TMU and PolyU Co-establish Joint Laboratory of Optometry and Vision Science

The School of Optometry and Ophthalmology of Tianjin Medical University (TMU) and the School of Optometry (SO) of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) joined forces to establish the “TMU-PolyU Joint Laboratory of Optometry and Vision Science”. Through interdisciplinary collaboration of researchers from both universities, it is expected to commence impactful research to greatly enhance the research capacity in optometry and vision science, and nurture talents in eye health profession for developing significant basic science researches and fostering knowledge-transfer outcomes. The Partnership Agreement Signing cum Plaque Unveiling Ceremony was officiated at TMU on 9 May by Prof. Hua Yan, President, TMU and Prof. Chi-ho To, Head of SO, PolyU. Other guests included Prof. Ruhua Wei, The Party Committee Secretary and Deputy President of Optometry School, TMU, Prof. George Woo, Emeritus Professor & Senior Advisor, PolyU and representatives from the two universities. The joint laboratory will address major vision-related imperatives and set-up specific laboratories focusing on myopia basic research, orthokeratology, optics research, binocular vision, low vision, vision (neuro)-science, and eye pathology and optometry clinical research.

STEM Talk & Workshop on 3D Vision

Dr. Patrick Ting, Clinical Associate of our School, delivered a STEM talk and workshop on “Why do we have the sense of depth and 3D vision?” for the HKSciFest 2019 on 13 April on PolyU campus. Dozens of participants, including adults and kids, attended the event. The workshops activities were rich in content, including making a 3D optical illusion model, experimenting the importance of binocular vision to our visual-motor coordination, and experiencing virtual reality etc. The event was well-recognized by participants, who learnt the theory of depth perception, as well as the process of depth information by our eyes and brain. Photo Album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/K1Fn4NfwuSu3zcNz6

Staff Honoured as Outstanding Consultants in Knowledge Transfer Activities

Prof. Pauline Cho and Dr Peggy Cheung received the “Highest International/Non-local Consultancy Merit Award of 2018” for her project “Pilot Evaluation of On-Eye to Mobile Application Lens Assessment” at the Outstanding Professional Services Awards Presentation Ceremony on 4 March 2019. Organized by PolyU’s Technology and Consultancy (PTeC) Co. Ltd., the awards honour departments and staff in consultancy and licensing activities for their outstanding performance. Dr Allen Cheong is a member of the consultancy project “Consultancy Services for Review of Hong Kong Rehabilitation Programme Plan” which won the “Most Valued Project” and “Multi-departmental Participation” Awards. Project collaborators include Prof. Hector Tsang (RS), Prof. Marco Pang (RS), Dr Wu Qiaobing (APSS), Dr Raymond Chung (RS), Dr Shirley Ching (SN), Dr Tony To (HTI) and Prof. Daniel Shek (FHSS).

Staff Members Honoured for Loyal Service

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University held the Long Service Award Presentation Ceremony on 22 February 2019, in appreciating staff members’ loyal service to the University over the years. Five staff members from the School of Optometry had been acknowledged for their years of dedicated service. The awardees included: Prof. Chi-ho To Prof. Maurice Yap Prof. Pauline Cho Dr Peter Pang Dr Ronnie Huang

Student CHEUNG Ka Piu honoured Faculty Outstanding Student Award

Optometry Final year student Mr Cheung Ka Piu, Alan has been awarded as the Outstanding Student of the School of Optometry as well as the Outstanding Student of the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences under the PolyU Outstanding Students Award Scheme 2018. PolyU organized the Outstanding Student Awards Presentation Ceremony on 21 February. In the past five years of study, Alan has received a number of scholarships, including The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Entry Scholarship (Academic), the HKSAR Government Scholarship for four consecutive years, and scholarships for the Best Student in BSc (Hons) in Optometry of the study year for three consecutive years. He has also won the scholarship for overseas exchange programme. Alan has actively participated in volunteer service and organized vision screening activities to promote eye care awareness locally and globally. “I went to the Queensland University of Technology for my clinical placements. It not only enhanced my clinical knowledge and skills, but also provided me with a great platform to better understand the foreign culture and community. I became more mature and independent. Studying at PolyU is undoubtedly fabulous! To show my sincere gratitude to all faculty members and mentors, I would make use of my knowledge for giving back to the society.” Alan expressed. Read the sharing by Alan at: https://polyu.hk/TAxOu The Outstanding Student Awards are given annually to full-time final-year students in recognition of their outstanding academic achievement, strong leadership ability, active involvement in extra-curricular activities, substantial community service experience and exposure, and good personal qualities. Student with extraordinary performances is selected by the department to receive the “Outstanding Student Award of Department”. These outstanding students of departments under the purview of the same faculty will then compete with each other for the “Outstanding Student Award of Faculty”.

