Research Projects
Depression: multimodal clinical, digital, neurobehavioral and neuroimaging investigations for illness trajectories and outcome prediction

Depressive disorders affect a significant proportion of the global population and constitute one of the leading causes of disability worldwide. Better understanding of the illness trajectories, in particular the progression of clinical, functional, and neurobehavioral impairment, is critical for the development of targeted interventions to modify long-term prognosis. In the current research platform, we conduct a depression cohort study with typical depressive features, with an aim to systematically examine multimodal clinical (symptom assessments), digital phenotyping, neurobehavioral, and neuroimaging measures. The study results will facilitate the development of more individualized risk models for treatment outcome prediction, and hence the delivery of effective interventions to promote sustained recovery.

Professor HKY Lo , Department of Psychiatry

Dr Heidi Lo is a clinical assistant professor at the Department of Psychiatry at the School of Clinical Medicine, LKS Faculty of Medicine. She received Fellowship from the Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists in 2021. Dr. Lo directs a youth mental health clinic that addresses mood disturbances and complex sociocultural challenges in persons aged 18-25, focusing on their unique developmental and transition-related needs. Her research interests include depression, mood disorders, suicidal prevention, neuromodulation and youth mental health. Since joining the faculty these 3 years, she has more than 80 articles in international peer-reviewed Q1 journals. She also has more than 10 articles with her students as first-author/ co-authors.  She also leads public initiatives like @deer.emo to promote accessible mental health awareness and advocacy.
 
Dr Heidi Lo is psychiatry specialist and a researcher and a teacher in the Faculty of Medicine, her research interest is in clinical psychiatry and advancing treatment, especially in depression and other mood issues. She used experience sampling methodology, digital interventions and neuromodulation techniques. Her accomplishments include receiving the President’s Prize from the Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists in 2021 , the Fellowship Award from the Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology in 2024 for her advocacy in suicide prevention., and was elected Distinguished Young Fellow in the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine in 2025. She has special interest in mindfulness and youth mental health. She also leads initiatives on mental health literacy and research translation, working to bring evidence-based knowledge to the public and hopes to cut through the noise of today’s content-saturated metaverse.

Biography
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ORCID
lokaying@hku.hk

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:

1. your CV,
2. a brief description of your research interest and experience, and
3. 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.