13 July 2024
Professor (Ian) Holliday, Ms (Sarah) Lee, fellow former deans, chief executives of our teaching hospital partners, president of our medical alumni association, parents, colleagues, and above all graduands, ladies and gentlemen,
Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together
The 2024 Olympic Games are almost upon us, so it is a great privilege to have Hong Kong Olympic medallist Sarah Lee as our guest of honour today. She has shown what hard work, determination and the right training conditions can achieve. While the Olympics represent the pinnacle of athletic endeavour, they are also a metaphor for our own efforts here at HKUMed. Excellence needs to be cultivated. It needs a breeding ground that can challenge and bring out the best in people, and that can give them the strategies, tools, and human support to take things to the next level. This is well-articulated in the Olympic motto of Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together.
I have been thinking about this motto in relation to HKUMed. Over the past year, we have introduced new initiatives and continued to implement others that all aim to make our Faculty faster, higher and stronger. The 'together' aspect was reinforced by the formation of a new leadership team in February. The team has been expanded to be interdisciplinary, to cover emerging areas, such as the growth in our partnerships, and to include both veterans and rising talent. This dynamic expansion will, I hope, convey a sense of inclusiveness and togetherness so that we can lift all corners of the Faculty to higher levels of excellence.
My new team is fortunate to be launching from strong foundations. I would like to offer my warmest appreciation and thanks to their immediate predecessors, who have done a wonderful job in the ongoing work of making HKUMed the best it can be. These include Professor Vivian Lin Kwang-wen, the outgoing Executive Associate Dean; Professors Joseph Lui Cho-ze and Brian Lang Hung-hin for Clinical Affairs; Professors Leung Wai-keung and Michael Huen Shing-yan for Research; and Professors Victor Lee Ho-fun and George Tipoe for Teaching and Learning. Thank you all so much for your contributions to our Faculty. I am sure your successors are deeply appreciative of the high standards and groundwork that you have laid.
Let me now tell you about the highlights of the past year and how we are striving faster, higher, stronger and together across all areas of our work.
Teaching & Learning
HKUMed has had a very fulfilling and energetic year for teaching and learning, receiving affirmations of our excellence and opening new pathways for even better things to come. The bar is definitely being lifted higher.
Last September, the Medical Council of Hong Kong visited us to conduct a review of the MBBS programme. They gave a glowing assessment and praised our adoption of technological and pedagogical innovations, our Enrichment Year and our collaborations on interprofessional education and practice. These are all works in progress, and we are continuing to refine and adapt the curricula of all our programmes to incorporate new technologies and reflect new priorities.
One such initiatives is the newly reformed MBBS 140 Curriculum, which is being fully implemented in the coming academic year. Students will receive 48 weeks of basic clinical training during General Clerkship in Years 4 and 5, including an eight-week Cancer Medicine Block where virtual reality and other technologies will be deployed to enable students to understand cancer treatment from the patient's perspective. An emphasis will also be placed on primary care and interdisciplinary collaboration – both of which are of increasing importance in Hong Kong's healthcare landscape – as well as precision medicine, global health, and the integration of Chinese and Western medicine. The central aim of the MBBS 140 Curriculum is to ensure all our students are equipped with the relevant knowledge, skills and behaviours that are essential to becoming safe and competent doctors.
Another key development that has rippled across the whole Faculty is the idea of students as partners, which we have been building up in recent years. More than 25 teaching and learning resources are under development by students in partnership with teachers. These resources range from things like clinical interactive worksheets and flashcard resources to gamified learning and simulated practicals. We teachers have all been impressed that students themselves are initiating many of these ideas, drawing on their deep familiarity with technologies. There are now more than 100 student co-designers and more than 50 teachers working on these projects together.
Student involvement in education was formalised last year with the Students in Medical Education initiative – or SIME – to systematically engage MBBS students in teaching and curriculum development. This is not only about creating new resources. We also embrace peer and near-peer teaching, which prepares today's students to become tomorrow's teachers. A near-peer teaching programme was initiated by senior students during the pandemic to help support pre-clinical students. It was so successful that it was extended to the early clinical years, with the Faculty offering training for peer teachers.
As word has spread of the positive effects of peer teaching, other programmes have adopted this approach, such as Nursing, which organised a pilot peer tutoring programme this year. The broad appeal of student involvement led us to expand the SIME initiative in February this year to embrace all disciplines within the Faculty. It is now called Students in Medical and Health Sciences Education (SIMHSE) and it is lifting the bar of student involvement in learning across all undergraduate programmes.
