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Programme(s) to which this project applies: |
| ☒ MPhil/PhD | ☑ MRes[Med] | ☑ URIS |
About the Project
Objective and Significance:
Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) is the most disabling form of stroke, with hypertension being the most significant risk factor for this condition. Most ICH patients have a history of long-standing hypertension, often severe, which leads to changes in cerebral hemodynamics. These changes include a rightward shift in the cerebral autoregulation curve and an increase in vascular resistance. Such changes can be observed through small vessel disease changes in brain imaging, transcranial Doppler parameters, and emerging neuroimaging techniques like Chemical Exchange Saturation Transfer (CEST) and Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL) imaging. Understanding how these findings correlate with short-term neurological recovery and long-term outcomes necessitates further research before they can be integrated into clinical practice. This project aims to explore the relationship between neuroimaging findings, cerebral hemodynamic parameters, hypertension, and outcomes in ICH patients.
Research Plan and Methodology:
This project consists of two parts. The first part is a retrospective analysis of computer tomography (CT) images from the existing HKU ICH cohort. In this analysis, the association between the CT-based small vessel disease score and the long-term subsequent stroke and cardiovascular disease will be studied.
The second part involves a prospective study of new consecutive ICH patients. For these patients, transcranial Doppler and novel neuroimaging (CEST and ASL) will be performed and correlated with neurological recovery and long-term outcomes, including cognitive function and the incidence of subsequent stroke and recurrent cardiovascular events.
Students will learn to conduct a cohort study and perform statistical analyses. They will also be taught to perform transcranial Doppler and assist in patient recruitment and follow-up.
About the Supervisor
Professor KC Teo, Department of Medicine
Professor Teo is a Specialist in Neurology and Clinical Assistant Professor of the University of Hong Kong. His clinical expertise is in stroke and neurocritical care. He contributed significantly to the development of these fields in Hong Kong where his team pioneered prehospital stroke notification and the use of continuous quantitative electroencephalogram locally. He also received certification in Neurosonology from the American Society of Neuroimaging in 2019.
Professor Teo's key research area includes stroke, intracerebral hemorrhage, and post-stroke blood pressure management. He has been the principal investigator of the HKU Intracerebral Hemorrhage cohort since 2013, which is one of the largest ICH cohorts globally with long-term follow-up data. He currently serves as the deputy director of the HKU Stroke Research and Prevention Group (HKU Stroke). Professor Teo has over 30 publications relating to stroke and intracerebral hemorrhage, including in Stroke, Neurology and the Journal of the American Heart Association. Currently, he is focusing research on novel acute therapies for stroke, artificial intelligence-driven prognostication in intracerebral hemorrhage, and strategies to optimize cardiac and cerebrovascular outcomes after stroke.
Next Step?
For more information or to express interest for this project, please email the supervisor or the specified contact point in the project description. Interested candidates are advised to enclose with your email:
- your CV,
- a brief description of your research interest and experience, and
- two reference letters (not required for HKUMed UG students seeking MRes[Med]/URIS projects).
Information on the research programme, funding support and admission documentations could be referenced online at the Research Postgraduate Admissions website. General admission enquiries should be directed to rpgmed@hku.hk.
HKUMed MBBS students interested in the Master of Research in Medicine (MRes[Med]) programme may visit the programme website for more information.
HKUMed UG students interested in the Undergraduate Research Internship Scheme (URIS) may visit the scheme’s website for more information.
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