Exercise on Brain Health

Prof Kwok-Fai So is the Director of GHM Institute of CNS Regeneration at Jinan University, Guangzhou, China; Chair of Anatomy in the State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, and the Department of Ophthalmology, Jessie Ho Professor in Neuroscience, The University of Hong Kong, member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, member of the Advisory Committee, Ministry of Education/ 2011 Program, member of Biolgical and Medicine Council/ Ministry of Education, member of Consultative Committee/ the national 973 Program/ major national research funding program in China, Director of China Spinal Cord Injury Network (ChinaSCINet), Co-Chairman of the Board of Director of the ChinaSCINet, and Editor-in-Chief of Neural Regeneration Research. He received PhD degree from MIT. He is one of the pioneers in the field of axonal regeneration in visual system. He was the first to show lengthy regeneration of retinal ganglion cells in adult mammals with peripheral nerve graft. He is currently using multiple approaches to promote axonal regeneration in the optic nerve and spinal cord. His team identifies neuroprotective and regenerative factors including: exercise, wolfberry, trophic factors, peptide nanofiber scaffold, and environmental manipulation. 1995 obtained the Natural Science Award of the National Natural Science Foundation of China. 1999 was elected Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. 2015 was elected US National Academy of Invention Fellow. 2017 elected a member of DABI (Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives). He is the author and co-author of over 440+ publications and co-inventor of 28 patents.

Dr Sonata Suk-yu Yau is currently working as an Assistant Professor in Department of Rehabilitation Sciences at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong. She obtained her Bachelor degree in Biochemistry from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in 2005, followed by a PhD degree in neuroscience in Department of Anatomy at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) in 2009. She did her postdoctoral training in Division of Medical Sciences at University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada with fellowship awarded by Canadian Institute of Health Research and Fragile X Research Foundation of Canada. She has been investigating the underlying mechanisms of physical exercise-promoted brain health in animal models including depression, diabetes. She also studies how hippocampal dysfunction can lead to cognitive impairment in neurodevelopmental disorders e.g. Fragile X Syndrome. She is interested in studying pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions to promote brain functions using different diseased animal models. Her current research projects are centered on understanding the underlying mechanisms of physical exercise-induced brain health and examining novel therapeutic treatments for promoting brain health in animal models with neurological disorders.