I mentioned student familiarity with technologies. We are all aware that generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and virtual and augmented reality are changing not only medical education, but medicine itself. To ensure our students have opportunities to master these new tools, we have also gathered interested students and teachers together to set up the Education Technology (EdTech) Team at HKUMed. Fittingly, it is headed by Professor Gary Lau Kui-kai, who is also the director of SIMHSE, so there is motivation from the top to find synergies between EdTech and SIMHSE.
An example of that is the Techmezz, which opened last year to give students access to the latest virtual tools for understanding anatomy. It is now evolving into an incubation hub for students' co-creation of teaching and learning activities. The Faculty also earmarked funding for GenAI projects initiated by students or by students with their mentors.
Amidst all the excitement of new technologies, we have not lost sight of the fact that at the end of the day, it is still the people and the human touch that matter most in learning and patient care. Our students face enormous pressures, and we have adapted our curriculum and introduced support services to help them meet their psychological and emotional needs. As such, we have introduced a peer support element through Student Wellness Counsellors. More than 200 peer supporters to date have completed mental health first aid and other training. We are also working more broadly to establish a Doctor's Day in Hong Kong, to recognise the tireless service of doctors and healthcare professionals.
Our education programmes benefit from strong community support, too. Over the years, we have been privileged to welcome generous donations for scholarships and financial aid that enable our students to focus fully on their studies and realise new opportunities. The Aspiration Foundation, whose donation to support Second Chance students has granted 204 awards, mainly for students pursuing a medical education after their first degree, recently very kindly extended that support with a second donation of HK$10 million. The Second Chance scheme enables us to recruit students from more diverse backgrounds who recognise in themselves a calling to medicine. Its success inspired us to launch a graduate entry medicine programme, that will provide a pathway for students with a relevant undergraduate degree who are deeply motivated to become medical practitioners. This bespoke four-year programme will have the added benefit of accelerating the training of suitable candidates to help meet medical manpower needs, and further diversify the professional landscape.
Research
There is little doubt that HKUMed produces world-class research. Our output regularly appears in the best medical journals in the world, and we have made important contributions to understanding and treating a range of medical conditions. Recently, a record 31 of our colleagues were named to the prestigious 'Highly Cited Researchers 2023' list by Clarivate Analytics.
But – and there is a but – it is one thing to publish, another to translate findings into applications. Being able to do that depends in part on the surrounding ecosystem. The Hong Kong and central governments have recognised the need to ramp up innovation and research translation with investments in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area (GBA).
Accordingly, HKUMed has taken a deep look at our own organisation to see how we can be better fit-for-purpose on research translation – in particular, how we can be faster in realising commercialisation opportunities from our research and bringing the benefits to patients. The result is the new Technology Transfer Unit (TTU).
The TTU is a dedicated office working at full speed to enable more collaboration and better communication among our researchers, InnoHK centres, the University as a whole, industry and investors. It has already established or reinforced networks with partners such as pharmaceutical companies, venture capitalists, government offices, IP experts and international tech incubators. In March, it co-organised the HKUMed Techno-entrepreneur Mixer Day with the School of Clinical Medicine, where more than 70 participants from various sectors participated.
Coming up, the TTU will form an external Entrepreneur Advisory Panel to solicit professional advice and input on commercialisation and market exposure. It also aims to build capacity among both students and staff. A Student Technology Transfer Ambassador Scheme will be launched to provide networking and internship opportunities for students and encourage them to enter start-up competitions. And courses will be offered on commercialisation and entrepreneurial activities for PIs, research staff and students.
Our drive to get our research out of the lab and to patients also involves more clinical trials. The HKU Clinical Trials Centre, which celebrated its 25th anniversary last year, has overseen more than 2,000 Phase One, Two and Three clinical trials for international and Mainland firms, as well as HKUMed academics. The most common trials involve cancer. Recently, the Centre of Cancer Medicine created a webpage listing ongoing cancer trials and research projects from across the Faculty. The aim is to encourage more collaborations between scientists and clinicians and more referrals of potential patients to participate in trials. I think this is an excellent way of filling a knowledge gap while also giving a higher profile to translational research.
