Programme(s) to which this project applies: |
☑ MPhil/PhD | ☒ MRes[Med] | ☑ URIS |
Severe mental disorders including schizophrenia (and related psychoses) and bipolar disorder affect 2-3% of the population and constitute one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. Better understanding of the early course of illness, in particular the symptom evolution and functional outcome trajectories, is critical for development of targeted intervention to modify long-term prognosis. Ambulatory digital phenotyping measures encompassing both active daily self-rated survey and passive data capture using mobile app and wearable device represent a promising approach in refined evaluation and has been increasingly applied in health research. In this project, we conduct a well-characterized early-stage psychotic disorder and bipolar disorder cohort study with an aim to adopt digital phenotyping (mobile app + wearable) to comprehensively assess symptoms, mood changes, rest-activity rhythm, sleep patterns, etc. for in-depth clinical characterization and enhanced outcome prediction. This will then facilitates personalized medicine applied in mental health practice.
Professor WC Chang, Department of Psychiatry
Professor WC Chang is a Clinical Associate Professor and Department Chairperson of the Department of Psychiatry at the School of Clinical Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine and a Principal Investigator of the State Key Laboratory of Brain & Cognitive Sciences, University of Hong Kong. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (UK), the Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists, Vice-President of the HK College of Psychiatrists and Member of the Advisory Committee on Mental Health of the Health Bureau. Professor Chang’s research interests include early intervention for psychosis, outcomes of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, clinical high-risk and psychosis prediction, negative symptoms, reinforcement learning and related paradigms for amotivation, as well as the impact of major mental disorders and psychotropics on physical health outcomes. He has published more than 200 articles in international peer-reviewed journals, including more than 70 first-/corresponding authored articles and 6 book chapters. He has been a HKU Scholars in the Top 1% for 5 consecutive years since 2019, and has received several research awards including such as the Early Psychosis Association Young Investigator Award, and the NARSAD Young Investigator Award by Brain & Behavior Research Foundation.
Biography
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changwc@hku.hk
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