The Dean’s Letter by Professor Chak-sing Lau 26 November 2022
CONTENTS 2 Upward and onward 6 Fit-for-purpose 10 Scaling up 11 Growing outwards 13 People at the centre 16 2021-22 Honour Roll
Upward and onward It is my great honour to stand here before you and give my heartiest congratulations to new graduates and our honoured academic staff, and a warm welcome to the whole extended HKUMed family. I have greatly treasured the past few months as your Dean, listening to students and staff, understanding your needs and wants, and being impressed by the hard work, commitment and thoughtfulness that you bring to our Faculty. The task for my team and me going forward is to respond to your views and advice and realise our shared vision of achieving even greater things in the years to come. 2
My guiding principle is that people must remain at the centre of everything that HKUMed does. This starts with our students. Teaching is at the heart of our existence. We have a duty to provide our students with the best possible education and opportunities to excel, so they can serve and lead in Hong Kong and beyond. We also have a duty to make sure our teachers are working with a curriculum that is fit-for-purpose and to give them opportunities to advance in their careers. I will be looking to achieve improvements on all these fronts. Research is also at the core of our mission. Our COVID-19 research has thrust us into the limelight, but it is not the only area where HKUMed’s scholars are world-leading. This autumn, 24 of them were named in Clarivate Analytics’ 2022 Highly Cited Researchers. The Faculty was ranked 13th in the subject of Clinical and Health by the 2023 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. Those achievements are points of pride resulting from years of effort. My team and I are committed to surpassing these results. We aim to ensure HKUMed researchers have the resources and collegial support they need to achieve excellence and break new ground. This is one of the most important things that the Faculty leadership must do – to be aware of the academic and professional needs of each of our members and find a way to fulfil those needs as far as possible. We aim to ensure HKUMed researchers have the resources and collegial support they need to achieve excellence and break new ground. 3 THE DEAN’S LETTER
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The most urgent of those needs is for more space to accommodate our activities and to facilitate our ambitions. A lack of sufficient physical space has plagued the Faculty for as long as we have existed. I’m very pleased to confirm that after years of effort and planning, we are making great progress in addressing this problem. The opening of the No. 3 Sassoon Road building in the summer is only the first step in our physical expansion plans. Tying all these pieces together is what I see as the mission of our Faculty going forward. We have excellent students and researchers and a strong heritage of service to the Hong Kong community (it is our 135th anniversary this year), and we have much respect in the region and the world for our achievements. But there is no time to rest on our laurels. The COVID-19 pandemic, and the economic and geopolitical events that have followed, have shown us how inadequate our understanding of the world can be. We need to look down the line and start rethinking now what our medical school should be like in five, 10 and 25 years. What training will be necessary for future doctors? What areas should our research efforts be directed towards? Where will our opportunities lie and how can we make the most of our position at the global front gate of the Greater Bay Area (GBA)? These questions do not have fast or easy answers. But in these past few months, with valued input from staff and students, some obvious directions over the short to medium term have become apparent. Fit-for-purpose HKUMed works very hard to attract outstanding students, whatever their backgrounds, and prepare them to become capable and safe doctors, nurses and healthcare workers. Our guiding principle in this is equity over elitism. Every student is provided with unique opportunities to develop both professionally and personally, particularly in the Enrichment Year curriculum which I was privileged to have developed for the MBBS when I was Associate Dean. The EY initiative has now been extended to several other undergraduate programmes in modified forms and it has produced wonderful results. Our students have dived into research, served underprivileged communities, acquired new knowledge and even earned additional degrees. They have each entered their enrichment periods with purpose and a plan, which is developed with full support from the Faculty. The first MBBS cohort to have undergone an Enrichment Year graduated this year, and I am certain that the experiences will make them more thoughtful and compassionate doctors as they venture into their careers. Having said that, our medical curriculum, like curricula everywhere, is facing challenges from the deepening body of medical and scientific knowledge. It is no longer possible for medical students to ‘learn it all’, especially as new knowledge changes our understanding of health and disease as well as our practices. We have therefore launched a Working Group for MBBS Curriculum Reform that is looking closely at how we teach and assess our medical students, and how we can ensure they graduate with the critical skills needed to succeed. 6
Already some changes have been introduced around the central idea that we want our medical students to acquire core competencies essential for safe and ethical practice. We are calling this the ‘MBBS140 curriculum’. Teaching will be delivered through the 140+ CORE, which refers to Common situations pertaining to Ordinary clinical settings, in which students are expected to acquire the Relevant knowledge, skills and behaviour that are Essential for competent and ethical professional practice. Furthermore, students will be expected to have the skills to acquire necessary new knowledge on their own and keep learning and advancing their understanding of healthcare-related issues throughout their careers. The MBBS 140 curriculum will be fully implemented in 2024 when the current second-year medical students enter their clinical training; in order to achieve this, we are making a lot of preparations now. In particular, we are aligning pre-clinical and clinical years teaching along the ‘140+ CORE’ more closely, which requires even stronger collaboration between the School of Clinical Medicine and the School of Biomedical Sciences. We are also rationalising the use of problem-based learning, preparing assessments in the clinical years that will put greater emphasis on practical competency, and embracing simulation-based teaching and other multimedia technologies. An ‘Advanced Curriculum’ is planned for students who want an extra challenge. We are also strengthening other curriculum components including Precision Medicine, the systems and practices within the GBA, and the integration of western and Traditional Chinese Medicine. Students themselves are also being brought into the teaching picture more explicitly. Our classes are getting bigger and that should be seen as a wider resource pool – fellow students are often a great place to start when navigating through lessons and studies. Senior students have rich experiences that they should be sharing with their junior counterparts. We hope to instil in students the idea that teaching is part of their professional responsibility, and we will be giving them opportunities to practise their skills as volunteers in peer-to-peer teaching and to participate in curriculum development. We hope to instil in students the idea that teaching is part of their professional responsibility, and we will be giving them opportunities to practise their skills as volunteers in peer-to-peer teaching and to participate in curriculum development. 7 THE DEAN’S LETTER
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These developments are not limited to the MBBS. We keep all of our academic programmes under review to ensure they are agile and adaptive, especially as technology advances and new opportunities for learning open up in the region. In that vein, we re-launched the BSc in Bioinformatics this September, with an initial intake of 13 students. All of these measures are coming under scrutiny through next year’s accreditation of the MBBS programme by the Medical Council of Hong Kong and the imminent academic review of the Faculty as a whole by the University. While I have no doubt that the Faculty’s excellence will be duly recognised, we will be working very hard to meet the demands of these exercises. Scaling up HKUMed’s international reputation has soared throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, which has showcased our research and expertise in emerging infectious diseases. In January, for instance, we performed better than ever in the Research Grants Council’s funding exercise, receiving $82.4 million which is over 40% higher than last year. Our COVID-19 expertise has contributed to our success, so has the enthusiasm of our young researchers and the increasing collaboration between the biomedical and clinical fields. 10
Behind these results, though, lies a big challenge for me and my team: how can we help our researchers to do even better? HKUMed’s strengths did not appear out of the blue. They were built, over many years, on the efforts and collegiality of our scholars and investment by the Faculty and its providers. To sustain our international and Asian rankings, treading water will not be good enough. We need to dream bigger. My aim, then, in the coming few years, is to scale up the Faculty and grow our aspirations. We have more opportunities than ever; thanks to the government’s decision to invest in developing Hong Kong into an international innovation and technology hub. This aspiration is echoed in the University as a whole, where new facilities and collaborations are opening up around innovation and technology, including the DeepTech initiative, the Global Innovation Centre and initiatives in the GBA including the development of the HKU-Shenzhen campus. HKUMed is a driving force in bringing these aspirations forward. We have been harnessing resources to sharpen our capabilities, including adding new core facilities, strengthening data science capabilities, promoting transdisciplinary research through joint appointments, promoting new strategic research initiatives and extending our international partnership network. These efforts will position us to grasp new research and impact opportunities in both Hong Kong and the GBA. Fortunately, our ambitions coincide with our physical expansion plans, which give us the means to accommodate our growth and new directions. To sustain our international and Asian rankings, treading water will not be good enough. We need to dream bigger. Growing outwards As I mentioned earlier, the new building at No. 3 Sassoon Road, which houses the Schools of Nursing and Chinese Medicine, is the first visible expansion of our footprint in Hong Kong in some years. You may have heard of our other expansion plans along Sassoon Road, as well as the Green Belt next to that building and dedicated cancer centres at the new Grantham Hospital. These facilities will come online over the next few years and not a minute too soon. Total staff numbers have risen by 45% over the past decade while annual undergraduate intake has more than doubled over the past 20 years – since the campus at 21 Sassoon Road first opened. We clearly are in great need of more laboratories, office space and classrooms to accommodate our activities. 11 THE DEAN’S LETTER
We also need to consider our clinical services for both teaching and research – both students and researchers need access to more patients and a wider range of diseases. This year we formalised our clinical affiliation with the Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital Medical Group in clinical services, teaching and research, adding to our long-term clinical partnerships with Queen Mary Hospital, Grantham Hospital, Gleneagles Hospital and the HKU-SZH. Let me single out HKU-SZH, which has been a feather in the cap for HKUMed. Last year, it became one of 14 high-quality experimental hospitals nationwide named by the central government to lead the country in developing innovative new treatments, providing green healthcare, and treating the most serious illnesses. This is a remarkable achievement for a hospital that only celebrated its 10th anniversary this year! The HKU-SZH is also expanding. By 2025, a research block and additional 1,000-bed clinical block will open, which will also benefit HKUMed. HKU-SZH should also be seen in the context of the greater opportunities opening up as Hong Kong becomes more integrated with the GBA. I’m sure there will be further developments there in the next few years that create new avenues for study and research for our Faculty members. 12
People at the centre I mentioned at the start that people are at the centre of everything we do at HKUMed. Our planned activities and infrastructure are only of value if we have talented, ambitious people in place who are keen to use the coming opportunities to experiment and grow. This is as true for students, in terms of the quality of intake, as it is for staff. While we have some control over policies and incentives for students, we face some constraints for staff, such as the funding model for Hong Kong higher education and research and the University’s HR policies. My team and I are working around these constraints by sharpening our organisation and making the Faculty even more attractive for potential scholars. This year, for instance, saw the organic integration of clinical medicine departments into the new School of Clinical Medicine, which opened in February this year and will deepen opportunities for transdisciplinary research. We are also incentivising new research by re-launching the HKUMed Clinical Research Fellowship to encourage early-career doctors to undertake research, and increasing the number of awards for the HKUMed Research Fellowship Scheme for Clinical Academics. Disciplinary leadership in the Faculty is also being enhanced by empowering Heads and Chairpersons of departments, and promoting communication with a view to build higher morale and mutual trust. 13 THE DEAN’S LETTER
On recruitment, we are deploying internationally competitive packages and pressing ahead with our 140-for-140 programme to recruit 140 additional scholars by the time of our 140th anniversary in 2027. We are also promoting talent within the Faculty. Professor Gilberto Leung, for instance, is the new Co-Director of the Centre for Medical Ethics and Law, succeeding Dr Philip Beh who has done a stellar job in this role for the past 10 years. Two other notable departures this year were Professor Anne Lee, Clinical Professor and Head of the Department of Clinical Oncology, and Professor Eric Chen, Chi-Li Pao Foundation Professor, Chair Professor in Psychiatry and Head of Psychiatry who, among other things, developed one of the first comprehensive early psychosis intervention programmes in Asia. I thank them heartily for their service and wish them well in their future endeavours. In a recent Townhall Meeting, one of our professors reminded me that, as a comprehensive medical faculty, we must not lose sight of the importance of all disciplines when strategising HKUMed’s academic development. Every member of our Faculty plays a role in propelling HKUMed forward, be they student, lecturer, researcher or administrative supporting staff. HKUMed in turn should support our members, not only in helping them to map out their career paths but also making them feel engaged and supported. Even the simplest gestures can have impact. On the day we launched our third mentorship scheme last month, a newly joined Clinical Assistant Professor told me how, in 2015 when he was working as a resident in the United States, he found my email contact from the University’s website and wrote to me asking about the prospects of Clinical Immunology in Hong Kong. Although I did not know who this stranger was, I replied to him with an assessment within hours and he told me that my response made him decide to come to Hong Kong once he finished his training. He subsequently joined Queen Mary Hospital’s Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine as a specialist resident before eventually joining HKUMed. Our Faculty is built on the commitment and excellence of all its current members and those who came before us. We have been celebrating their achievements this year in our 135th anniversary festivities. Anniversaries are times to reflect, as well as to look forward. HKUMed has achieved remarkable things for a Faculty that is relatively small compared to medical schools of a similar international standing. We are now perched on a magnificent springboard for escalating to new heights as we welcome a much-needed influx of resources and people. But at the same time, we should not forget our origins. HKUMed has excelled because of its people. My job is to look after this resource – to look after you – and make you feel very much a part of this HKUMed legacy going forward. My door will remain open to all members of the HKUMed family as we take the next steps in our journey together. We should not forget our origins. HKUMed has excelled because of its people. 14
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2021-22 Honour Roll 16