It is important to acknowledge here that translation and commercialisation are not new to HKUMed. We have had many successes over the years. Our main goal now is to build on those foundations and escalate this activity. I was personally involved in a recent successful example where our team collaborated with scientists from the University of Cambridge to develop a new stem cell platform that can help to personalise treatments for patients with rare forms of immunodeficiency. Our five InnoHK centres are also highly collaborative and had many achievements over the past year, including six spin-off companies, multiple awards at the 49th International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva, and more than 10 patents published. These centres are working with top researchers from various disciplines around the world on key discoveries related to things like cancer, infectious diseases, vaccines, stem cells and big data in health.
One final highlight in research that I would like to acknowledge is the generosity of our donors in supporting our research endeavours, which allows us to further our work in new directions. This past year, we were very fortunate to receive an exceptional pledge of HK$200 million from Mrs May Tam for advancing research on neuroscience and cancer and related community engagement. Mrs Tam has been very supportive of our Faculty over the years and she can trust that we will make every penny count.
Clinical Affairs
Our research and education programmes require abundant access to clinical settings, which is largely provided by the four key partners of the HKU Health System. Many of these settings are in hospitals, but we are also keen to support other areas of clinical work to make our system stronger. Recently, we welcomed the government's heightened priority on primary healthcare. HKUMed is a firm advocate for improving the primary healthcare provision in Hong Kong and we have provided critical support to the government's plans. Many of our academics were directly involved in developing the primary healthcare blueprint, paving the way for improving health for all people. I would like to extend thanks to all of them, especially Professor Cindy Lam Lo-kuen who retired last month and whose research and advocacy demonstrated the health benefits of primary care.
To contribute further to primary healthcare in Hong Kong, we have established the HKUMed Comprehensive Primary Healthcare Collaboratory (CPHC). This consolidates all our primary healthcare activities in one place so we can advocate as one voice. The CPHC will foster collaboration and teamwork across disciplines to elevate primary healthcare and standards for patients. It will also help to strengthen primary healthcare components in our undergraduate teaching programmes and provide postgraduate degrees and courses focused on primary healthcare.
Pharmaceutical services are closely intertwined with primary care, so we have also established a primary care community pharmacy. This is the first on-campus teaching pharmacy in Hong Kong. It provides opportunities for experiential learning and interdisciplinary collaboration, and a testing ground for innovative service models, such as public-private partnership.
We are also supporting primary care through research. HKUMed researchers conduct systematic health surveillance and evidence-based assessments of trends and health threats that inform the allocation of health resources, and we have advanced the use of big data analytics to improve clinical and community practice. Recently, the HKU Health System Clinical Centre was established to provide continuous support and improvements for research and teaching. It has received accreditation from the American Heart Association to provide life-saving courses for MBBS undergraduates before they graduate, and it will disseminate knowledge on cardiopulmonary resuscitation to the wider community.
HKU-Shenzhen Hospital merits a mention here for the good work it has done to contribute to the GBA in terms of translational research, healthcare integration and healthcare innovations. It continues to be an important part of our clinical landscape.
Human Capital
I have described how we are lifting our teaching programmes higher, moving faster to get research outputs to patients, and strengthening our clinical networks and activities. Now comes a most important part of the Olympic motto – doing all of this together. I have spoken in the past about our focus on People First. People are at the heart of our success, so we have been providing more and more opportunities for staff to connect, from a staff common room to services aimed at well-being, such as e-therapy, urban gardening, a healthy lunch initiative, and creating a HKUMed running community to race in the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2024.
We also need more people to power us towards our goals. The '140 for 140' recruitment drive is going strong after being put on pause during the pandemic, and we have revived roadshows to London and Manchester, Vienna, San Diego, Atlanta and Montreal. The first two destinations were done jointly with the Hospital Authority (HA), who have invited us to join a dual-track appointment scheme that aims to address the manpower shortage in the local medical education and health systems. Special arrangements are being made for eligible candidates to work concurrently in both the HA and HKUMed. It is a win-win situation.
The University itself has also recognised the need to recruit more practice-track professors, by increasing the cap on this group from 20 per cent to 50 per cent of our professoriate staff. This covers not only Medicine but also Chinese Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy and Public Health. New discipline-specific appointment and promotion criteria have been submitted to the Senate for approval, that more clearly sets out 'clinical services' to be a standalone area of achievement alongside research, teaching and learning, and knowledge exchange and services. Different levels of significance will be assigned to each area to indicate their importance under different academic and practice tracks. This will all help to ensure that clinical service is duly recognised.
