Dr. CAO Hongcui, a professor at the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine (FAHZU), was honored with the prestigious Travel Award APASL 2024 Kyoto at the 33rd Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL) Annual Meeting, which took place from March 27-31, 2024, in Kyoto, Japan.

Left: Dr. CAO Hongcui; Right: Prof. Shuichiro Shiina, President of APASL 2024

This accolade was in recognition of her team's contribution, which stood out from 2,300 abstracts, to the research on the efficacy and mechanism of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-derived exosomes (Exo^MSC) on primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC), an autoimmune liver disease (AIH) characterized by cholangiosclerosis and liver fibrosis. Their research found the anti-fibrosis effect of Exo^MSC in PSC by inhibiting Th17 differentiation, and ameliorating the Th17-induced liver microenvironment, indicating a promising therapeutic role of Exo^MSC in liver fibrosis in Th17-related diseases.

Partial members of Dr. CAO’s team

“We are deeply honored to receive the Travel Award. The award is particularly meaningful to my research group as we have been doing preclinical research on MSC therapy for liver diseases for many years, and the discovery of the therapeutic mechanism of Exo^MSC on PSC makes the MSC therapy research in the AIH treatment area take a step forward. Therefore, this award is not only an honor for our team, but also recognition of our colleagues in the field of MSC therapy for liver diseases. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my team and CHEN Wenyi, my Ph.D. student and the paper's first author, for their contribution. This achievement is a testament to our collective efforts,” Dr. CAO remarked.

Dr. CAO is currently the deputy director of State Key Laboratory for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases at FAHZU. She's also the director of the Stem Cell Translational Medicine Branch of the Chinese Anatomical Society. Her research group is at the forefront of studying the efficacy and mechanism of MSCs in liver disease and infectious diseases, combining multi-omics, single-cell sequencing, organoid modelling and other techniques. As a respected member of several editorial boards, including Journal of Internal Medicine, World Journal of Stem Cells, and Infectious Microbes & Diseases,etc., Dr. CAO has an impressive track record with over 200 SCI-indexed papers and an h-index of 40.

Source: The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine