Miss Su Tao, PhD student of the School of Chinese Medicine (SCM), recently won the “Best Student Research Paper Award” presented by the Global Science and Technology Forum (GSTF) at the 2nd Annual International Conference on Advances in Cancer Medical Research held in Singapore. 

Miss Su’s award-winning paper is entitled “An ethanolic extract of Pinelliae Rhizoma inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis through suppressing PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling and ROS-mediated MAPKs activation in liver cancer cells”. Although Pinelliae Rhizoma (PR) is commonly prescribed by Chinese medicine practitioners for treating liver cancer, the molecular mechanisms underlying its anti-liver cancer activity are not fully understood. Miss Su’s study demonstrated that an ethanolic extract of PR inhibits the proliferation of liver cancer cells and induces cell death through the suppression of PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling and activation of ROS-mediated MAPKs. The data provides a pharmacological justification for the clinical application of PR in treating liver cancer.

Miss Su was honoured to receive the award and expressed her gratitude to her supervisor Dr Yu Zhiling, Associate Professor of the Teaching and Research Division and Associate Director of the Technology Development Division, SCM, for his guidance and encouragement. She also thanked all those who had helped her with her studies. Miss Su said that she would continue to use her best endeavours in achieving more interesting findings in cancer research.

GSTF, through hosting international conferences and publishing international journals, provides a global platform for world-class academics and industry professionals to share their groundbreaking research achievements.