↓Group photo of the School of Chinese Medicine professoriate and teaching staff 中醫藥學院教職人員 合照 FEATURE + Modernisation of Chinese Medicine via Integrative Medicine Translational Research to Benefit the Community ‘Chinese medicine offers both clinical services and various pharmaceutical products to serve the medical and healthcare needs of the public and drive local economic development with its immense innovation potential,’ said Professor Feng. ‘In alignment with the National 14th Five-Year Plan, the HKSAR Government is committed to developing Hong Kong into a global innovation and technology hub. Chinese medicine is an important element to boost local economic development through the advancement of translational research.’ When the COVID-19 pandemic arrived as a global health challenge, it emerged not as a hinderance but as affirmation of the School’s significant research achievements and gave impetus to accelerating the progress of its translational research. In the early days of the pandemic, the School began conducting research on the disease and was the first School of Chinese Medicine in Hong Kong to provide clinical services at a community holding centre. The team also published a series of research articles on COVID-related prevention, therapeutic practices and rehabilitation treatment in various international academic journals. ‘The SARS-CoV-2 infection sparks off cytokine storm and inflammatory reactions in the human body, sometimes causing pneumonia and organ failures,’ explained Professor Feng. ‘Our researchers discovered the anti-viral, anti-inflammatory and organ-protection properties in certain Chinese herbs, which proved to be effective in For years, teachers and researchers in the School have created a lot of innovations in basic and clinical research in their specialties, as well as in the above-mentioned research directions. However, for the clinical efficacy of Chinese medicine to be globally recognised as evidence-based, Professor Feng believes that it is imperative to promote integrative medicine through research collaboration across specialties and disciplines to elucidate the scientific mechanisms, evidence and principles of Chinese medicine. Clinical research also plays a major role in providing scientific and clinical evidence for clinical applications of Chinese medicine. ‘Globally acclaimed for its distinguished research achievements, the Faculty provides an excellent platform for the School’s research collaboration with world-class academics,’ said Professor Feng. ‘Steered by Professor Chak-sing Lau, Dean of Medicine, and his team, our School aims to become a centre of excellence for integrative medicine through multidisciplinary collaboration. Thanks to the support of the University and the Faculty, research collaboration has evolved from individual- to organisation-based, resulting in research projects being conducted more systematically and effectively.’ 38
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