Scientific Committee

Members of the Scientific Committee
[In alphabetical order of family name]

Prof Helen Chan’s research interests focus on aged care and long-term care. She was a pioneer in the healthcare field, studying the acceptance and effects of advance care planning (ACP) in the Chinese population. She has developed a culturally sensitive ACP intervention and tested it among various patient groups, including dementia, cancer and COPD. She has also co-designed various educational materials with stakeholders to raise awareness and build capacity related to ACP in health and social care disciplines. These works have been adopted in diverse care settings and contributed to service and policy development at the regional and international levels. She was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing in 2021 and awarded the International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame by Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing in 2024 and other awards in recognition of her research capability and contribution to the society. Currently, she is an Editor for Journal of Clinical Nursing and an editorial member for Journal of Nursing Ethics. She also serves as an honorary advisor of elderly services for various non-government organizations, including Hong Kong Society for Rehabilitation, Hong Kong YWCA, Jockey Club Centre for Positive Ageing and Jockey Club CADENZA Hub, and a Council Member of Hong Kong Association of Gerontology.

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Dr. Kenny Chui, a distinguished dementia care specialist, boasts an impressive academic background, having received three Master’s degrees and culminating in his Doctor of Philosophy in Social Welfare focused on personhood dementia care from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2019.

With over 20 years of experience, Dr. Chui has dedicated his career to addressing the needs of individuals with dementia and their families. His expertise spans various domains, from direct dementia services to academic research, consultative training, public education, project management, and advocacy. Dr. Chui’s groundbreaking initiative, “DemenTitude® – the 16 principles of proper caring attitude in dementia,” is a testament to his commitment to enhancing dementia education and fostering compassionate care practices.

Currently serving as the Deputy General Manager of JCCPA and the Co-director of the Advanced Diploma Programme in Dementia Care at the Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Dr. Chui contributes his efforts to enhance dementia services in Hong Kong. His partnership with the Dementia Services Development Centre (DSDC) of the University of Stirling led to the successful launch of a three-year Best Practice in Dementia Care Programme, aimed at bolstering staff capabilities in Chinese communities.

In 2019, Dr. Chui’s exceptional work in the field of social work was acknowledged when he was named the 28th Outstanding Social Worker in Hong Kong. He was also appointed as an Honorary Lecturer at the University of Stirling and as an International Advisor of Dementia Alliance International. He was appointed as an expert panel member of the Hong Kong Guardianship Board in 2023.

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Kenneth Fong is Professor and Associate Head (Research, Innovation, and Knowledge Transfer), Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, and Director of the Research Centre for Assistive Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He is also the management committee member of the Research Institute in AIoT, and management committee member of the University Research Facility in Behavioral and Systems Neuroscience (UBSN). He is now the Editor-in-Chief of Hong Kong Journal of Occupational Therapy (HKJOT).  He received the Department Outstanding Teaching Award in 2011, the Department Outstanding Team Teaching Award in 2018, and the Faculty Team Teaching Award of the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences in 2010 and 2019 respectively. His undergraduate and postgraduate students have received numerous awards in both local and international competitions. Recently he received the 2024 best paper award from the UBSN of PolyU, and is awarded the 2024 World’s Top 2% Scientists (Rehabilitation) by Stanford.

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Prof. Rainbow Ho is a Professor at the Department of Social Work & Social Administration, and Director of the Centre on Behavioral Health at the University of Hong Kong. She has background in performing arts, biomedical sciences, and social sciences. Prof. Ho has extensive research and clinical experiences in holistic wellness and expressive arts therapies, as well as in the fields of arts, humanities, biomedical, and social sciences. She has been the principal investigator of many major research projects related to mind-body practices e.g., mindfulness, yoga, qigong and taichi, and arts-based interventions for healthy and clinical populations across the life span.  

Prof. Ho has published more than 200 academic papers, book chapters, and encyclopaedias related to behavioral health, integrative health practices, mind-body medicine, and arts-based therapies. She is also a highly sought-after keynote speaker at major international conferences related to psychotherapy, creative arts therapy, behavioral health, and holistic medicine.

Prof. Ho’s work has been recognized as cutting-edge and highly original. She has received the research awards from the American Dance Therapy Association (2015 & 2019), and the Outstanding Achievement Award and Research Award from the American Dance Therapy Association (2015). The Research and Development Award from the Australia and New Zealand Arts Therapy Association (2016); she also received 2015 Social Sciences Outstanding Teaching Award,  2020 Outstanding Research Output Award, 2021 Knowledge Exchange Award and 2022 Outstanding Research Student Supervisor Award from The University of Hong Kong. Prof. Ho is currently the steering committee member and affiliate researcher of the WHO Jameel Arts and Health lab, and also the core member of the International Research Alliance of Creative Arts Therapies, and Neurosciences meet Dance in Therapy Network.