Professional Recognition and Honours/Awards (Teams) International • The HKU-Pasteur Research Pole (Public Health) received the Bouygues Construction Award (Knowledge Transfer) of the Grand Prix France Hong Kong 2022 from Le Petit Journal Hong Kong for the HKU-Pasteur Research Pole Fellowship Programme. • Dr Jason Cheung Pui-yin, Dr Prudence Cheung Winghang and Mr Lester Wong Po-kwan (Orthopaedics and Traumatology, SClinMed) were awarded the Best Clinical Paper Award 1st Prize at the AO Spine Asia Pacific East Asia Conference 2022 for the paper ‘Supine correction index as a predictor for brace outcome in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis’ by the AO Spine Asia Pacific in August 2022. • Dr Jason Cheung Pui-yin (Orthopaedics and Traumatology, SClinMed), in collaboration with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Lehigh University, USA, were presented the Best Paper Award (Human Factors and Ergonomics in Healthcare and Medical Device) at the Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (AHFE) International Conference for the paper ‘Immediate Effects of Posture Correction Girdle on Adolescents with Early Scoliosis’ by the AHFE in July 2022. • Dr Leo Liu Hailong, Dr Clara Tang Sze-man, Professor Paul Tam Kwong-hang and Dr Vincent Lui Chi-hang (Surgery, SClinMed) received the ISSCR Zhongmei Chen Yong Award for Scientific Excellence for the paper entitled ‘Loss-of-function mutation of KIF3B can cause a defective biliary development in biliary atresia: Evidence from iPSC-derived biliary organoid’ at the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) 2022 Annual Meeting (Hybrid) in San Francisco, USA, in June 2022. National • Dr William Wong Chi-wai (Family Medicine and Primary Care, SClinMed) and his team from HKU-Shenzhen Hospital were bestowed the Innovation Awards (Second Runner-up) for their studies ‘GP-Clinical Psychology Service Model in General Outpatient Clinics in a General Hospital: A Crosssectional Study’ and ‘Clinical Capacity and the Effects of Online Continuing Education of Community Infectious Disease Training among Primary Care Professionals’ at the 9th Cross-Strait GP Conference, Nanjing, in 2022. • Professor Yiu Kai-hang (Medicine, SClinMed) and his team from The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital received the following professional recognition and honours in 2022: – Member of the Cardiomyopathy Specialty Alliance of the National Cardiovascular Disease Centre. – Member of the Pulmonary Hypertension Specialist Unit, National Centre of Cardiovascular Disease. Local Intramural • Dr Kelvin Wang Man-ping (Nursing) and team members - Professor Lam Tai-hing and Dr Daniel Ho Sai-yin (Public Health); and Dr Derek Cheung Yee-tak, Dr Kevin Luk Tzu-tsun and Dr Socrates Wu Yongda (Nursing) were presented the Faculty Knowledge Exchange Award 2022 for the project ‘Saving Our Next Generation from Tobacco and Nicotine Addiction’. 17 THE DEAN’S LETTER
Professional Recognition and Honours/Awards (Individuals) International • The following Faculty members were named Highly Cited Researcher 2022 by the Clarivate Analytics: – Mr Cai Jianpiao (Microbiology, SClinMed) – Professor Ester Cerin (Public Health) – Dr Jasper Chan Fuk-woo (Microbiology, SClinMed) – Dr Chan Kwok-hung (Microbiology, SClinMed) – Professor Chen Zhiwei (Microbiology, SClinMed) – Professor Vincent Cheng Chi-chung (Microbiology, SClinMed) – Dr Chu Hin (Microbiology, SClinMed) – Professor Benjamin John Cowling (Public Health) – Professor Ivan Hung Fan-ngai (Medicine, SClinMed) – Professor Jin Dong-yan (Biomedical Sciences) – Dr Kok Kin-hang (Microbiology, SClinMed) – Dr Eric Lau Ho-yin (Public Health) – Professor Gabriel Matthew Leung (Public Health) – Professor Mak Tak-wah (Pathology, SClinMed) – Professor Malik Peiris (Public Health) – Professor Leo Poon Lit-man (Public Health) – Dr Kelvin To Kai-wang (Microbiology, SClinMed) – Professor Joseph Wu Tsz-kei (Public Health) – Dr Wu Peng (Public Health) – Dr Yen Hui-ling (Public Health) – Dr Cyril Yip Chik-yan (Microbiology, SClinMed) – Dr Yuan Shuofeng (Microbiology, SClinMed) – Professor Yuen Kwok-yung (Microbiology, SClinMed) – Dr Anna Zhang Jinxia (Microbiology, SClinMed) • 64 Faculty members were ranked by Clarivate Analytics as the top 1% worldwide by citations: – Dr Jasper Chan Fuk-woo (Microbiology, SClinMed) – Dr Chan Kit-wa (Psychiatry, SClinMed) – Dr Raymond Chang Chuen-chung (Biomedical Sciences) – Dr Chang Wing-chung (Psychiatry, SClinMed) – Professor Eric Chen Yu-hai (Psychiatry, SClinMed) – Professor Chen Honglin (Microbiology, SClinMed) – Professor Chen Zhiwei (Microbiology, SClinMed) – Professor Cheung Tan-to (Surgery, SClinMed) – Dr Chu Hin (Microbiology, SClinMed) – Professor Benjamin John Cowling (Public Health) – Professor Feng Yibin (Chinese Medicine) – Dr Daniel Fong Yee-tak (Nursing) – Professor Guan Xinyuan (Clinical Oncology, SClinMed) – Professor Guan Yi (Public Health) – Dr Ho Pak-leung (Microbiology, SClinMed) – Dr Daniel Ho Sai-yin (Public Health) – Dr Christy Hui Lai-ming (Psychiatry, SClinMed) – Professor Ivan Hung Fan-ngai (Medicine, SClinMed) – Dr Dennis Ip Kai-ming (Public Health) – Professor Mary Ip Sau-man (Medicine, SClinMed) – Professor Jin Dong-yan (Biomedical Sciences) – Dr Kok Kin-hang (Microbiology, SClinMed) – Professor Dora Kwong Lai-wan (Clinical Oncology, SClinMed) 18
