Profiles of FHSS recipients

Professor Yip, currently in the third term of his Headship of PolyU’s Department of Health Technology and Informatics (HTI), has served as the Chairperson of the Grant Review Board of the Health and Medical Research Fund since 2013 and a Member of the Research Council, Food and Health Bureau since 2019.

After working in United Christian Hospital for ten years, he joined the then Hong Kong Polytechnic as a lecturer in 1990. As an educator, he coordinated the efforts and successfully convinced the government to support a UGC-funded full-time BSc (Hons) programme in Medical Laboratory Science (MLS) in 2004. Prof. Yip also negotiated with teaching hospitals in Taiwan and Australia for additional clinical placements for PolyU’s MLS graduates, while championing the inclusion of molecular diagnostics in both the BSc and MSc curricula.

Under his leadership, HTI has started offering specialisms in its MSc programme since 2017 and launched the MSc programme in Medical Physics – the first of its kind in Hong Kong and nearby regions. His keen interest in research has helped scholars of the department acquire external grants and boosted research output. To further improve the research performance of the Department, he successfully convinced the University to establish three chair professor positions in the department.

Professor Chung is currently Professor of Optometry and Vision Science, School of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley. With over three decades of experience in the optometry profession, she has made paramount contributions to the research breakthroughs on vision rehabilitation.

Her international reputation is evidenced by the numerous honours and awards bestowed upon her by the authorities in Hong Kong, Australia and the U.S. Passionate about serving her alma mater and advancement of professional standards, Prof. Chung takes initiatives to discuss the strategic direction of vision rehabilitation research with faculty members of PolyU, sharing her exciting findings and collaborative projects. For interdisciplinary synergy and impactful researches, she went to great lengths to connect PolyU faculty members with experts from other disciplines, ranging from psychology to computer science.

To groom young talents, Prof. Chung was committed to training optometrists hired by the Hospital Authority. Her dedication to serve the profession is exemplified by her appointments as an associate editor for leading academic journals as well as a grant reviewer for funding agencies.

Dr Siu, Associate Professor of Department of Health Technology and Informatics at PolyU, earned his BSc degree in biomedical science with first-class honours at PolyU. In 2011, he was conferred with a PhD in Microbiology by The University of Hong Kong.

For over 15 years, Dr Siu has been actively engaged in researches related to microbial genomics, greatly increasing the accuracy and efficiency in diagnosis of infectious diseases, such as COVID-19. Amid the pandemic, his rapid sequencing technique played a pivotal role in identifying and cutting transmission chains in Hong Kong. For this reason, he received the Outstanding Project Team on COVID-19 Research Award from the Food and Health Bureau.

His contributions in genetic mechanisms of antimicrobial resistance, virulence in highly infectious pathogens, and molecular epidemiology of newly emerging pathogens have also helped the development of effective medical interventions. Having published over 45 peer-reviewed research papers in high-impact academic journals, such as Lancet Respiratory Medicine and Clinical Chemistry, Dr Siu has been granted more than HK$40 million of external research funds over the past five years. For two years in a row, he was honoured by PolyU with a faculty research and teaching award (individual) in recognition of his excellence in those areas.