Research Postgraduate Studies
Department of Medicine

• Pluripotent stem cell for disease modelling and treatment of cardiovascular disease
• Tissue engineering for treatment of heart failure
• Small and large animal models for studying the mechanism and treatment of hypertension and heart failure
• Cardiac arrhythmia − mechanisms and treatment of atrial fibrillation and ventricular arrhythmias
• Cardiac pacing − developments in novel pacing technologies for treatment of heart failure and cardiac arrhythmia
• Sudden cardiac death − epidemiology, prevention and treatment
• Precision medicine for coronary heart disease − prediction of coronary artery disease using genetic and multi-omic approaches
• Cardiovascular imaging − development of novel echo and MRI imaging for cardiovascular diseases

• Artificial intelligence and deep learning in cardiovascular diseases
  • Artificial intelligence and deep learning: is machine better than man in cardiovascular imaging: echocardiography, computed tomography, MRI and invasive imaging?
  • How can artificial intelligence enhance risk prediction in different cardiovascular disease?
  • Artificial intelligence: Deep machine learning and its integration in cardiovascular disease using a well-established population based database
• Big data research on cardiovascular diseases
  • Heart failure – disease pattern, risk prediction and drug safety
  • Myocardial infarction – risk prediction and drug safety
  • Diabetes mellitus – cardiovascular risk prediction and drug safety
  • Atrial fibrillation – disease pattern, risk prediction and drug safety
  • Valvular heart disease – integration with echocardiography and advanced imaging for risk prediction and disease characterisation

• Pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes cell therapy
• Left-right asymmetry of cardiac organogenesis
• Application of novel machine learning architectures in cardiology

• Molecular genetics and pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, diabetes and diabetic complications;
• clinical and basic studies on obesity and adipocyte-derived hormones
• adipose tissue browning, immunometabolism
• pathogenesis and management of autoimmune thyroid disease
• genetics and environmental determinants of osteoporosis

• Natural history and risk factors for development of disease complications of chronic hepatitis B infection
• Virology and novel markers for hepatitis B disease
• Novel treatment for chronic hepatitis B infection
• Diagnostic tools and disease characterization of occult hepatitis B infection

• Chronic hepatitis B infection: mechanisms driving functional cure, biomarkers, acute-on-chronic liver failure, HBV reactivation and occult hepatitis B infection
• Metabolic-dysfunction associated steatotic liver disease: therapeutic interventions, genotype-phenotype correlations
• Decompensated liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma: healthcare utilization trends, prediction of disease outcomes

• Helicobacter pylori − disease pathogenesis, antibiotics resistance, gastric carcinogenesis
• Stomach and colon cancer − chemoprevention, innovations on screening and surveillance
• Gastrointestinal bleeding − prevention and intervention
• Inflammatory bowel disease: epidemiology and treatment outcome

• What factors alter disease outcomes in treatment-predominant chronic hepatitis B?
• What are the viral and host factors that predict treatment response in novel emerging therapies for chronic hepatitis B?
• What are the underlying molecular mechanisms for different phenotypes of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease?
• How can we diagnose liver fibrosis non-invasively and apply to clinical use?
• What are the disease entities affected by gut microbiota dysbiosis?
• Can faecal microbiota transplantation in animal models provide a causative answer to disease outcomes?
• Artificial intelligence and deep learning: is machine better than man?
• How can artificial intelligence enhance prediction of disease outcomes in different liver diseases?
• Chronic hepatitis B: Translational and clinical studies on treatment outcomes and functional cure
• Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease: Animal models and molecular mechanisms
• Liver fibrosis: Novel non-invasive diagnostic techniques and clinical outcomes
• Gut microbiota and faecal microbiota transplantation: Animal models and associations with disease outcomes
• Artificial intelligence: Deep machine learning and its integration in liver disease

Clinical protocols for treatment of leukaemia and lymphomas; detection of minimal residual disease and molecular mechanisms in haematologic malignancy; clinical protocols for bone marrow transplantation; infective and neoplastic complications of bone marrow transplantation; molecular genetics of haematological malignancies; basic research in pathogenesis of blood cancers; normal and leukaemic haematopoietic stem cell study using NOD/SCID mice; embryonic haematopoiesis and gene regulation studies in zebrafish.

