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Research Assistant Professor

Dr Chen L.H. Pearl
PolyU Scholars Hub

Dr Pearl CHEN

Research Assistant Professor

MBBS (China), MMedSc (HKU), PhD (HKU)

  • BC516
  • +852 2766 4196
  • pearl.chen@polyu.edu.hk
  • Neuroscience and Neurological Rehabilitation

Biography

Dr Lu Hua Chen (Pearl) is a registered medical practitioner who had received training and practiced at an affiliated hospital of Sun Yat-sen University in Guangdong, China before pursuing her postgraduate study in Hong Kong. Her clinical training experience has aroused her passion for conducting research in neuropsychiatric disorders ranging from early neurodevelopment to late-life neurodegeneration. After graduating with a PhD degree from the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong, she received her postdoctoral training in clinical neuroscience at the Department of Psychology of The University of Hong Kong and The Chinese University of Hong Kong, separately.

 

Dr Chen’s research interests currently focus on understanding how genetic risk factors, environmental risk factors, and gene-environment interplay drive the development and/or exacerbation of neuropsychiatric disorders and related behaviors/traits. She intends to use systems science approaches combined with advanced and interdisciplinary analytic methods to bring together data from multi-levels and theories of multiple disciplines to facilitate our comprehension of the cognitive functions of the human brain. Additionally, she has interest in identifying cognitive endophenotypes for early disease detection and revealing social and cultural risk factors. Her ultimate aim of research is to translate findings to early clinical interventions to help patients suffering from impairments of mental abilities.

 

Awards:

  • “Best Free Paper Award”, The Chinese Dementia Research Association (CDRA) 10th Annual Scientific Meeting: All-round Dementia Care, Hong Kong, China, 2019
  • “Best Free Paper Award”, The Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists (HKCPsych) International Mental Health Congress, Hong Kong, China, 2018
  • Travel Fellowship, 2018 World Life Science Conference, Beijing, China, 2018
  • “Academic Research Award: 2nd Runner-up Poster Award”, International Alzheimer’s Disease Conference 2017: Advances in Dementia Research and Care, Hong Kong, China, 2017
  • “Best Poster Presentation Award”, International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics (IAGG) Master Class on Ageing (MCA), Hong Kong, China, 2012
  • “Best Paper Award”, Alzheimer’s Disease Conference 2011: From Public Health, Basic and Clinical Sciences to Therapeutic Insights, Hong Kong, China, 2011
  • Travel Fellowship, Alzheimer’s Association 2011 International Conference, Paris, France, 2011

 

Research Interests

  • Cognitive impairment in neurodegenerative disorders
  • Early clinical detection for neuropsychiatric disorders
  • Psychosocial risk factors
  • Application of digital technologies to neurorehabilitation

Research Output

  • Ma SL, Chen LH*, Lee CC, Lai K, Hung SF, Tang CP, Ho TP, Shea C, Mo F, Mak TSH, Sham PC, Leung PWL. Genetic overlap between attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder in SHANK2 gene. Frontier in Neuroscience (Section Neurogenomics), 2021, 27(15): 649588. (*Co-first author)
  • Chen LH, Mak TSH, Fan YH, Ho DTY, Sham PC, Chu LW, Song YQ. Associations between CLU polymorphisms and memory performance: The role of serum lipids in Alzheimer’s disease. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 2020, 29(129): 281-288.
  • Chen LH, Chu LW, Song YQ. Interlinking polymorphisms, estrogens and Alzheimer’s disease. In C Martin and V Preedy (Eds.), The neuroscience of dementia: Genetics, neurology, behavior and diet (pp. 25-39). Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier, 2020.
  • Li X, Wang J, Zhang R, Chen LH, Wang C, Ke J, Wang Y, Zhang Z. Psychological status and infection transmission conditions among anesthesiologists and operating room nurses during the outbreak period of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 2020, 11: 574143.
  • Shao L, Pan S, Zhang QP, Jamal M, Chen LH, Yin Q, Wu YJ, Xiong J, Xiao RJ, Kwong YL, Zhou FL, Lie AKW. A nonredundant role of innate lymphoid cells in the pathophysiology of graft-versus-host disease. Frontiers in Immunology, 2019, 6(10): 1233-1243.
  • Yiend J, André J, Smith L, Chen LH, Toulopoulou T, Chen EYH, Sham PC, Parkinson B. Biased cognition in Eastern and Western cultures. PLoS One, 2019, 14(10): e0223358.
  • Wang BB, Bao SY, Zhang ZG, Zhou XY, Wang J, Fan YH, Zhang Y, Li Y, Chen LH, Jia YZ, Li J, Li MX, Zheng WH, Mu N, Wang LQ, Yu Z, Wong DSM, Zhang YL, Kwan J, Mak HKF, Ambalavanan A, Zhou SR, Cai WW, Rouleau GA, Yang WL, Rogaeva E, Ma X, George-Hyslop PS, Chu LW, Song YQ. A rare variant in MLKL confers susceptibility to ApoE ɛ4-negative Alzheimer’s disease in Hong Kong Chinese population. Neurobiology of Aging, 2018, 68: 160.e1-7.
  • Chan MH, Leung PW, Ho TP, Hung SF, Lee CC, Tang CP, Cheung SK, Ching FY, Chan F, Chen LH, Garcia-Barcelo M, Sham PC. Are psychiatric comorbidities and associated cognitive functions related to treatment response to methylphenidate in boys with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder? Neuropsychiatric Disease and Treatment, 2017, 11(13): 1071-1080.
  • Leung PW, Chan JK, Chen LH, Lee CC, Hung SF, Ho TP, Tang CP, Moyzis RK, Swanson JM. Family-based association study of DRD4 gene in methylphenidate-responded attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. PLoS One, 2017, 12(3): e0173748.
  • Chen LH, Kao PY, Fan YH, Ho DT, Ha JC, Chu LW, Song YQ. The genetic polymorphisms in estrogen metabolic pathway associated with risks of Alzheimer’s disease: Evidence from a southern Chinese population. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2017, 65(2): 332-339.
  • Chen LH, Kao PY, Fan YH, Ho DT, Chan CS, Yik PY, Ha JC, Chu LW, Song YQ. Polymorphisms of CR1, CLU and PICALM confer susceptibility of Alzheimer’s disease in a southern Chinese population. Neurobiology of Aging, 2012, 33(1): 210.e1-7.
  • Zhou L, Chan KH, Chu LW, Kwan JS, Song YQ, Chen LH, Ho PW, Cheng OY, Ho JW, Lam KS. Plasma Amyloid-β oligomer level is a biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, 2012, 423(4): 697-702.

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