These efforts are benefiting our recruitment endeavours. Recently, a number of senior appointments were made, including Professor Michael Häusser as the new director of the School of Biomedical Sciences and Professor Khuloud Al-Jamal as head of Pharmacology and Pharmacy. Professors Wei Jia and Clara Lau Bik-san have been recruited in the area of integrative medicine and Professor Peter Tanuseputro in family medicine. We are now in the process of recruiting directors for the Medical Ethics and Humanities Unit, Integrative/Chinese Medicine and biomedical engineering, and a chair of anaesthesiology. I hope you will all extend a warm welcome to our new members, who are bringing fresh ideas and approaches that will invigorate our work.
Partnership & Engagement
One other dimension of togetherness is partnership and engagement. We need external stakeholders to provide us with opportunities for research collaborations and things like Enrichment Year placements. We also want to deepen our engagement with our alumni and the community, and with our partners in Mainland China.
Some recent outcomes from our partnership efforts include new intercalation opportunities for MBBS Enrichment Year students with the University of Nottingham that will start in 2025-26, and a PhD articulation pathway with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine that will be available to selected students in the M24 cohort. Internships are essential in several of our programmes and the BBiomedSc programme has developed more choices for summer industry internships, the new BSc(Bioinformatics) is in the process of arranging industry internships, and the BASc in Global Health and Development has expanded the lineup of national and international agencies to serve as hosts for internships. The BChinMed has resumed summer exchanges on the Mainland and overseas, while the BPharm is expanding teaching and learning activities on the Mainland.
We also recently engaged in a talent development initiative with the National Health Commission, with the support of The Hong Kong Jockey Club. This will enable top healthcare professionals from the Mainland to enrol in our PhD programmes and build up their capacity. About 20 or so of these professionals will enrol this September.
Another major engagement is with the China Consortium of Elite Teaching Hospitals, which has revived activities post-pandemic. We have been involved in various meetings and conferences, visits, joint tours to the US, and an exchange programme this summer for students from the Peking Union Medical College. I expect there will be many more activities to share in my next report.
Campus Development & Infrastructure
The final area I want to cover today is happening before your very eyes. We have been making many plans and preparations to expand and develop our campus these past few years so we can accommodate more students and staff and reach ever higher pinnacles of excellence.
In the short term, existing facilities are being upgraded to accommodate new teaching technologies. Telepresence technologies were installed in several premises last year to virtually connect teaching venues for team teaching, distance training and interactive learning. The William MW Mong Block will now be renovated to offer more telepresence teaching venues and a clinical training centre with advanced simulation, VR and AR technologies. The work will start in the next couple of months.
The Estates Building and Pauline Chan Building are also being refurbished to provide more laboratory and office spaces, with the work expected to be completed in these two years. This is an interim measure to tide us over until the new academic building is completed in a few years' time.
Our longer-term projects will give us room to expand. The Clinical Training and Amenities Centre will be built over the next few years to offer both training and residential space and support for medical students during the clinical years. And our proposed new academic superstructure on the other side of 3 Sassoon Road received Town Planning Board approval last year, to provide more space for both research and teaching. Beyond Sassoon Road, the redevelopment of Grantham Hospital is in good progress and will house the Jockey Club Centre for Clinical Innovation and Discovery and the Jockey Club Institute of Cancer Care, both led by HKUMed. We are also investigating refurbishment of the Laboratory Block and redevelopment of the Patrick Manson Building.
So rest assured – we will have space to grow and reach the heights to which we aspire.
Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together
The Olympic spirit is cultivated by gritty persistence and determination to reach one's goal, whatever the obstacles. Ms Lee is a living example of this. She grew up in a small flat in a public housing estate and encountered serious injury during her training, yet persevered to become an Olympic medal-winning athlete. We can all learn from her example.
Here at HKUMed, we have built up our global reputation despite our small size in comparison to other major medical schools in the world. We are driven by the pursuit of excellence and the desire to improve health for all. We want to go higher and be faster and stronger. And, in line with Olympian motto, we want to do this in a spirit of solidarity and mutual respect.
I hope the Olympic spirit will inspire and motivate you in your future careers and service. Be the best but remember that in healthcare, you cannot attain that goal alone. You need to collaborate with others and bring a human touch to all you do.
Let me close by wishing our Olympic athletes all the best in Paris. I hope they enjoy this chance to shine. Similarly, I hope all graduands will shine in their future endeavours. Please keep us in the loop and let us know how you fare.
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