The University of Hong Kong (HKU) secured four awards at the national finals of the 15th "Challenge Cup" China Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Competition, including the highest honour - the Grand Prize - and three Second Prizes. HKU was also awarded the team award, the "Victory Cup", in recognition of the outstanding performance of its teams. The award-winning projects span biomedical research, AI-powered precision medicine and smart construction technology.
Jointly organised by the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, the Ministry of Education and other organisations, the "Challenge Cup" is one of China's most prestigious university-level innovation and entrepreneurship competitions. More than three million students from over 2,700 universities took part. Among all, four HKU projects advanced to the national finals and ultimately stood out.
Dr Paul Wang, Director of HKU Techno-Entrepreneurship Core, said: "The HKU teams performed incredibly in this leading national competition, demonstrating outstanding creativity and research capabilities. We are very proud of their achievements. Securing a Grand Prize and multiple Second Prizes affirms HKU's commitment to empowering students to transform innovative ideas into real-world impact. HKU will continue to foster innovation and entrepreneurship among our students and staff, support researchers in participating in national and international competitions, and showcase Hong Kong's research strengths. By translating discoveries into solutions, we strive to contribute to Hong Kong's development as an international innovation and technology centre."
Grand Prize:
Broad-spectrum Tumor Reprogamming Immunotherapy
The project addresses core bottlenecks in immunotherapy for solid tumours, such as the lack of effective drug targets, tumour heterogeneity, low immune-cell penetration, and the immunosuppressive microenvironment. It proposes a novel therapeutic approach using a proprietary formulation that forces tumours to express a unified artificial antigen tag, which can be sensitively recognised by the body's pre-existing immunological memory. This reverses the tumour's immunosuppressive microenvironment, triggers systemic clearance of primary tumours and distant metastatic lesions, and establishes long-term tumour immune surveillance. The approach is distinguished by its broad-spectrum efficacy across all solid tumours, low production cost, and ready-to-use availability.
Supervisor(s): Professor HUANG Jiandong, Synthetic Biology, School of Biomedical Sciences, HKUMed and Honorary Professor XU Tian, School of Chinese Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine, HKU
Project Team: Dr LI Renhao, En HE, HUANG Rui Xiang
Second Prize:
ModelBio - An Immuno-Vascularised Organoid Precision Medicine Platform Integrating AI-Driven Drug Discovery
ModelBio is a technology-driven startup incubated at HKUMed. It has pioneered the development of fully integrated tumour organoids that incorporate vasculature, immune cells and fibroblasts. The project aims to replace traditional mouse models with a combination of patient-derived, fully integrated tumour microenvironment organoids (TIVAs), AI-powered drug target screening and immune cell morphological analysis. Through this approach, ModelBio provides preclinical screening services for anticancer drug development and extends its applications into precision medicine in hospitals.
Supervisor(s): Professor Rio SUGIMURA, School of Biomedical Sciences, HKUMed Project Team: (From HKU) Alex TO, Haotian CAI, Chloe KAN, Sam HO, (From CUHK-Shenzhen) Yida WU
BuildMind AI - A Multi-Agent AI Decision Engine for the Building Life Cycle
BuildMind AI supports AI-assisted urban simulation and architectural design. It uses multi-agent simulation to compare how planning and policy scenarios may affect urban space, employment and economic activity. Multimodal tools generate and refine building options and 3D visualisations, while standards retrieval supports professional review. Current work includes a research prototype for Hong Kong's Northern Metropolis. The team aims to connect Hong Kong's research strengths with Shenzhen's engineering and industry resources.
Supervisor(s): Professor Ye LUO, Business School and Professor Ping LUO, School of Computing and Data Science, HKU and Research Assistant Professor Jiale HAN, Shenzhen Loop Area Institute.
Project Team: Yike WANG (Team Leader, PhD student, HKU MMLab); Yitao YU, Yixuan LU, Jialu TANG and Kaitian DI (HKU); Hongru XIAO (Tongji University); Jing QIAN (Fudan University); Qiuyi LI and Xiaohui CHEN (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University); and Huilei WANG (Central China Normal University)
NanoPowder Nasal Spray for Prehospital Ischemic Stroke First Aid
This project is developing the NanoPowder Nasal Spray as a world-first, portable emergency treatment for ischemic stroke. Using a proprietary 'Nano-in-Micron' technology platform, this inhalable dry powder nanomedicine delivers multi-target neuroprotection directly from nose-to-brain, bypassing the blood-brain barrier. This award-winning innovation shifts stroke care from hospital to prehospital, targeting current unmet medical needs, and can be expanded beyond stroke to other neurological diseases. A startup has been incorporated, and preclinical trials are underway, with clinical trials planned for 2030.
Supervisor(s): Professor Aviva CHOW, Pharmacology & Pharmacy, HKUMed and Dr Zitong SHAO, Advanced Biomedical Instrumentation Centre
Project Team: ZHOU Yinjie, DENG Jiahui (PhD Students)
