How Do I Become a Biomedical Scientist?
In 1999, Dr. Liao Hong received his Ph.D. in cell and molecular biology from Columbia University, and then did postdoctoral research in neurodevelopment and brain cancer at Stanford University in the United States. He is a well-known Damon Runyon Cancer Foundation scholarship recipient. His research areas include molecular biology of cancer, molecular mechanisms of cancer cell reproduction, screening and development of new anticancer drugs, preclinical research of candidate drugs, clinical trials of drugs, molecular mechanisms of dementia, etc. In the course of her research, she invented a number of new anticancer small molecule drug candidates and a number of new cancer molecular diagnostic reagents; she also invented effective and safe treatments for diabetes, prostate enlargement, cardiovascular disease, high cholesterol, high blood lipids, joint Innovative healthcare products for diseases such as inflammation, osteoporosis, etc. These products have been sold in the United States. They are being registered in Canada and China. He has founded several biotechnology and healthcare product development companies, and has led these companies in the development of new drugs and product sales.
Liao Hong
(Biomedical scientist and inventor)
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- Liao Hong, female, born in Beijing, graduated from China Agricultural University and Columbia University. She is currently the founder and president of Everest Biosciences in the United States, and CEO of Beijing Harriga Biotechnology Co., Ltd. He is a senior biomedical scientist and inventor, and an entrepreneur in drug development, healthcare development and marketing.
- Chinese name:
- Liao Hong
- Hometown:
- Beijing
- gender:
- Female
- Nationality:
- Han nationality
- Country of Citizenship:
- China
- Occupation:
- Business CEO
Scientific biomedical scientist - graduated school:
- China Agricultural University; Columbia University
Liao Hong 's Growth in Beijing
- Liao Hong's parents are very accomplished scientists. The good family environment, parents' great enthusiasm for scientific research, serious and rigorous academic style and dedication to work attitude left a deep impression on Liao Hong's heart. Summer is her happiest day. For a few years of summer vacation, she participated in a summer camp for science and technology organized by her father's mapping society. In the summer camp, Liao Hong was exposed to many fields and knowledge that could not be learned in books, and also developed a strong interest in scientific research and exploring the unknown. She has studied various popular science books and biographies of many scientists since she was a child. She is determined to become a parent-like scientist, but she does not want to be a parent's companion, because if you become a companion, others will feel that you have made a difference by your parents' "cultivation". . Her interest in biology stems from many sci-fi novels about dinosaurs watched in hours, as well as middle school biology class teachers' descriptions of various mysteries and unknown life, especially biological experiments and chemistry classes. There was a keen interest in exploring the mysteries of life through experiments, so she chose a biology-related major when she was in college.
- In 1986, Liao Hong was admitted to Beijing Agricultural University (now China Agricultural University) and became a college student in animal physiology and biochemistry. In college, her favorite is to do a variety of biochemical and physiological experiments, such as biochemical experiments using various separation columns to purify enzymes and various molecules, and physiological experiments using electric shock to stimulate various parts of the pig's brain to find brain control Neural pathways throughout the body provide a bridge for cattle to study food digestion and metabolic cycles. Especially in the animal surgery technique class, it was her happiest time. She should have moved around in pairs, but her partner was afraid of animals, so she always completed all the operations alone, and competed with other classmates. Which group performed the most beautiful operation, which group performed the fastest, and which group of animals survived after the operation, and her group almost always won!
- However, these courses did not satisfy Liao Hong's desire for knowledge. At that time, for the first time, with the help of her parents, she found her parents' friends at the Chinese Academy of Genetics and used them to conduct experiments in their laboratory during the summer vacation. Only then did she really come into contact with biological research and learned a lot of knowledge and experimental techniques in genetics and molecular biology. When she was graduating from college, she found a laboratory at the Institute of Animal Science. The person in charge was a scientist Lu who had just returned from the United States to study the mechanism of adipocyte differentiation. He allowed Liao Hong to choose a small project independently.
- After graduating from university, Liao Hong entered the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and worked in the laboratory of academician Bei Shizhen, a well-known biologist in China and the founder of Chinese biophysics. As soon as you graduate, you can work in China's highest-level research institutes, which is a dream for many college graduates. At that time, she was mainly engaged in research on leukemia cell growth and development and controlling cell growth regulators to verify the cell development theory proposed by Bei Lao. Liao Hong, who has just entered the job, likes this job very much and strives to realize her "scientist" dream. At that time, molecular biology, as the frontier of biological research, flourished abroad. Through reading the literature during her work and research, she became very interested in molecular biology, and the United States has the highest level of molecular biology research. country. So she decided to study in the United States.
