KE Spotlight - Community Engagement - HKU Knowledge Exchange

Communicating serious health hazards of Hong Kong air: A new version of the Hedley Environmental Index

Hong Kong's air quality has been deteriorating over 20 years and today presents a serious daily threat to the health of the public and for future generations. The Environmental Protection Department of the Hong Kong SAR Government relies on the Air Pollution Index (HKAPI) to communicate the health hazards of pollution to the public. However, the standards used by HKAPI are 25 years out of date, primitive and seriously misleading. The risk categories in the HKAPI bear no relationship to the currently measured bad health outcomes in the population. In order to create a new approach to health risk communication and to inform and assist the public in the interpretation of pollution levels, a group of researchers at The University of Hong Kong School of Public Health developed the Hedley Environmental Index (HEI) in 2008 and launched an updated version on January 17, 2012 to improve the hourly estimation of air pollution impacts on bad health outcomes and economic costs. The new HEI is based on the latest scientific evidence for health risks and referenced to the World Health Organization (WHO) Air Quality Guidelines (AQG).

Success stories in KE presented by the eight UGC-funded institutions

The eight UGC-funded institutions presented many success stories in knowledge exchange at the Knowledge Exchange Conference cum '3+3+4' Symposium on Knowledge Transfer held on December 5-6, 2011.

Knowledge Exchange Conference cum ''3+3+4'' Symposium on Knowledge Transfer

Knowledge Exchange, or Knowledge Transfer, has formally been recognized by the University Grants Committee (UGC) and is described as the "third mission" of higher education. With support and sponsorship from UGC, HKU together with all the other UGC-funded institutions jointly organized the Knowledge Exchange Conference: Knowledge Transforming Society, which incorporated the ''3+3+4'' Symposium on Knowledge Transfer.

HKU Joins Hands with China National Pharmaceutical Group Corporation in Translational Pharmaceutical R&D

HKU has signed a Strategic Cooperation Framework Agreement with China National Pharmaceutical Group Corporation to collaborate in translational pharmaceutical research and development.

Faculty Knowledge Exchange Awards 2011

Most faculties have introduced Faculty Knowledge Exchange (KE) Award this year in order to recognize the faculty's outstanding KE accomplishment that has made demonstrable economic, social or cultural impacts to benefit the community, business/industry, or partner organizations.

New Weapon to Crack Down Auctioned Fakes

The popular trend of online shopping nowadays is followed by a series of intellectual property infringement and auction of fake goods. In order to prevent this, a new system called Lineament Monitoring System II was jointly developed by the HKU Center for Information Security and Cryptography and the Customs and Excise Department of the HKSAR Government, making 24-hour monitoring possible.

Convalescent Plasma Treatment Reduced Mortality by 50% in Patients with Severe Swine Flu

Treatment using the convalescent plasma from donors who recovered from the swine flu can reduce the mortality rate from severe cases, our researchers from the Department of Microbiology and the Department of Medicine have found.