About the speaker

Prof Mu-ming Poo received his BS in physics from Tsinghua University in Taiwan in 1970 and PhD in biophysics from Johns Hopkins University in 1974. He went on to work at Purdue University, University of California at Irvine, Yale University, Columbia University, and University of California at San Diego before joining University of California at Berkeley, where he served as the Head of Division of Neurobiology in the Department of Molecular and Cell Biology in 2002-2007, and is currently the Paul Licht Distinguished Professor in Biology. Since 1999, Prof Poo has also served as the Director of the Institute of Neuroscience at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai.

Prof Poo’s research focuses on the problems of brain development and cognitive functions such as learning and memory. In the 1990s, he defined a breakthrough research method that could systematically chart how neuronal connections are formed, while also being able to manipulate chemical and environmental factors to observe how these connections then change. He was also the first to discover that neurotrophins can potentiate synaptic transmission.

Prof Poo has received numerous awards, including the Javitz Neuroscience Investigator Award of the US National Institutes of Health, the Ameritec Prize and the Ray Wu Society Award among other recognitions. He is a member of the US National Academy of Sciences, a Fellow of the American Association for Advancement of Science, an Academician of Academia Sinica in Taiwan and a founding member of the Academy of Sciences of Hong Kong. Prof Poo has also been involved in HKUST’s development since its establishment. In recognition of his exceptional contribution to science and his distinguished service to the university, Prof Poo was honored with the Doctor of Science honoris causa from HKUST in 2014.