– Professor Kwong Yok-lam (Medicine, SClinMed) – Professor Lai Ching-lung (Medicine, SClinMed) – Dr Jenny Lam Ka-wing (Pharmacology and Pharmacy) – Professor Karen Lam Siu-ling (Medicine, SClinMed) – Dr Lam Tsan-yuk (Public Health) – Professor Lau Yu-lung (Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, SClinMed) – Dr Edwin Lee Ho-ming (Psychiatry, SClinMed) – Professor Anne Lee Wing-mui (Clinical Oncology, SClinMed) – Professor Gabriel Matthew Leung (Public Health) – Dr Kathy Leung Sze-man (Public Health) – Dr Liao Qiuyan (Public Health) – Professor Lo Chung-mau (Surgery, SClinMed) – Professor Lu Liwei (Pathology, SClinMed) – Dr Simon Lui Sai-yu (Psychiatry, SClinMed) – Professor Mak Tak-wah (Pathology, SClinMed) – Professor Irene Ng Oi-lin (Pathology, SClinMed) – Professor John Nicholls (Pathology, SClinMed) – Professor Malik Peiris (Public Health) – Professor Leo Poon Lit-man (Public Health) – Dr Mary Schooling (Public Health) – Professor Walter Seto Wai-kay (Medicine, SClinMed) – Professor Sham Pak-chung (Psychiatry, SClinMed) – Professor Shen Jiangang (Chinese Medicine) – Dr Parco Siu Ming-fai (Public Health) – Dr Siddharth Sridhar (Microbiology, SClinMed) – Dr Tian Linwei (Public Health) – Dr Kelvin To Kai-wang (Microbiology, SClinMed) – Dr Tim Tsang Kam-lun (Public Health) – Professor Tse Hung-fat (Medicine, SClinMed) – Professor Wang Yu (Pharmacology and Pharmacy) – Professor Ian Wong Chi-kei (Pharmacology and Pharmacy) – Professor Joseph Wu Tsz-kei (Public Health) – Dr Wu Peng (Public Health) – Professor Xu Aimin (Medicine, SClinMed) – Dr Yen Hui-ling (Public Health) – Professor Kelvin Yeung Wai-kwok (Orthopaedics and Traumatology, SClinMed) – Dr Yuan Shuofeng (Microbiology, SClinMed) – Professor Yuen Kwok-yung (Microbiology, SClinMed) – Professor Richard Yuen Man-fung (Medicine, SClinMed) – Dr Zhou Jie (Microbiology, SClinMed) – Dr Zhu Huachen (Public Health) 19 THE DEAN’S LETTER
International • Dr Jasper Chan Fuk-woo (Microbiology, SClinMed) was elected as Fellow of Infectious Diseases Society of America (FIDSA) in August 2022. • Dr Michael Cheung Ka-shing (Medicine, SClinMed) was presented the Travel Grant Award for his abstract presentation at the United European Gastroenterology (UEG) Week in 2022. • Dr Jason Cheung Pui-yin (Orthopaedics and Traumatology, SClinMed) received the Best Paper Award at the APSS Annual Meeting for the paper ‘The Role of The Proximal Humerus Ossification System (Phos) in Guiding Brace Weaning in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis’ by the Asia Pacific Spine Society (APSS) in July 2022. • Dr Edmond Choi Pui-hang (Nursing) was inducted into the 2022 Class of Fellows of the American Academy of Nursing at the Academy’s annual Health Policy Conference. • Dr Kenny Kwan Yat-hong (Orthopaedics and Traumatology, SClinMed) was bestowed the Asia Pacific Spine Society - Asian Spine Journal (APSS-ASJ) Best Clinical Research Awarded at the APSS Annual Meeting for the paper ‘Long term quality of life outcomes for thoracic AIS patients with or without fusion: a minimum of 15-year follow-up study’ by the APSS in August 2022. • Dr David Lam Chi-leung (Medicine, SClinMed) was elected as President and received the APSR Woolcock Research Award from the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology in 2021. • Dr Paul Lee Chi-ho (Medicine, SClinMed) received the AASD Investigator Award 2021 from The Asian Association for the Study of Diabetes. • Dr David Lui Tak-wai (Medicine, SClinMed) was presented the ICDM Rising Star Award at the 11th International Congress of Diabetes and Metabolism and the 13th AASD Scientific Meeting in 2021. • Professor Irene Ng Oi-lin (Pathology, SClinMed) was named one of the Best Female Scientists in the World in the first edition of the ranking by Research.com in 2022. • Professor Sydney Tang Chi-wai (Medicine, SClinMed) was elected President of The Asian Pacific Society of Nephrology in 2022. • Dr Kelvin Wang Man-ping (Nursing) was named one of the Edge Runners 2022 by the American Academy of Nursing for his ‘Community-Based Smoking Cessation Program’. • Mr Samson Wong Ki-sum (Medical Ethics and Humanities Unit, SClinMed) received the Young Scholar Merit Award at the Asia Pacific Medical Education Conference (APMEC) 2022. 20
