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Professor Joseph Lau Wan-yee, a world-renowned expert on hepato-pancreato-biliary surgery, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Founding Master of Lee Woo Sing College and Research Professor of Faculty of Medicine at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), passed away on the morning of 7 February 2024 at the age of 76. CUHK is deeply saddened by his passing.

CUHK Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Rocky S. Tuan said, “Professor Joseph Lau was a medical giant in the field of surgery. His pioneering contributions to liver cancer treatment and transplantation in Hong Kong won him numerous international awards. From 2010, Professor Lau served as the Founding Master of Lee Woo Sing College. His belief in college education and liberal education nurtured countless talents at CUHK, for which he will be fondly remembered by the CUHK community. We will very dearly miss our friend and colleague, Professor Lau. On behalf of our teachers and students, I sincerely offer our deepest condolences to Professor Lau’s family.”

Professor Lau received an MBBS from The University of Hong Kong in 1972,  underwent surgical training at the University of London in the UK, and received Doctor of Medicine from CUHK in 1995. He joined the Faculty of Medicine of CUHK in 1989 and was promoted to Professor of Surgery in 1993. A passionate researcher and well-loved teacher, over the years Professor Lau helped to nurture generations of surgeons both within and outside China. He made enormous contributions to radical excision of cancers of the liver and the bile duct, as well as to liver transplantation, and was a pioneer of liver transplantation in Hong Kong and South-east Asia. Professor Lau’s medical achievements won him numerous honours, including fellowships and honorary fellowships at various specialty colleges in the mainland and overseas.