Liao Hong is very happy to do scientific research
- Liao Hong at the signing ceremony
- Liao Hong's great passion for scientific research moved Tim. Although she has not started her doctoral studies, Tim has trained her as a doctoral student, asking her to independently choose research directions and topics, design and complete experiments independently, and help She has developed the habit of rigor and pursuit of perfection. During this time, Liao Hong discovered the effects of mitotic regulator CENP-E on cell division and cancer cell growth. This is an important discovery of the research on the mechanism of cancer growth. Many years later, a biological company in the United States used CENP-E as an anticancer target to develop anticancer drug candidates that inhibit CENP-E. In 1993, Liao Hong successfully became a doctoral student at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. In addition to taking a heavy doctoral course, she continues to do PhD research projects in Tim's laboratory. Experimenting on evenings and weekends and holidays, although tiring, she was very happy. During his time in Pennsylvania, Liao Hong continued his in-depth research on CENP-E's control of cancer cell division and molecular pathways, and also discovered a new mitotic regulator CENP-F on protein degradation, cell death and cancer cells. The role of growth. These research results are of great help to understand the molecular mechanism of cancer cell growth and reproduction and to develop anticancer drugs.
- In 1995, Liao Hong transferred to Columbia University School of Medicine to continue his doctoral studies in cell and molecular biology, and received his doctorate in 1999. During her PhD study, she discovered the important role of phosphatase PP2 in regulating the formation of brain cytoskeleton and maintaining the activity of brain cells and nervous system. She also discovered that the mutation of phosphatase PP2 can promote brain cell death, brain atrophy and the generation of dementia The important role of the disease; proposed a new mechanism for the generation of dementia, and provided a molecular biological basis for the development of effective new drugs for the treatment of dementia.
- In 1999, with a longing for Silicon Valley and Stanford University, Liao Hong came to Stanford University School of Medicine in the United States and began a three-year postdoctoral research. His main research area is neurodevelopmental biology. In Professor Matthew Scott's laboratory, she focuses on the discovery and research of signaling pathways that control the development of the cerebellar nervous system and the generation of brain medulloblastoma. Liao Hong said that on the road of scientific research, she thanked many mentors for their careful guidance. Professor Matthew Scott is a very representative member of her mentor. Professor Matthew Scott is one of the discoverers of the Homeobox gene, which is very important in development and molecular biology. He is both intelligent and versatile, and also good at integrating multi-disciplinary theoretical knowledge. At work, he works hard, rigorously, and is full of innovative spirit. Outside of work, he is funny, humorous, wide-ranging, adventurous, and often mingles with students. Liao Hong introduced: "In the traditional impression, we believe that scientific research needs to be able to withstand loneliness, which is a very hard work, but from many mentors and my own personal experience, I feel that doing research is very difficult. Happy things, in the field of science, you can freely explore and discover many new phenomena, new mechanisms, create new theories, new ideas, new products. "This has also become an academic attitude of Liao Hong in his future research and entrepreneurship. As a postdoc, Liao Hong received a postdoctoral fellowship from Damon Runyon Cancer Foundation. Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation is one of the oldest scientific research foundations in the United States. Since 1946, the foundation has invested a total of more than 240 million US dollars, mainly to fund the world's most outstanding young scientists in cancer-related research.
- As a doctoral and postdoctoral fellow in a prestigious American university, Liao Hong has published a number of papers in world-renowned scientific journals such as Science, and his research areas include molecular biology of cancer, molecular mechanisms of cancer cell reproduction, neural system development and tumor formation, and dementia. Molecular mechanism of disease ... rich academic accumulation has paved the way for Liao Hong's future research. If following the normal development trajectory, Liao Hong may enter an academic institution to set up his own laboratory to continue his research or choose a university to teach and educate. However, Liao Hong chose to start his own business.
Liao Hong's "Silicon Valley Spirit" Becomes a Motivation for Entrepreneurship
- Liao Hong does not want to do basic research in the laboratory of an academic institution, "because I believe that scientific research is transformed into products, especially the findings and results of medical biological research are translated into new drugs, new technologies and new methods for the diagnosis of diseases. New technology is the most valuable, the most challenging, and the most exciting! "Therefore, she chose to start a business after finishing her doctorate, and took the development of new drugs as the main direction of business.
- At that time, it was the prosperous period of the first generation of Internet companies to start a business, and it was also a period of prosperity for many biotech companies to successfully start and go public. It is easy to feel the excitement and harmony of many entrepreneurs from scratch on the campus of Stanford University. atmosphere. Although he has no previous experience in business and entrepreneurship, Liao Hong has taken various opportunities to learn, from enrolling courses and trainings for entrepreneurs at Stanford University, helping Stanford Business School students to organize entrepreneurial activities, and participating in various Silicon Valley business-related and entrepreneurial-related issues. Organization, training, and conferences to meet investors, successful entrepreneurs, and start-ups. She gradually became familiar with all aspects of entrepreneurship and business, and began her own entrepreneurial journey. "There is nothing difficult in the world. As long as I want to learn, there is nothing I can't learn." This is Liao Hong's firm belief and the self-confidence that an entrepreneur should possess.