Development of novel diagnostic techniques (including non-invasive prenatal diagnosis and pre-implantation diagnosis) for common genetic diseases, such as thalassemias, haemophilias, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, spinal muscular atrophy and Huntington’s disease; genome-wide scan with microsatellite markers for linkage of new disease genes; development of DNA microarray technology to diagnose and elucidate the molecular pathology of genetic diseases and cancers.

• Influenza − rapid diagnostics, vaccination and antiviral treatment (mouse models and clinical trials)
• Pneumococcal disease − rapid diagnostics and vaccination (clinical trials)
• Respiratory viruses − parainfluenza virus, metapneumovirus, rhinovirus, coronavirus, adenovirus (clinical presentation and antiviral treatment in mouse models and clinical trials)
• Multiple drug resistance organisms − infection control and treatment

• Monogenic kidney disease: epidemiology, genetic makeup, genotype-phenotype correlation, molecular mechanisms, clinical trials on novel therapies 
• Clinical utility of genetic testing in rare disease diagnosis and precision medicine 
• Novel gene and genetic variants discovery
  
   

Lupus nephritis

• Molecular and immunological pathogenic mechanisms of kidney inflammation and fibrosis in lupus nephritis 

Chronic kidney disease

• Molecular mechanisms of cellular senescence, kidney inflammation and fibrosis in chronic kidney disease

Peritoneal dialysis

• Translational studies on peritoneal mesothelial cell biology focusing on inflammation and fibrosis of peritoneal membrane in the context of peritoneal dialysis.
  
   

• Experimental stroke models; neuroimaging of stroke; biomarkers for stroke; high resolution EEG; functional brain mapping

• Neuroimmunology and Neuroinflammation − clinical, neuroradiological, molecular, immunological and pathological studies of 1) autoimmune and immune-mediated neurological disorders including neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders (NMOSD), multiple sclerosis (MS), autoimmune encephalitis, autoimmune myasthenia gravis and paraneoplastic neurological disorders; and 2) Alzheimer's disease (AD) aiming at development of novel therapies with anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties in NMOSD, MS and AD by cell and animal models as well as human clinical trials
• Intracerebral haemorrhage with specific focus on intracerebral haemorrhage complicating therapy with anticoagulants and antiplatelet agents

• Epidemiology and clinical studies in primary and secondary prevention of stroke
• Use of novel neuroimaging techniques to better understand the mechanisms and prognosis of stroke and cerebral small vessel disease
• Role of the gut microbiota in vascular and brain health
• Use of digital health technologies to improve the management of stroke

• Preclinical model on novel lung cancer therapeutics (e.g. targeted therapy, immunotherapy, CRISPR gene editing)
• Clinical trials on novel lung cancer treatment
• Clinical investigations on airway diseases (e.g. asthma, bronchiectasis)

• Airway diseases - Biomarkers, phenotyping, co-morbidities and therapeutic options in asthma, bronchiectasis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
• Lung function – Application of novel technology in lung function assessment 
• Respiratory tract infection – Clinical features, prognostication and risk prediction
• Lung cancer – Real world study regarding clinical features and therapeutics

• Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and other autoimmune diseases
• Is SLE a single disease entity or a collection of autoimmune disorders?
• Genetic and genomic studies of systemic lupus erythematosus
• Evaluation of the Lupus Low Disease Activity State as an outcome measure of systemic lupus erythematosus
• Treatment response measure in systemic lupus erythematosus
• Amyotrophic dermatomyositis and anti-MDA-5 antibody syndrome

• What are the molecular and cellular defects and the underlying mechanisms in immune cells that contribute to the development of lupus?
• What are the potential roles of non-coding RNAs as immune regulators and biomarkers for SLE?
• What is the role of AIM2 inflammasome in lupus?
• How can we exploit the lupus-associated molecular defects as tools for predicting disease progression and treatment response in patients?
• Molecular and cellular dysregulation in systemic lupus erythematosus
• Immunobiology of innate immune receptors

• Drug allergy: epidemiology, clinical characteristics and diagnostics
• Anaphylaxis: epidemiology, management, specific syndromes and healthcare intervention
• Immunotherapy: Allergen immunotherapy and immunological changes with use of immune checkpoint inhibitors
• Primary and Secondary Immunodeficiences: Diagnostics and cost-effectiveness of subcutaneous immunoglobulin in Hong Kong
• Hereditary Angioedema: Genetics, clinical modifiers, therapeutics and Hong Kong HAE registry