Global Cambridge Hong Kong

Global Cambridge Hong Kong

Global Cambridge Hong Kong

event Wednesday, May 17, 2023 schedule 6.30pm - 9.30pm HKT
Booking closed
Booking closed
event Wednesday, May 17, 2023 schedule 6.30pm - 9.30pm HKT
  • hong kong
“The future of children’s health: What can our genes predict?”
Open to: 
Alumni and guests
Location: 
Renaissance Hong Kong Harbour View Hotel | View details

The Acting Vice-Chancellor delivered the latest news from the University, and we heard from both Acting and incoming Vice-Chancellors, and received some fascinating research insight from our academics and guests discuss “The future of children’s health: What can our genes predict?”   

We were delighted that Vice-Chancellor Elect Professor Deborah Prentice was joined Acting Vice-Chancellor Dr Anthony Freeling for an engaging and informal chat as we look forward to her official welcome.   

Then, we had the rare opportunity to hear two of the leaders in genome research consider how we can harness the study of genetics to not just treat diseases but prevent them completely. Professor David Rowitch (Clare 1984), Head of Paediatrics at the University of Cambridge, and Dr Brian Chung, Chief Scientific Officer at the Hong Kong Genome Institute, were in conversation with Dr Lucy Lord (Downing 1981), discussing how 70 years of research and collaboration in Cambridge have shaped this important field, and how these advances will impact on the future of children’s health.    

Speakers

Professor Deborah Prentice

debbie prentice

An eminent psychologist, Professor Prentice has been Provost at Princeton since 2017 with primary responsibility for all academic, budgetary and long-term planning issues.  

Professor Prentice joined Princeton as a lecturer in psychology in 1988 and was appointed assistant professor of psychology the following year, after completing a PhD at Yale. She was appointed associate professor in 1995 and professor of psychology in 2000. She became the Alexander Stewart 1886 Professor of Psychology and Public Affairs in 2012 and chaired the Department of Psychology for 12 years until her appointment as Dean of Faculty in 2014.  

Her academic expertise is the study of social norms which govern human behaviour – the impact and development of unwritten rules and conventions and how people respond to breaches of those rules. She has edited three academic volumes and authored more than 50 articles and chapters and she has specialised in the study of domestic violence, alcohol abuse and gender stereotypes. 

Dr Anthony Freeling (St John's 1975)

anthony freeling

Dr Anthony Freeling became Acting Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge on 1 October 2022. Dr Freeling studied at St John’s College, Cambridge, between 1975 and 1984, completing an MA in Mathematics, an MPhil in Control Engineering and Operation Research, and a PhD in Decision Analysis and Behavioural Economics.    

He was President of Hughes Hall from 2014 to July 2022, having initially become involved with the College as a Fellow and Trustee in 2008. As a member of the University Council and Chair of the Colleges Committee, he has extensive experience of the operation of the Collegiate University.     

Prior to resuming his long relationship with Cambridge, Dr Freeling spent 18 years with McKinsey & Company, where he was a senior partner, leading its marketing and sales practice across Europe. He has also worked as an independent consultant advising a broad range of companies in areas as diverse as law and global marketing. He was a director of Ashridge Strategic Management Centre, and research director of the Coca-Cola Retailing Research Councils for Europe and Asia. He was formerly on the Council of the Open University and on the Board of UnLtd, the Foundation for Social Entrepreneurs.   

Professor David Rowitch (Clare 1984)

david rowitch

David Rowitch is a pediatrician (neonatology) and developmental neuroscientist. He is Professor and Head of Department of Paediatrics at the University of Cambridge (UK), and Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics at University of California San Francisco. He obtained his MD from University of California Los Angeles and PhD (biochemistry) from the University of Cambridge. 

Professor Rowitch’s laboratory in the Wellcome-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute investigates genetic factors that determine development and diversity of glia, which comprise 90% of cells in the human brain. He has applied principles of developmental neuroscience to better understand human neonatal brain development as well as white matter injury in premature infants, multiple sclerosis and leukodystrophy. 

As a physician-scientist, Professor Rowitch’s interest focuses on functional genomic technologies to better diagnose and treat rare neurogenetic disorders in children. He is academic lead for the new Cambridge Children’s Hospital, researching origins of paediatric physical and mental conditions and preventive interventions within the UK National Health Service. 

His research in the field of developmental neurobiology and biomedicine has earned him numerous awards, including election as Fellow of the Academy Medical Sciences (UK) in 2018 and Fellow of the Royal Society in 2021. 

Dr Lucy Lord (Downing 1981)

lucy lord

Dr Lucy Lord is an Obstetrician and Gynaecologist and the senior partner of Central Health Medical Group. She relocated to Hong Kong from the UK in 1989 as a Lecturer in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Hong Kong and started working in private practice in 1991. Lucy set up the Patient Care Foundation (PCF), Central Health’s charitable foundation, which works to provide vulnerable, stigmatised or deprived groups and communities within Hong Kong with better access to medical care. She founded and is Executive Chair of Mind HK and was instrumental in the founding of the City Mental Health Alliance in Hong Kong. In the recent New Years honours list she received and MBE for services to health in Hong Kong. 

Dr Brian Chung

brian chung

Dr Brian Hon-Yin Chung joined Hong Kong Genome Institute (HKGI) as the Chief Scientific Officer in 2021, overseeing all scientific activities, including the clinical, ethics and research protocols of the Hong Kong Genome Project.  

He is also the President-Elect of the Asia Pacific Society of Human Genetics and has served on the Working Group of the Hong Kong Hospital Authority Strategic Service Framework for Genetic and Genomic Services. 

After training at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) and the The Hospital for Sick Children at the University of Toronto, specialising in Paediatrics and Clinical Genetics, Dr Chung obtained a fellowship at the Canadian College of Medical Geneticists. He later became a founding fellow of the subspecialty of Genetics & Genomics (Paediatrics) at Hong Kong Academy of Medicine (HKAM). 

To further his career in genomics, Dr Chung completed his Master of Science degree at The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2013, and his PhD from HKU in 2018, where he was awarded the Sir Patrick Manson Gold Medal. 

Dr Chung has received awards for achievements, including the Best Young Investigator Prize from the Hong Kong College of Paediatricians in 2017, and two teaching awards from HKU.  

Booking information

Please follow the link to register for this event.

Price: 
£20 for alumni/ £25 for non-alumni

Booking for this event is now closed.

Location

Renaissance Hong Kong Harbour View Hotel
Harbour Road
Wan Chai
Hong Kong
Hong Kong S.A.R., China
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