Clinical Research

Jason Wong

Introduction
Jason from Med4. An energetic person who enjoys talking, teaching and above all, thinking.

Research Interests

• The role of retinal imaging techniques in diagnosing & prognosing systemic diseases
• Designing population-based cohort studies
• Use of online data collection platforms in optimising data collection & analysis

 

Details Commitment Rating: Definite 4. Number of mentees: 1 Expectations from mentees ● Willing to ask questions. ● Diligence trumps all.

 

Jonathan Leung

Introduction
I started working on clinical studies in hepatology, especially on Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease since Nov, 2014. I have also undergone research attachments at University of Oxford (Basic research) and Stanford University (Clinical research) in 2014 and 2016, respectively. In 2015, I have conducted a study in clinical physiology during a research expedition to the Arctic.

I remember two years ago, as inexperienced students, I and my friends encountered a lot of difficulties during our first project. While we were
struggling, we were lucky to have a good professor mentor who gave us gracious support. I would be happy to pass on my mentor’s positive spirit to give assistance to other medical students interested in research.

Project description

This is a case-control study, which aims to look at the effects of certain drugs in patients with Chronic Hepatitis B.

(Further details of the project will be revealed to mentees/potential mentees)

Details

Commitment rating: 3

(I’m happy to go along with my mentee’s wishes if he/she desires more or less guidance/work/opportunities to learn.)

Number of mentees: 1-2

Expectations of mentees

Using my current project as an example, mentees will be guided on the study design and research concepts. They will also have the opportunity to learn the process of data analysis and manuscript writing. Lastly, I would do my best to share my experience and provide advice on research/academic related interests to my mentees.

 

 

Timothy Tipoe

Introduction

Topic: HIV, metabolic and gut microbiota

Research Title: A comparative study to investigate the gut microbiota of HIV positive patients with metabolic syndrome

Type of Project: prospective clinical research study

 

 

Background of Study Human immuno-deficiency virus (HIV) infection is an important disease worldwide. It is also a major disease in Hong Kong with a total of over 7000 HIV cases to date (in 2015). It makes individuals susceptible to opportunistic infections, and eventually death. HIV positive patients on highly active antiretroviral therapy are also prone to developing metabolic syndrome. However, the reasons for this susceptibility are still unknown. Recently, it was found that gut microbiota contributes to the pathogenesis of metabolic syndrome. Also, HIV significantly compromises the gut microbiota in individuals. Objectives of Study This study aims to analyse the gut microbial composition of HIV positive and negative patients with or without metabolic syndrome, in order to understand how the gut microbiota contributes to the development of metabolic syndrome. Details Commitment rating: 5 Number of mentees: 1  Expectation from mentees Because this project is still in its early stages, the mentee involved will have the opportunity to work on both the clinical and scientific aspects of this research project. Mentees may get the chance to: Assist/Help getting informed consent in clinics at the Prince of Wales Hospital for recruitment of subjects for this study Assist/work independently on the analysis of stool and blood samples of subjects Learn and help with the statistical analysis of the collected research Assist with the write-up of the research Other learning experiences that may be fulfilled Holistic approach and perspective to medical healthcare as a whole, both in the clinic and the research lab Early, invaluable clinical exposure Development of good patient communication skills and research techniques Although the work may be challenging, it will also be rewarding as the mentee will get to work from many different aspects and widen their perspective on clinical research as a whole. Other points to note Most (if not all) of research work will be conducted at the Prince of Wales Hospital For the first part of the project, participating mentee will likely be required on Friday afternoons (from around 2-5pm) to help with subject recruitment at the Prince of Wales Hospital clinics. Thus, availability on Friday afternoons is required to ensure that the mentee maximizes their potential and experience throughout the project. This project involves collection of consent from patients, which requires a higher level of maturity and communication than normally expected of a junior medical student.