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I am presently an Assistant Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. I utilize both qualitative and quantitative methodologies to investigate the intersections of sociocultural characteristics, family caregiving, and health among older adults and their family caregivers globally, including the United States, mainland China, and Hong Kong. Alongside cross-national comparative research, another focus of my work is to support older adults and their family care partners in managing dementia, effectively adapting to the condition, and thereby enhancing the well-being of both individuals living with dementia and their care partners. Ultimately, the goal of my work is to create culturally appropriate dyadic interventions for older adults and their care partners afflicted with chronic illnesses in Chinese socieities, including dementia and cancer.

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Professor Timothy Kwok has rich experience in geriatric medicine field, he graduated from University of Leicester, the United Kingdom and received specialist training in Geriatric and Internal Medicine in St George’s Hospital in London before returning to Hong Kong. He obtained his doctorate in Medicine from the University of Leicester, the United Kingdom in 2004. Professor Kwok is a Professor of the Department of Medicine & Therapeutics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong and honorary consultant geriatrician of Hospital Authority. Besides, he is the Director of Jockey Club Centre for Osteoporosis Care and Control (JOCOC) and Deputy Director of CUHK Jockey Club Institute of Ageing.

Professor Kwok is the Director of JCCPA since 2004. He established JCCPA into a comprehensive care center in dementia based on the person-centred care, which has played a leading role in dementia service, training and research in Hong Kong. In recent years, Professor Kwok is dedicated to enhance public awareness of dementia to develop Hong Kong into a dementia-friendly city.

Prof. Kwok has published over 200 research papers on the international journals through evidence-based research. Research topics currently underway include: the preventive strategies of dementia, bone fracture risk prediction, the frailty of older adults, restraints reduction and patient autonomy act, etc. Besides, the book “Growing Old Gracefully”, which was dictated by Professor Kwok, was published in 2019 and he has shared his experience and views on how to establish a dementia-friendly hospital and holistic strategies for active ageing.

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Dr. Allen Lee is a tenured Associate Professor (Clinical) in the Department of Psychiatry at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). Driven by a strong commitment to moderating dementia incidence in our ageing society, Dr. Lee is dedicated to finding novel strategies to help older adults lower their dementia risk.

Among his major research achievements is a large-scale, territory-wide, population-based epidemiological study conducted alongside Professor Linda Lam from CUHK and the Department of Health of the Government of Hong Kong. This study followed over 18,000 local older adults for more than 15 years, identifying previously unrecognized risk and protective factors for dementia and providing deeper insights into how these factors can be modified for dementia prevention. His work underscored the importance of intellectual activities in slowing cognitive decline, elucidated the relationship between depression and dementia, and identified visual impairment as a major risk factor for dementia.

His publications in high-impact international journals such as JAMA Psychiatry, The Lancet’s eBioMedicine, and Age and Ageing have established him as a leading expert in dementia prevention. His work has attracted widespread attention from local, national, and international media, including TIME magazine and Consumer Reports. His research has been featured in JAMA Network Learning, NEJM Journal Watch, and cited in the Lancet Commission Report on Dementia Prevention in 2020 and 2024. He has also contributed to the World Alzheimer Report 2022 and authored five book chapters on dementia management.

In his professional roles, Dr. Lee serves as a Consultant at the CUHK Medical Centre, President of the Chinese Dementia Research Association, and a Council Member of the Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists. He was awarded the Distinguished Young Fellow by the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine in 2017 and received the highest postgraduate research degree, Doctor of Medicine (MD), from CUHK in 2022.

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Dr Jenny Lee graduated from The Chinese University of Hong Kong and is a Consultant Geriatrician and the head of Geriatrics in the Department of Medicine in Tai Po Hospital and Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Hospitals. She is the immediate past President of the Hong Kong Geriatrics Society and the Chinese Dementia Research Association.

Dr Lee obtained her MD degree in the Chinese University of Hong Kong under Professor Jean Woo. She collaborates closely with the Institute of Aging in the Chinese University in projects focusing on geriatric medicine and clinical services. She is active in research and has numerous publications in old age epidemiology, frailty, health services research, dementia, end of life care and nutrition.

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