KE Spotlight - Community Engagement - HKU Knowledge Exchange

HKU collaborates with National Academy of Medicine to nurture future talents and tackle global health issues

HKU entered into a partnership agreement with the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) in February 2017 to nurture future talents and to jointly tackle global challenges. Working with the NAM President Dr. Victor Dzau, HKU Vice President (Global) Professor John Kao helped establish several collaboration projects between HKU and NAM including an HKU-NAM International Fellowship Program for mid-career HKU faculty staff to work in Washington DC; organisation of international roundtables and summits to tackle global health-related issues such as regenerative medicine, mental health, ageing, and gender equity; and contextualisation of NAM consensus studies that are of practical use for HK. NAM is a world premier nonprofit, non-governmental organisation that provides advice on issues relating to biomedical science and health to policy-makers, professionals, leaders, and the public in the US and around the world.

HKU Faculty of Medicine presents "Big Shots" photo exhibition in celebration of 130 years of medicine in Hong Kong

The HKU Faculty of Medicine hosted an opening ceremony for the "Big Shots" Photo Exhibition, as part of the yearlong celebrations to mark "130 Years of Medicine in Hong Kong". The exhibition consists of two sections: World of Doctors to feature the works of renowned photographer Ducky Tse on the challenges and moments in the lives of 29 Faculty professors, alumni and students; and Doctors’ World, a collection of photographs taken by 32 alumni and curated by Professor Richard Yu and Dr Leo KK Wong. The exhibition will be open to the public from now until March 29 at the Exhibition Gallery of the Hong Kong Central Library. After that it will be staged at the Jockey Club Creative Arts Centrefrom May 4 to May 30. Part of the works will be exhibited at six other locations throughout Hong Kong between April 1 and May 27.

HKU HKJC Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention holds ceremony to award 14 student-initiated suicide prevention programmes

WeCare Fund for Student-Initiated Youth Suicide Prevention Project is the very first cross-institutional student initiated suicide prevention project conducted by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention. The Fund aims to encourage students, with the support of professional advisors, to organise, initiate, and implement mental health related projects at university campuses, and through the projects to nurture positive emotions at campuses and to enhance awareness of mental health issues among youths. An award ceremony was held to award 14 programmes from 10 tertiary institutions. The champion was the "Shall we talk" team from Hong Kong Baptist University. They expressed their concerns over issues regarding suicide through a self-directed play, written with an aim to inspire audience to reflect on their roles in suicide prevention, as well as deliver the message of treasuring life and emphasise the importance of communication.

HKU Faculty of Dentistry holds Knowledge Exchange Award Ceremony 2017

The Faculty of Dentistry held the Inaugural Knowledge Exchange Award Ceremony at Prince Philip Dental Hospital to kick off its 35th anniversary celebration. The 11 awarded projects served the communities in various ways. They included a Mobile Dental Clinics to offer citizens free oral check-ups, scaling and cavity filling service, and seminars and talks to promote precautionary measures against oral diseases. Beneficiaries from these projects included Alzheimer's patients and their caregivers, children with special needs, foreign domestic helpers, and the Muslim community. Some of the projects were outreach service outside Hong Kong to places in Mainland China and remote overseas areas.

HKU Stephen Hui Geological Museum holds exhibition on private mineral collections in Hong Kong

The HKU Stephen Hui Geological Museum will hold in collaboration with the Mineralogy Society of Hong Kong a "Mineral Collections in Hong Kong" exhibition from March 3 to August 31, to showcase over 200 precious minerals from 18 private collectors in Hong Kong. The exhibits include one of the best gemmy single crystals of Tanzanite from Merelani Mine, a very rare large gem quality Aquamarine on Albite with large fluid inclusions from Balochi, Gilgit-Baltistan, Pakistan, and a 18 cm large gemmy Rhodochrosite on Quartz from the famous Sweet Home Mine in Colorado, U.S.A.. The mineral display cabinet of the late Dr Stephen Hui Sze-fun with a selection from his private collection is also included.

HKU conducted the first demographic study of the Chinese white dolphins in the Pearl River Estuary and urges conservation of dolphin critical habitat

A demographic study of the Chinese white dolphins inhabiting the Pearl River Estuary, led by Dr Leszek Karczmarski, Associate Professor at the HKU School of Biological Sciences, revealed that the PRE dolphin population is declining approximately 2.5% per year and is fast approaching its viability threshold. The findings indicated that the PRE dolphin population is deemed to become extinct unless effective conservation measures can rapidly reverse the current population trend.

HKU Faculty of Education launches new book on Cantonese operatic singing art

Since 2006, the Centre for Advancement of Chinese Language Education and Research (CACLER) of the Faculty of Education, The University of Hong Kong (HKU), has been working together with partnering schools, under the HKU Cantonese Opera Education and Research Project, to integrate Cantonese Opera into the secondary school curriculum and on related researches. In 2015, the Lord Wilson Heritage Trust funded the research team led by Dr Dorothy Ng Fung-ping to implement the Publication Project of Cantonese Operatic Singing Art of Leung Yi-chung and Leung So-kam. This new publication records the artistic achievements of Mr Leung Yi-chung and Ms Leung So-kam and gives an account of the Cantonese operatic singing art of the latter.