- But starting a business is very difficult. Soon the Internet bubble burst, many companies closed down, and the listing channel was closed, making most investors reduce or stop venture capital. In this financing environment, especially in high-risk and high-return industries such as new drug research and development, the chances of obtaining initial venture capital are very small, and the difficulty of starting a business can be imagined. However, Liao Hong did not flinch. Instead, like many Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, he was persistent and determined to face difficulties.
- While cooperating with the university's laboratory, she developed new anti-cancer small molecule drug candidates and new targets and mechanisms for anti-cancer. At the same time, she took a different approach and extracted pharmacologically active molecules from plants, testing plant-active molecules and plant-active molecular combinations Drug activity. After years of hard work, after countless setbacks and failures, and after spending countless hours and painstaking efforts, the biotechnology company founded by Liao Hong has finally obtained promising new anticancer drug candidates, and conducted in vitro and in vivo anticancer drugs on these candidate drugs. Extensive research on the activity and research of anti-cancer molecular mechanisms, and found new anti-cancer molecular targets and mechanisms. Comprehensive preclinical trials of these anticancer drug candidates are currently underway.
- At the same time, Liao Hong also collaborated with the laboratory to find a group of cancer-specific expression genes. These genes have very high expression levels in the tissues of several cancer patients and free cancer cells, but not in non-cancerous tissues. Expression or very low expression levels, and the expression levels of these genes also increase with the progression of cancer and reach the highest value after the cancer has spread, and the expression levels of these genes have a strong relationship with the prognosis of cancer treatment and patient survival Association. Based on these findings, Liao Hong is currently developing multiple exclusive and leading cancer early diagnosis kits, cancer diagnosis kits, cancer progression and cancer prognosis kits to achieve early diagnosis, confirmation, cancer progression and Cancer prognosis prediction.
- In addition, her efforts to extract pharmaceutically active molecules from plants have also been successful. In 2008, Liao Hong founded another company in California, TITAN BIOSCIENCES. Based on her invention, the company has developed effective and safe healthcare products for the treatment of diabetes, enlarged prostate, cardiovascular disease, arthritis, and osteoporosis. A series of clinical experiments and basic studies have proven that these products have good efficacy and good safety. They are currently being sold in the United States and are planned to be introduced to the Canadian and Chinese markets.
- It is the direction of Liao Hong's entrepreneurial efforts to establish a company and develop it to bring as much returns as possible to investors and entrepreneurial teams. She said that becoming a successful inventor and developing the world's most advanced, effective, and safe new drug is her biggest dream, especially the development of new anti-cancer drugs and cancer diagnostic reagents. Countless patients die from cancer every year around the world. She hopes that her invention will save the lives of cancer patients and benefit human beings, and this is also her motivation to continue to work hard, not afraid of failure and frustration.
- As a person who has struggled for many years in the field of cancer, Liao Hong is not only an outstanding biomedical scientist, but also an excellent entrepreneur in drug development, healthcare product development and marketing. She has mastered innovative cancer candidate drug development and screening technologies, and has led the development of a variety of new anticancer drug candidates. She has conducted in vitro and in vivo studies on anticancer activity and anticancer molecular mechanisms of these drugs; she is proficient in all aspects of new drug development She has rich experience in preclinical experiments; she has successfully conducted clinical trials; she is familiar with the methods and operations of clinical trials and registration of new cancer drugs in the United States and Europe; she has rich corporate operations and management, product development, production and sales experience of.
Liao Hong is full of hope for starting Beijing
- Beijing became Liao Hong's first stop and base for exploring the Chinese market. When talking about the reasons for settling in Beijing, Liao Hong introduced that, first of all, because of the good entrepreneurial environment, the government and relevant departments have given many preferential policies and support to returning entrepreneurs. Before returning to China, he was selected as the "Hai Ju Project" in Beijing, which Liao Hong himself did not expect. The second reason is the excellent academic atmosphere and the many potential partners and talents. Beijing has many universities and research institutes, many high-level hospitals and oncology specialists, and many biological and pharmaceutical companies. These are the foundations on which innovation and entrepreneurship depend. Just as the development of "Silicon Valley" relies on university resources such as Stanford University and a large number of successful and emerging high-tech companies, Liao Hong also hopes to have more opportunities to cooperate with domestic research institutions, hospitals and biomedical companies; once again Because Beijing is Liao Hong's hometown, children who have been away from home for a long time always want to return to their hometown.
- Liao Hong is full of confidence in the future of starting a business in Beijing, and also full of confidence in the future of China's pharmaceutical industry. She hopes that China will also produce successful pharmaceutical companies like "Genentech" and "Amgen" in the United States and develop new anti-cancer drugs like "Avastin". Is this impossible? No, Liao Hong believes: "Innovation and entrepreneurship both turn 'impossible' into 'possible'! If Chinese scientists, entrepreneurs and returnees work together with the support of the government and investors, this is completely possible"! She is willing to do her part for the development of China's pharmaceutical industry, turning the impossible into the possible.