The holiday spirit was alive and well at the Centre for Oncology and Immunology (COI) as we gathered for our annual Christmas party—a day filled with laughter, teamwork, and festive cheer!
Our celebration kicked off with the first ever COI Lab-Olympics, where our various research groups, the technical team, and even some principal investigators faced off in a series of fun lab-inspired challenges. We started with a few icebreaker games like “Human Bingo” and “Human Knot,” which not only helped everyone to get to know each other better, but also ignited the team spirit. The main events started with a hilarious game of “Taboo,” featuring words related to science, Christmas, and Hong Kong, followed by “Sneak A Peak,” a fast-paced game combining a three-legged race with a challenge to pipette specific patterns on a 96-well plate. The excitement continued with “Game-A-Thon,” a mashup of four games testing different lab skills, and culminated in the grand finale, “Table Curling,” an innovative twist on the traditional winter sport, with petri dishes serving as curling stones. Teams took turns sliding their petri dishes across the table, aiming to get them as close as possible to a specially made COI logo. Precision, strategy and a bit of friendly competition made this game the crowd favourite, as the audience reacted enthusiastically to every slide and near miss.
Once all the scores were tabulated, it was time to announce the winners. Team Big Mac (Prof Tak Mak’s group) took home third place, Team Mixed (comprised of members from various groups) claimed the runner-up spot, and Team Guts (Prof. Suet Yi Leung’s group) emerged as the grand prize winner. All participating teams were awarded medals, but the top three teams received extra gifts. A huge thanks to all the teams for their fantastic efforts! We would like to extend a special thank you to our incredible Admin Team for organizing and setting up this entire event. Their hard work and dedication made this celebration possible and ensured that everyone had a fantastic time.
Following the games, we gathered for an amazing group lunch. It was the perfect opportunity to relax, chat, and enjoy some delicious food together. To top it all off, everyone received goodie bags filled with tasty snacks and sweets.
Prof. Suet Yi Leung, Co-Director of COI, wrapped up the festivities with some inspiring closing remarks: “The team spirit at COI appears to be getting bigger and stronger than ever. I hope all of you will carry this passion, energy, and creativity forward and push harder so that our research can make a real difference for cancer patients worldwide.”
All in all, it was a fabulous way for the COI team to take a break, bond, and kick off the holiday season. Happy Holidays to everyone at COI!