Event: Nerd Nite Hong Kong: Anniversary Edition
Date: 23rd April 2018
Time: 8:00 p.m.
Location: Mezcalito; 27/F, 18 On Lan St, Central.
Entry Fee: Free! Thanks to the support provided by the venue! You just got to buy your own drinks!

Speaker 1: Dr. Timothy Bonebrake
Topic: A multi-scale tale of scaly tails
Quick Nerdisms: Pangolins are scaly mammals distributed across Asia and Africa. All eight pangolin species are now vulnerable to extinction however due in large part to recent increases in the demand of pangolin scales for use in traditional Chinese medicine. We’ll explore this complex issue from conservation, ecology and social perspectives and multiple spatial scales (from the local to the global) with stories from Cameroon, Hong Kong and China.
Nerd Cred: Dr. Timothy C. Bonebrake is an Assistant Professor in the School of Biological Sciences at The University of Hong Kong. He received his BS at the University of California, Berkeley andPhD from Stanford University. He has broad research interests in global change ecology and tropical conservation with work conducted all over the world including Central Africa, Southeast Asia and North America.
Speaker 2: Dr. Danny Chan
Topic: Stress, are you? Cells do, what do they do?
Quick Nerdisms: We all experience stress in our daily lives. Some deal with it better than others. Some absolutely need it to function while others will collapse. Chances are you know and have work with such people, and they could be your friends, family members or yourself. Cells are no different, and there are all sorts of cells. Some are hard workers and others wait for something to do. Some gives orders and other received. Sound familiar? Welcome to the world of cellular stress. The kaleidoscope of cells in our body has to deal with one and other and the changing environment in order to survive. Otherwise, there will be a problem we call disease. Want to know more about how cells deal with stress in their world?
Nerd Cred: Danny Chan is a professor at the School of Biomedical Science in the University of Hong Kong, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine. He graduated from the University of Melbourne, with a Bachelor of Science (Hons), Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy.
His research interest is in skeletal biology, focusing on development, growth and degenerative processes of the skeleton in health and disease. He has a particular interest in rare diseases of the skeleton. He has received more than 25M HKD of research funding as principal investigator and 200M HKD as Co-investigator, and with more than 150 publications in high impact journals such as Nature, JCI, AMHG, PNAS, PLOS Biol, EMBO and JCB.
In recognition of his achievements, he received an award for excellence in medical research from the Premier of Victoria in Australia, and recently, the Croucher Senior Research Fellow Award in Hong Kong, and the SY and HY Cheng Endowed Professor in Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. In knowledge exchange, he and his research team helped to initiate “The Little People of Hong Kong” Foundation in Hong Kong, an NGO for the patient groups, and to increase the community’s awareness of the needs of patients with rare skeletal disorders in Hong Kong. He is also a council member of Hong Kong Alliance for Rare Diseases, advocating for the needs of rare disease people in our society.
Professor Chan is the Assistant Dean for Research and Research Postgraduate studies, as well as the Deputy Director for Development and Education for Research Integrity at the University of Hong Kong. He is involved in the education of responsible conduct of research to students and academic staff, and has a strong interest in promoting an environment for high quality research at the university, and sharing experience through networking with regional and international institutions to foster responsible conduct of research.
Speaker 3: Ms. Li Meng De Bakker
Topic: The Language of Film Music
Quick Nerdisms: When a new film hits the theatres, we often ask friends, “Have you seen it?” But films are often as much about sound, as they are about image. Why does film music sound the way it does? How can composers and directors work together to play with our expectations and emotions? Learn more with me about the language of film music through an analysis of techniques and trends drawn from the classics.
Nerd Cred: Li Meng de Bakker is a budding radio host and DJ, with a monthly music education show streaming on Hong Kong Community Radio. She holds an MA in Music from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, and will begin a 4 year PhD at the University of Hong Kong in September, studying Hip-Hop culture in Asia. She also uploads pop culture music analysis videos to YouTube, as ‘Musicoology’.