National • The following Faculty members were awarded the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Excellent Young Scientists Fund (Hong Kong and Macau) in August 2022: – Dr Huang Yuanhua (Biomedical Sciences) – Dr Eric Wan Yuk-fai (Family Medicine and Primary Care, SClinMed, & Pharmacology and Pharmacy) – Dr Wang Weiping (Pharmacology and Pharmacy) • Professor Kenneth Cheung Man-chee (Orthopaedics and Traumatology, SClinMed) was appointed as the Hospital Chief Executive of The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital (2022 – 2027). • Professor Guan Yi (Public Health) was appointed as the first Chief of the Shanghai Virus Research Institution in 2022. • Professor Ivan Hung Fan-ngai and Professor Yiu Kai-hang (Medicine, SClinMed) were conferred as Chief Physicians in Guangdong Province by the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality. • Professor Spring Kong Feng-ming (Clinical Oncology, SClinMed) was appointed as Chairperson for Oncology Guideline Task in China by STAR Working Group in August 2022. • Professor Shen Jiangang (Chinese Medicine) was appointed as Vice Chairman of the Chinese Medicine Working Committee in General Hospital, World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies (WFCMS), in September 2022. • Professor Yiu Kai-hang (Medicine, SClinMed) received the following recognitions: – Received the Oriental Rising Star Award at the 16th Oriental Congress of Cardiology from the Shanghai Medical Association and Shanghai Society of Cardiology in 2022. – Appointed as Chairman of the Coronary Heart Disease Precision Treatment and Cardiac Rehabilitation Professional Committee, the Guangdong Elder Health Care Association in 2022. – Appointed as Member of the Academic Advisory Panel of the Youth Academic Committee, China Cardiovascular Health Alliance, in 2022. – Appointed as Member of the Clinical Research Group, Cardiovascular Society, Guangdong Medical Association, in 2022. – Appointed as Advisory Panel Member of the Centre for Cardiovascular and Metabolic Diseases of the Cardiovascular Disease Quality Initiative (CDQI) National Standardized Centre for Cardiovascular Diseases in 2022. – Appointed as Member of the Cardiovascular Branch of the Chinese Geriatrics Society in 2021. 21 THE DEAN’S LETTER
Local Extramural • The following colleagues received the following honours from the HKSAR Government in July 2022: – Professor Sophia Chan Siu-chee (Nursing) was awarded the Gold Bauhinia Star (GBS) and appointed Justice of the Peace (JP). – Professor Ivan Hung Fan-Ngai (Medicine, SClinMed), Professor Chak-sing Lau (Medicine, SClinMed) and Professor Lau Yu-lung (Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, SClinMed) were awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Star (BBS). • Professor Chak-sing Lau (Medicine, SClinMed) was re-appointed as Convenor of the Advisory Panel on COVID-19 Vaccines by the Chief Executive of HKSAR in 2022, and the following Faculty members were re-appointed as members of the panel: – Professor Ivan Hung Fan-ngai (Medicine, SClinMed) – Professor Lau Yu-lung (Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, SClinMed) – Professor Gabriel Matthew Leung (Public Health) – Professor Ian Wong Chi-kei (Pharmacology and Pharmacy) – Professor Yuen Kwok-yung (Microbiology, SClinMed) • The following Faculty members were presented the Distinguished Research Paper Award for Young Investigators by the Hong Kong College of Physicians in 2022: – Dr Rex Hui Wai-hin (Medicine, SClinMed) – Paper: Magnetic Resonance Elastography and Proton Density Fat Fraction Predict Adverse Outcomes in Hepatocellular Carcinoma – Dr Paul Lee Chi-ho (Medicine, SClinMed) – Paper: Circulating Thrombospondin-2 as a Novel Fibrosis Biomarker of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Type 2 Diabetes – Dr David Lui Tak-wai (Medicine, SClinMed) – Paper: Kidney Outcomes Associated with Sodium-glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitors Versus Glucagon-like Peptide 1 Receptor Agonists: A Realworld Population-based Analysis • Professor Sophia Chan Siu-chee (Nursing) was inducted as Honorary Fellow by the Hong Kong College of Health Service Executives in 2022. • Dr Will Chan Yap-hang and Dr Michael Cheung Ka-shing (Medicine, SClinMed) were awarded the Young Investigator Research Grant by the Hong Kong College of Physicians in 2022. • Professor Chu Kent-man (Surgery, SClinMed) was elected President of The College of Surgeons of Hong Kong in September 2022. 22
