, biochemical, physiological and ecological responses of marine animals to environmental stresses, with a particular emphasis on hypoxia, xenobiotics and endocrine disrupting chemicals. Currently, he is researching on the trans-generational effects of hypoxia and endocrine disrupting chemicals on fish and the underlying epigenetic mechanisms.  

Dr. Kenneth Leung is Professor of Aquatic Ecology and Toxicology at the Swire Institute of Marine Science and School of Biological Sciences, at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) where he also acts as Associate Dean (Research & Graduate Studies) at the Faculty of Science. Currently, His research mainly focuses on aquatic ecology and toxicology. During 2010–2012, he was the elected President of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Asia Pacific Geographic Unit. He is a founding editor-in-chief of the Elsevier journal, Regional Studies in Marine Science and a subject editor for the SETAC journal, Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management. Due to his professional achievements and community services, he was selected as one of the “Ten Outstanding Young Persons” for Hong Kong by Junior Chamber International in 2010. 

Prof. Kenneth M. Y. Leung from Hong Kong University paid a visit to IHB on April 20.