Dr. Aimin Xu is currently a professor at Department of Medicine and Department of Pharmacology & Pharmacy, also the director of State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, and centre for Antibody and Immunoassay Services at the University of Hong Kong. His major research interest is on discovery and functional characterization of novel hormones and biomarkers involved in the pathogenesis of obesity-related cardio-metabolic complications. His team has identified the glycol-isoforms of adiponectin, and the FGF21-adipionectin axis in the protection against obesity-related cardiometabolic syndrome,and also discovered adipocyte fatty acid binding protein (A-FABP) and lipocalin-2 as pro-inflammatory adipokines in both rodents and humans. In addition, his work contributed significantly to the understanding of the molecular basis of adipose tissue inflammation, cross-talk between adipose tissue and blood vessels in the pathogenesis of vascular dysfunctions in obesity and diabetes. His team has developed a series of immunoassays and point-of-care tests (POCT) that have now been widely used for risk prediction, clinical diagnostics, drug screening, clinical and basic research related to obesity and its associated medical complications.