• Dr Herbert Kwok Wang-chun (Medicine, SClinMed) was awarded the Young Investigator Research Grant for the project ‘Longitudinal lung function assessment of long COVID discharged patients using self-administrable and portable electrical impedance tomography’ by the Hong Kong College of Physicians in 2022; and was awarded the Research Grant Award for the project ‘Pulmonary assessment and evaluation using self-administrable and portable electrical impedance tomography’ by the Hong Kong Lung Foundation in 2022. • Professor Lau Yu-lung (Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, SClinMed) was appointed as Chairman of the Scientific Committee on Vaccine Preventable Diseases (SCVPD) and Member of the Board of Scientific Advisers (BOSA) of Centre for Health Protection of the Department of Health (2022 – 2025). • Professor Leo Poon Lit-man (Public Health) was presented the Distinguished Alumni Award by the Hong Kong Baptist University in August 2022. • Dr Emily Tse Tsui-yee (Family Medicine and Primary Care, SClinMed) was bestowed the HKCFP Award for the Best Research of 2021 for the paper entitled ‘Non-laboratorybased Risk Assessment Model for Case Detection of Diabetes Mellitus and Pre-diabetes in Primary Care’ in August 2022. • Professor Yiu Kai-hang (Medicine, SClinMed) presented the Hong Kong Heart Foundation Lecture ‘Risk prediction for adverse cardiovascular events: experience from precision cardiovascular imaging to the application of big data analytics’ at the 30th Annual Scientific Congress of Hong Kong College of Cardiology in July 2022. Intramural • The following Faculty members were conferred HKU Endowed Professorships in 2022: – Professor Michael Huen Shing-yan (Biomedical Sciences) – Jessie Ho Professor in Neuroscience – Professor Brian Lang Hung-hin (Surgery, SClinMed) – Li Shu Fan Medical Foundation Professorship in Surgery • The following Faculty members received Faculty Clinical Service Excellence Awards (CSEA) in June 2022: Category: CSEA for public clinical services – Dr Christian Fang Xinshuo (Orthopaedics and Traumatology, SClinMed) – Dr Michael To Kai-tsun (Orthopaedics and Traumatology, SClinMed) Category: CSEA for private clinical services – Dr Rex Lam Pui-kin (Emergency Medicine, SClinMed) Category: CSEA for young staff members – Dr Philip Li Hei (Medicine, SClinMed) 23 THE DEAN’S LETTER
Local • The following Faculty members have been granted a total of HK$52.679M under the Theme-based Research Scheme 2022/23 of the Research Grants Council: – Professor Guan Xin-yuan (Clinical Oncology, SClinMed) and his team Project: Characterization of Tumor Microenvironment in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (HK$9.678M) – Professor Irene Ng Oi-lin (Pathology, SClinMed) and her team Project: Delineating and Translating the Mechanistic Determinants to Improve the Clinical Management of Liver Cancer (HK$43.011M) • Professor Sophia Chan Siu-chee (Nursing) received a HK$10M joint donation from Sino Group and the Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation to develop and execute a two-year ‘Generations Connect’ Project to enhance the physical, psychosocial and mental well-being of the elderly amid the epidemic by engaging tailored e-platform and nursing students to provide community intervention and behavioural coaching. Major Research Support • Dr Dennis Ip Kai-ming (Public Health) and his team have received a total of HK$26.392M for their project ‘A realtime community surveillance initiative for SARS-CoV-2 infection using lateral flow rapid test in Hong Kong’ from the Health Bureau, HKSAR Government (HK$16.392M) and Fok Ying Tung Foundation (HK$10M). • Professor Lau Yu-lung (Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, SClinMed) was granted HK$8.759M for commissioned research projects on Novel Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) under the Health Bureau, HKSAR Government Project: To compare the reactogenicity and immunogenicity of the recommended COVID-19 vaccines via intradermal and intramuscular routes in children and adolescents in Hong Kong • Professor Liu Pengtao (Biomedical Sciences) and his team were granted HK$6.659M under Hong Kong Innovation Technology Fund Project: Clinical Translational Study on The Treatment of Malignant Tumors with Novel Tumor Killer Cell CAR-ITNK 24
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