KE Spotlight - Community Engagement - HKU Knowledge Exchange

Knowledge Exchange Awards 2014

The Faculty Knowledge Exchange (KE) Awards were introduced in 2011 in order to recognize each Faculty's outstanding KE accomplishment that has made demonstrable economic, social or cultural impacts to benefit the community, business/industry, or partner organizations. Following the successful launch of the Faculty KE Awards, the KE Award (Non-Faculty Unit) was introduced in 2012 with the same objective for the independent centres, institutes and units of the University. Results of the 2014 KE Awards are now available.

HKU develops Asia's first liver cancer staging system with treatment guidelines to improve survival rate of liver cancer patients

HKU Surgery Department and Queen Mary Hospital have developed a five-stage liver cancer staging system with treatment guidelines - the Hong Kong Liver Cancer (HKLC) staging system. By introducing better prognostic classification and newer, more aggressive treatment strategies than the existing four-stage Barcelona Clinic Liver Cancer (BCLC) staging system, the HKLC staging system yields a better survival outcome and cure rate for liver cancer patients. The launch of the HKLC staging system also represents a major new direction in the field of liver cancer, offering clinicians a more valid and reliable approach to determine treatment for liver cancer patients in different stages. The HKLC staging system has already received widespread international recognition and is expected to replace the BCLC as the new standard guideline for treatment of liver cancer worldwide.

HKU launches tooth brushing app for children

A student team of the Dentistry Faculty, under the mentorship of Dental Public Health Clinical Professor Colman McGrath, has developed a free mobile app, "Brush Buddy", to help children learn how to brush their teeth. The app uses pictures with Chinese and English subtitles to provide step-by-step guide to teach tooth brushing. The app is the first of its kind available in Chinese for teaching children about oral self-care. The app is downloadable for free from iTunes. This student KE project is supported by the HKU Knowledge Exchange Fund granted by the University Grants Committee.

HKU Geography Chair Professor Jim Chi-yung receives LC Chadwick Award 2014 for Arboricultural Research

HKU Geography Chair Professor Jim Chi-yung has been awarded the LC Chadwick Award for Arboricultural Research by the International Society of Arboriculture. He is the first Asian winner of the highest honour in the field of arboriculture. Apart from his academic impact, he is one of the pioneer academics to bridge town and gown by transferring research-based knowledge to the community for direct adoption and application. Recently, he has successfully convinced the government to set up a tree management office and a landscape planning office at a high-level policy branch, providing for the first time a professional arborist grade in the civil service establishment.

HKU holds ''Refuse the Shadows of the Past: Five Years of Austrian Art Made in China'' exhibition

HKU Museum and Art Gallery has organized an exhibition to showcase artworks by 27 Austrian artists. The exhibition is organized in collaboration with the Austrian Consulate General in Hong Kong and Macau, and the Austrian initiative Embassy of the Arts. The exhibition is a commemorative exhibition that celebrates the fifth anniversary of artistic creation and transformation by Austrian and other international artists working in China.

HKU research team develops a software for re-construction of crime scenes in three-dimension space

A research team led by HKU Computer Science Professor Yu Yizhou has developed a new software which can re-construct an informative and easy-to-comprehend three-dimension (3D) re-enactment of a past event to assist in crime investigation. The project received funding of over HK$5 million from the Innovation and Technology Fund in 2012. A trial version of the software is expected to be commercially available in one to two years.

International Conference on Grief and Bereavement in Contemporary Society (ICGB) held at HKU

Over 1,000 scholars, health professionals and experts took part in the tri-annual conference, which was held in Asia for the first time. Over 250 papers and reports were presented during the four-day conference and 20 professional training workshops were held to enhance the skills of healthcare professional and practitioners. According to a study conducted by the HKU Faculty of Social Sciences, death avoidance score of Hong Kong adults aged under 59 (which ranged from 1 to 7 with higher scores indicating greater fear) had reduced significantly from 4.23 in 2007 to 2.2 in 2014, which reflected the general public's attitude towards death had become much more open.