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The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is pleased to announce that two research projects it leads have been approved over HK$177 million in the 12^th round of the University Grants Committee (UGC)’s Areas of Excellence (AoE) Scheme. The project “AI-Powered Surgical Robots”, led by Professor Liu Yunhui, Choh-Ming Li Professor of Mechanical and Automation Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering, Director of CUHK T Stone Robotics Institute, and Director of Hong Kong Centre for Logistics Robotics, has been approved over HK$96 million. This project granted the highest amount of funding in this round. Another project, “Using Data to Transform Diabetes Care and Patient Lives”, led by Professor Ronald Ma Ching-wan, Assistant Dean (External Affairs), S.H. Ho Professor of Diabetes, and Professor at the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics of the Faculty of Medicine, has been approved over HK$80 million.

CUHK’s Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research) Professor Sham Mai-har said, “CUHK is proud to have achieved such fruitful outcomes in this round of the AoE Scheme. The funding results have recognized the University’s existing strengths and have reflected the projects’ greatest potential to develop into areas of excellence. I have strong belief that the CUHK research projects will promote the advancement of cutting-edge medical technologies and services in Hong Kong, and benefit society.”

AI-Powered Surgical Robots

Surgical robots are employed to carry out various surgical procedures with surgeons’ full manual control, causing concerns for operational safety and quality due to the possibility of human error. This project, led by Professor Liu Yunhui, introduces novel AI and automation functions to surgical robots to enhance operational safety and accuracy.

Professor Liu will form an interdisciplinary research team composed of robotics, AI and medical experts to establish an internationally leading research centre for automated robotic surgery in Hong Kong, which aims to develop cutting-edge AI-powered surgical robots that can perform surgical procedures accurately with high autonomy. It will conduct groundbreaking ex-vivo and clinical experiments to validate the robots. The team’s experts come from local institutions including CUHK, City University of Hong Kong and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, collaborating closely with established international institutions and organisations including Johns Hopkins University, Technical University of Munich, University College London, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Prince of Wales Hospital and Chinese PLA General Hospital (301 Hospital).

Through this project, the team aims to lead the research and development of cutting-edge surgical robotics technology and optimise the provision of medical services in Hong Kong. It also aspires to establish Hong Kong as a world-class centre for medical research and AI-powered surgical robotics development. Furthermore, the team is committed to transforming research outcomes into commercially viable products and services, contributing to the local high-tech industry and economic growth.

Using Data to Transform Diabetes Care and Patient Lives

Diabetes is a common medical condition that affects more than 10% of the population in Hong Kong and more than 530 million people worldwide, creating a heavy burden on society. The Diabetes and Endocrine Research Group at CUHK has been devoted to diabetes research for the past three decades, translating knowledge into prevention and treatment strategies. Led by Professor Ronald Ma, this project aims to bridge the existing gaps in diabetes prevention, treatment and professional education by leveraging CUHK’s resources, experience, and local and international partnerships.

This project builds on the 2020 Lancet Commission Report[1] prepared by CUHK’s Professor Juliana Chan Chung-ngor and the Diabetes and Endocrine Research Group, as well as three decades of research, care and education pioneered by the project team, supported by their long-term partners in the fields of public health, epidemiology, surgery, family medicine, psychology and behavioural science. The project team hopes to transform diabetes care and patients’ lives, and turn Hong Kong into a global centre of excellence for innovative medicine, translational research, education and care.

The AoE Scheme was established in 1998 to provide special funding for outstanding research projects in various fields at local tertiary institutions. To date, the scheme has supported 35 projects, with 13 of them led by CUHK researchers. In the 12^th round of the scheme, two out of three funded projects are from CUHK. The ceiling of direct project cost awarded to each project by the RGC is $75 million (excluding on-costs). Participating universities are required to provide 10% matching funding.

Researchers from CUHK also participated in the projects “Frontier and Human-centric AI and Robotics Technology for Geriatric”, which had also received funding in the same round of AoE Scheme; and “Sustained cART-free HIV-1 Control by Immunotherapeutic Intervention”, “Understanding Phenotypic Plasticity in Hepatocellular Carcinoma to Mitigate Therapy Resistance and Tumor Recurrence”, “Social Robots with Embedded Large Language Models Releasing Stress among the Hong Kong Populations” which had been granted funding via the 14^th round of UGC’s Theme-based Research Scheme.

[1] In 2020, Professor Juliana Chan led preparation of the Lancet Commission Report on Diabetes, in which 44 global experts spent 4 years to review, critique and synthesise evidence; identified major gaps in prevention, treatment, care and professional education in diabetes, and provided roadmap to reduce burden of diabetes and chronic diseases.