Leadership
Professor Chak-sing Lau, BBS, JP

Chak-sing Lau is known as a pioneer for establishing and advancing rheumatology in Hong Kong, Asia and beyond. He is currently Vice-President & Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Health) (Interim) and Dean of Medicine at The University of Hong Kong. He is meanwhile Chair and Daniel CK Yu Professor in Rheumatology and Clinical Immunology of the University's Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine (HKUMed).

CS Lau was Chairperson of the Department of Medicine and Chairman of the Board (2019 – 2022) of HKUMed. He was also the Chief of Service (2018 – 2022) in the Department of Medicine at Queen Mary Hospital. He presided over the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine (2016 – 2020), a statutory body for medical and dental specialist training in Hong Kong which is also a key advisory body to the HKSAR Government on health-related policies. Today, he sits on numerous strategic committees/ working groups of the Health Bureau, Hospital Authority and Department of Health. In 2023, he was appointed as a Member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) representing the health sector, and a general Member of the 14th Beijing Municipal Committee of the CPPCC on a 5-year term.

Like a true visionary, he rose to the challenge upon realising that he was one of only two clinical academics in the field of rheumatology in Hong Kong's public healthcare sector on his return to the city in 1992. He took it upon himself to remedy the situation and in so doing he put the University and the city on the world map by building a thriving community of rheumatologists to populate our hospitals and community as well as weaving an extensive collaborative network of researchers from all around the world.

CS Lau set up the Hong Kong Arthritis & Rheumatism Foundation in 2001, the first and only local charity organisation that raises funds to support the needs of patients with rheumatic diseases. He co-founded the Asia Pacific Lupus Collaboration – a multi-national, multi-centre research collaboration in 2011. He spearheaded the development of the Region's first treatment recommendations for rheumatoid arthritis and axial spondyloarthritis and took on the helms as President of the Asia Pacific League of Rheumatology Associations (APLAR) between 2006 and 2008.

Beyond the Asia Pacific region, he was a member of the Outcome Measures in Rheumatology (OMERACT) and an Advisory Member of the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology (EULAR) Congress Committee, and the Scientific Committee. In 2022, he was selected as an Honorary Member of EULAR, and elected as Member of Academia Europaea in 2023, and conferred the degree of Doctor of Science honoris causa by the University of Glasgow in 2024. CS Lau is Honorary Fellow of the American College of Physicians; the Academy of Medicine, Singapore; Singapore College of Physicians; Royal College of Physicians of Thailand; Academy of Medicine of Malaysia; the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland; and the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine.

Within HKUMed, he served as the Assistant Dean in Information Technology and Planning in 2001, and Student Affairs in 2005. In 2010, he was the Director for the Faculty's Bau Institute of Medical and Health Services Education; and in 2013, he took on the role of Associate Dean of Teaching and Learning and was instrumental in reforming the MBBS Curriculum to incorporate a one-year enrichment experience for all medical students. Within the University, he has held various roles, such as serving as a member of the Senate and the Court. Currently, he is Chairman of the Committee on Higher Doctorates.

In his spare time, CS Lau is a keen runner. Befitting his calling, he not only heals and teaches the art of healthy mind and body, he lives, breathes and practises it every single day.