Major Research Areas

Cardiology:
Coronary heart disease: prevention and percutaneous revascularisation of stable ischaemic syndromes; epidemiology and treatment of acute coronary syndromes, and platelet resistance.

Cardiac pacing: new developments in pacing therapy for treatment of heart failure and cardiac arrhythmia.

Cardiac arrhythmia: innovative energy sources for catheter ablation, transvenous defibrillation and implantable device for treatment of atrial fibrillation; patch clamp study on ionic channels in atrial fibrillation and heart failure related arrhythmogenic potential.

Heart failure: hormonal changes and animal models of heart failure; cardiac resynchronization therapy.

Hypertension: left ventricular hypertrophy regression and salt balance.

Angiogenesis and cell repair: cell therapy to create new vessels and myocardium in humans and large animals.

Cardiac muscle engineering: gene knock-out study on differentiation of myocytes into cardiac myocytes.

Contact Person
Professor H.F. Tse
Tel: 2855 4694
Fax: 2818 6304
Email: hftse@hku.hk

Clinical pharmacology:
Cardiovascular risk factors in the community; genetic and environmental factors causing hypertension; role of peptide hormones in control of cardiovascular function; assessment of benefit and/or harm attributable to an intervention; meta-analysis of clinical trials; development, evaluation and implementation of treatment guidelines; audit, survey and analysis of drug utilisation, including antibiotics, antihypertensive and lipid lowering drugs; analysis of cost-effectiveness as applied to drug usage; effect of traditional Chinese medicine as therapy; oral arsenic for treatment of malignant disorders.

Contact Person
Dr B.M.Y. Cheung
Tel: 2855 4049
Fax: 2904 9443
Email: mycheung@hku.hk

Endocrinology and metabolism:
Molecular genetics and pathogenesis of atherosclerosis, diabetes and diabetic complications; clinical and basic studies on obesity and adipocyte-derived hormones; clinical studies on growth hormone excess and deficiency; pathogenesis and management of autoimmune thyroid disease; genetics and environmental determinants of osteoporosis; linkage analysis of low bone mass.

Contact Person
Professor K.S.L. Lam
Tel: 2855 4769
Fax: 2816 2187
Email: ksllam@hku.hk

Family medicine:
Health-related quality of life (HRQOL): validation and standardization of assessment instruments as outcome measures; quality of life of patients with chronic diseases.

Cross-cultural research: cross-cultural validation and adaptation of HRQOL and psychometric measures.

Qualitative research: use of qualitative methods in community health research.

Primary health care: management of upper respiratory tract infections, diagnosis and management of mental health, service utilization.

Medical education: undergraduate and postgraduate medical education research with a combined qualitative and quantitative approach.

Contact Person
Dr T.P. Lam
Tel: 2518 5657
Fax: 2814 7475
Email: tplam@hku.hk

Gastroenterology and hepatology:
Helicobacter pylori: disease pathogenesis, molecular microbiology, carcinogenesis.
Stomach and colon cancer: signal transduction and apoptosis pathways, chemoprevention, clinical trials.

Functional GI disorders: dyspepsia, gastro-esophageal reflux diseases, non-cardiac chest pain, constipation.

Gene delivery system and new drug development in treatment of stomach and colon cancer.

Hepatitis B virus: molecular virology, associated mutations, and natural progression of related diseases in humans.

Contact Person
Professor C.L. Lai
Tel: 2855 4477
Fax: 2816 2863
Email: hrmelcl@hku.hk

Geriatrics:
Dementia: early detection of Alzheimer's disease (AD), genetic studies in familial Alzheimer's diseases and late onset AD, biochemical bio-markers in the diagnosis of AD, the roles of sex hormones and growth hormone in AD, use of neuropsychological tests and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in mild cognitive impairment and AD.

Contact Person
Dr L.W. Chu
Tel: 2855 3315
Fax: 2974 1171
Email: lwchu@hku.hk

Haematology:
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 hematological 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.

Contact Person
Professor Y.L. Kwong
Tel: 2855 5859
Fax: 2974 1165
Email: ylkwong@hku.hk

Medical physics:
Electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy measurement of nitric oxide (NO), superoxide, hydroxyl, lipid free radicals in animal organs in pathophysiological states after various medicine treatments; chemiluminesce measurement of NO in blood of patients; in vivo measurement of NO using microsensor and development of other microsensors; study of pathogenesis using computerized graphic protein-protein interaction; human brain waves in pathophysiological conditions; study of cholesterol trafficking under oxidative stress in cells; measurement of intra- and extra-cellular oxygen content in cells; development of anti-aging herbal medicine; development of new algorithms for identification of cardiac, brain wave and other electrical signals.

Contact Person
Professor P.C.W. Fung
Tel: 2855 3603
Fax: 2818 6474
Email: hrspfcw@hku.hk

Molecular medicine:
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.

Contact Person
Professor V.N.Y. Chan
Tel: 2855 4477
Fax: 2816 2863
Email: vnychan@hku.hk

Nephrology:
Immuno-pathogenesis and treatment of glomerulonephritis with focus on lgA nephropathy and lupus nephritis and renal transplant rejection; clinical, pathological, and virological features of hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus infection in patients on dialysis or after renal transplantation; human glomerular mesangial cell pathophysiology; advances in peritoneal dialysis therapy.

Contact Person
Professor K.N. Lai
Tel: 2855 4477
Fax: 2816 2863
Email: knlai@hku.hk

Neurology:
Parkinson's disease: pathogenesis and treatment.
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: pathogenesis and treatment.

Stroke: in vivo and in vitro studies on neuroprotection against ischaemia; functional MRI study and acupuncture; CT perfusion study in acute or chronic ischaemia.

Contact Person
Dr S.L. Ho
Tel: 2855 3315
Fax: 2974 1171
Email: slho@hkucc.hku.hk

Respiratory medicine:
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease & Bronchiectasis: mechanisms of neutrophil recruitment; role of Transforming growth factor-beta(1) (TGF-beta(1)); airways remodelling.

Lung cancer: molecular genetics; cytotoxic chemotherapy and biologic therapy for advanced non-small cell carcinoma; environmental risk factor and genes interaction in pathogenesis.

Obstructive sleep apnoea: mechanisms of vascular homeostasis; metabolic aspects in pathogenesis and pathophysiology; genetics of obstructive sleep apnoea.

Contact Person
Professor Mary S M Ip
Tel: 2855 4605
Fax: 2816 2863
Email: msmip@hkucc.hku.hk

Rheumatology:
Immunopathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus: immunogenetic studies; defects in apoptosis and handling of apoptotic bodies; the role of dendritic cells and mesenchymal cells; and effects of sex hormones on immune cell function.

Clinicaly aspects, including quality of life and socioeconomic cost, of systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.

Contact Person
Professor C.S. Lau
Tel: 2855 4049
Fax: 2904 9443
Email: cslau@hku.hk