PolyU myopia control technology extends impact into Greater Bay Area

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) today extends its licence on Defocus Incorporated Soft Contact (DISC) technology to Vision Science and Technology Co. Ltd. (VST), a local start-up. The patented technology was licensed to VST last year for commercialisation of DISC lens in Hong Kong. Following the extended licensing arrangement, VST will further promote the product to the cities in the Greater Bay Area and other parts of China in the future. Children and teenagers in the nation will also be benefited from PolyU's research success in myopia control technology to address their vision health issues. The novel DISC technology has been patented in the Mainland, Australia, the United States and various European countries. DISC lens is a multi-zone soft contact lens that provides clear vision and at the same time projects blurred, out-of-focus (defocused) images onto the retina to slow down the increase in axial length of the eye of the myopic patients. The clinical control trial conducted by PolyU showed that DISC lens can effectively retard the progression of myopia by approximately 60% amongst Hong Kong children aged 8 to 13. DISC lens, launched by VST in Hong Kong last year, has received positive responses. To offer the myopic population an alternative, VST today launches a daily disposable contact lens — DISC-1 Day. With the authorisation from PolyU, VST will collaborate with Daylite Vision Care Ltd. to apply for licence application with the China Food and Drug Administration for DISC-1 Day in order to extend the DISC distribution to the Mainland. It is expected that with the licence granted by the Chinese authority, the brand new product will be distributed to the authorised optometric clinics and fitting centres within a year, initially in the Greater Bay Area, and gradually extending across the nation. Dr Dennis Tse, Assistant Professor of the School of Optometry at PolyU, said "We are so pleased that the novel DISC technology was successfully commercialised that many children in Hong Kong can be benefited. We keenly hope that this innovative technological solution can be brought to the Greater Bay Area and other cities in the Mainland to help the nation address the spiralling myopic problem among children and adolescents." VST is a local start-up founded by a PolyU alumnus. VST received support from the HKSTP-PolyU Tech Incubation Fund (TIF) and PolyU Tech Launchpad Fund (TLF). Specialising in developing and distributing products for vision improvement, VST is the first company in Hong Kong that adopts a tailor-made professional fitting approach to manufacture and provide soft myopic control lenses. Under the licensing arrangement with PolyU, VST manufactures and provides DISC lenses via its authorised optometric clinics and fitting centres. The lenses are manufactured according to the prescription of optometrists. Mr Jackson Leung, Founder and Director of VST, said DISC lens has been well received since its launch last year. However, DISC lens users are required to take a regular fitting assessment every three months and to wait for another two weeks for the newly prescribed DISC lens. They also need to clean and disinfect the lens every day. Therefore, some customers wish to have a more convenient option. "VST therefore developed the brand new DISC-1 Day in order to offer the myopia population with another choice. DISC-1 Day lens is readily available upon optometric fitting assessment, and is for daily wear and disposal without the need for care. With power of myopia correctable up to 10.00 diopters, it is of the highest diopter with ultraviolet protection among all similar products in the market." VST was awarded a total of HK$1.6 million, including a matching fund, under TIF and TLF schemes. Both schemes are funded by the Technology Start-up Support Scheme for Universities under the Innovation and Technology Commission of the Hong Kong Government. PolyU has been committed to promoting technology and knowledge transfer, nurturing entrepreneurial culture and providing support to aspiring entrepreneurs. Besides supporting start-ups by offering various seed funds, the University also provides co-working space for entrepreneurs at InnoHub in both its Hong Kong campus and Shenzhen Base, mentorship support through the Startup Consultation Clinic manned by Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, training workshops for entrepreneurs, and networking opportunities with incubators and investors. In line with the Hong Kong SAR Government's proactive endeavours in developing the Guangdong-Hong Kong-MacauGreater Bay Area, PolyU will put in further efforts in technology innovation and knowledge transfer in the region.   More details: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/web/en/media/media_releases/index_id_6617.html

Notice of Service Fees Adjustment

Owing to the upward trend of costs in The Optometry Clinic, the consultation service fees will be adjusted with effect from 1 March 2019. Please contact our staff in clinic for more details. The Optometry Clinic School of Optometry

School Retreat 2019

The School held the annual departmental retreat on 10 January 2019. A total of 67 staff members participated in the off-campus event. The retreat kicked off with Head’s introduction, followed by a sharing on Optometry Clinic initiatives by Ms Rita Sum, Associate Consultant Optometrist. After that, representatives of three specialty teams shared the updates of specialty development, namely Dr Ronnie Huang of Children Vision Team, Dr Vincent Ng of Myopia Management Team and Mr Jimmy Tse of Specialty Contact Lens Team. Later on, staff members also engaged in a team-building activity and an outing to Tai O.

Lai King Centre Receives Social Capital Builder Logo Award Three Times in a Row

School of Optometry’s Integrative Community Health Centre (ICHC) in Lai King received the 2018 Social Capital Builder Logo Award in the biennial Social Capital Builder (SCB) Award Presentation Ceremony to recognize the Centre’s outstanding contributions to the development of social capital. This is the third time in a row that the ICHC received this award. The ICHC in Lai King is the first off-campus health centre of PolyU. The ICHC is built on the concept of integrative holistic health care, and strives to promote proactive health management. Besides delivering primary eye care consultations and vision rehabilitation service to the community, ICHC is also keen on providing community services such as the community vision screening project and the diabetic retinopathy screening service. To accord recognition to individuals, enterprises and organizations which have contributed to the development of social capital in Hong Kong, and to commend outstanding CIIF-funded projects, the Community Investment and Inclusion Fund of the Labour and Welfare Bureau has organized the biennial SCB Awards since 2012. For details of the SCB Awards, please click here .

Applications for Admission to Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Optometry (2019/20)

The School is now inviting applications for admission to our Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Optometry programme in September 2019. Details of application period are as follows: Application Period International Applicants 12 Sep 2018 – 15 Jan 2019 Local Non-JUPAS Applicants 27 Sep 2018 – 11 Feb 2019 JEE Applicants 1 Nov 2018 – 11 Jun 2019   You are welcome to obtain programme information and submit applications via Study@PolyU.