 

 

Nicole Tanner

Project description

This project is a prospective clinical research study, that aims to compare clinical outcomes of patients with colorectal cancer undergoing two types of surgery: open surgery and laproscopic surgery. Laproscopic surgery is a type of minimally invasive surgery, and it is becoming increasingly popular, leaving much smaller incision wounds on patients. The clinical outcomes evaluated in this study will be urine flow rate and sexual function.

 

 

Details Commitment rating: 4/5 Number of mentees: 4 Expectations from mentees This project is at its early stages, and mentees will be able to be a part of the whole research process.  Mentees will be guided on the study design and conception, and will have the opportunity to take part in the rest of the analysis of data and writing. Mentees will be expected to be part of the data collection and entry process. They will be attending clinic sessions on Tuesday mornings to test post-operative patients for urine flow rate and to do questionnaires. They will be expected to commit around 2 morning/afternoon sessions per month.

 

Basic Research

Stephen Li

I am Stephen, currently in Year 5 (New). I am a degree holder and I obtained my BSc in Biotechnology and Biochemistry from the University of Hong Kong. My research interests focus mainly on endocrinology.

My research experience began in my first year at HKU, which I worked on molecular cloning and sequencing and had my results submitted to GenBank. Later, I joined Dr. Cheng’s laboratory at Population Council’s Center for Biomedical Research in New York which I published a review article and co-authored an original research paper.

I conducted my GPS project at Professor PS Leung’s laboratory, which I worked on pancreatic islets and diabetes mellitus. Part of my research findings were published and presented at the American Diabetes Association’s 75th Scientific Sessions, held in Boston last year.

 

 

Phil Xie

Research is what keeps me burning in medicine; I enjoy both solving problems creatively, and creating new knowledge that has clinical significance. Research is also a global effort, and I feel very excited that advances are made every day by scientists around the world.

Unlike other classmates who work in labs to deal with cells, I work on computers to deal with big data. My current GPS project investigates the genetics of diabetic complications through a genome-wide approach. I also do some basic statistical work using R, and have some experience in python for bioinformatics purposes.

 

 

 

Dominic Yu 

I am Dominic Yu, currently a Year 5 (new curriculum) medical student. My basic science research exposure began as I joined a summer research project during my first year under Professor Alaster Lau of the School of Biomedical Sciences (SBS), and studied the effect of some endocannabinoid ligands on mast cells. Then before clinical years, I worked on another project, supervised by Professor Stephen Tsui of the SBS, for the intercalated MSc program. The project focused on a mutation in a protein called STAT3, and how this particular mutation might contribute to the development of cancer. This was studied mainly in vitro using transfected cells with the mutation, and various aspects in these cells, such as alteration in expression of some STAT3-related genes, were investigated.

 

 

 

Allan Lui 

I am a GPS student in year 4, with an avid interest in stem cell research and translating lab research into clinical practice, “from bench-to-bedside”. I have recently completed my studies for a MSc in Research Medicine, focusing on the development of induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) therapy for Hirschsprung’s disease. This was a pilot pre-clinical animal study involving the surgical transplantation of iPSCs and iPSC-derived cells into neonatal mice. While still considered lab research, it is the first step in translating the science into clinical medicine. Individuals even slightly curious about the exciting, developing field of stem cell therapy are most welcome.

 

Public Health Research

Jasper Au 

I’m a public health student with experience in qualitative and quantitative research. I’m currently working on a exploratory study into determinants towards attitudes of medical students within Hong Kong towards palliative care. The study is currently in it’s data collection stage, with data processing and analysis involved further down the road.

Details

Number of mentees: 1-2

Commitment: 3

 

Expectations of mentees

Mentees will be able to perform data collection, as well as learning how to conduct computer aided statistical analysis.

 

Coco Chan 

I am following an NGO called StandTALL which aims at serving amputees from 2008 Sichuan Earthquake. There are total 7 GPS students currently in StandTALL, who are working on different topics, ranging from functional outcome to gait analyse. My own project focuses on functional outcome of unilateral above knee amputees. The manuscript is now waiting for approval for journal.

Expectations of mentees
Even my project has been finished at the moment, I aim at sharing my personal experience with mentees. Mentorship not only restricted to research is expected