Professor Joseph Sung is the Vice-Chancellor and President of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), holding also the Mok Hing Yiu Professor of Medicine. Professor Sung’s research interests include gastro-intestinal bleeding, Helicobacter pylori infection, peptic ulcer, hepatitis B, and colorectal cancer. Professor Sung and his research team proved the relationship between H. pylori and peptic ulcer diseases. They were the first in demonstrating that a course of antibiotics lasting a week can cure H. pylori infection and successfully treat peptic ulcers and minimise their relapse. At the same time, Professor Sung and his research team pioneered the use of endoscopic treatment for ulcer bleeding to reduce the need for operative surgery. These research results have a major impact on and have changed the practice of gastroenterology worldwide. Professor Sung also led a group of experts from 15 Asia-Pacific countries to launch colorectal cancer screening research in 2004, and has laid down clear guidelines and promoted colorectal screenings in the region. Because of his work in cancer screening and prevention, he was honoured by the Prevent Cancer Foundation of the United States with the Laurel Award. He has published over 790 full scientific articles in the foremost journals and reviewed more than 15 prestigious journals. His contributions to the advancement of medical sciences and academic development have been recognised with awards such as the Outstanding Staff and Team Award (Hospital Authority of Hong Kong, 1998), Eminent Scientist of the Year 2003 (International Research Promotion Council, 2003), the Vice-Chancellor’s Exemplary Teaching Award (CUHK, 2003), Silver Bauhinia Star (Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government, 2004), Cheung Kong Achievement Award (Ministry of Education, The People’s Republic of China (PRC) and Li Ka Shing Foundation, 2006), The Most Outstanding Contribution Award (Clinical Therapeutics) (Food and Health Bureau, HKSAR Government, 2007), and the State Scientific and Technological Progress Award (Second-Class Award) (National Office for Science and Technology Awards, PRC, 2007). He is an Honorary Member of the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. In 2009, his seminal lectures on peptic ulcer bleeding won him the Marshall and Warren Lecture Award. In the same year, he has also won the Endoscopy Award of the German Society of Gastroenterology. In 2011, he was elected as an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and, in 2013, he was presented with the World Outstanding Chinese Award.

Dr. Che Hung Leong is a doctor in private practice, specialised in urology. Dr. Leong is active in public services and he has been a non-official member of the Executive Council HKSAR. He is currently the Chairperson of the Standard Working Hours Committee, the Hong Kong AIDS Foundation and the Elder Academy Development Foundation. Dr. Leong is the former Chairman of the Elderly Commission HKSAR. He pays particular attention to the needs of the elderly, while advocating the senior citizens to live fruitfully in their later years. Dr. Leong has been the Chairman of the Hospital Authority in Hong Kong from 2002 to 2004, and has served as a Legislative Councilor from 1988 to 2000. He was the Chairman of the Council of The University of Hong Kong from 2009 to 2015. Academically, Dr. Leong is a Hunterian Professor of the Royal College of Surgeons. Locally, he has been the Founding President of the College of Surgeons of Hong Kong and the President of the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine. He is also an honorary fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England and a fellow of the Royal College of Physician of London.

Sophia Chan is Under Secretary for Food and Health in Hong Kong. Before joining the Government, Chan was a Professor in Nursing, Head of the School of Nursing and Director of Research at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). She was also an Assistant Dean of the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine of HKU. Having trained in and practised paediatric nursing in Hong Kong and London, Chan subsequently specialised in health promotion with a particular focus on the management of tobacco dependency. She read her Master of Education at the University of Manchester, Master of Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health, and completed her doctoral studies at the HKU. Chan’s research is internationally recognised; she is awarded a Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health (through distinction), Royal College of Physicians of United Kingdom (FFPH (RCP) (UK)), and is the first nurse in Hong Kong being awarded the Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN). Her paedagogy has been recognised by the award of the Faculty Teaching Medal in 2005 and the Outstanding Teaching Award in 2009, the highest honor for teaching achievements conferred by HKU. Chan is one of the leading nurse scientists and she tested and developed nurses’ interventions to change smokers’ behaviour, and to protect children from exposure to secondhand smoke. She was one of the top funded nursing researchers in Hong Kong, and has published extensively in international journals on nursing, tobacco control, and public health. She consults widely nationally and internationally and has been invited by the World Health Organisation to provide advice and leadership on their tobacco control initiatives. Her current position involves supporting the Secretary for Food and Health in the political work involved in the setting of policy objectives and priorities on agriculture, fisheries, food safety, veterinary public health, environmental hygiene, medical and health, formulating policy and legislative initiatives to achieve the agreed objectives and priorities, and related implementation issues. She also handles Legislative Council (LegCo) business, strengthens working relationship with the LegCo, and engages various stakeholders to solicit support for Government policies and decisions.

Professor Patricia Davidson is the Dean of Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. As a former Director of the Centre for Cardiovascular and Chronic Care at the University of Technology, Sydney (Australia) and Professor of Cardiovascular Nursing Research at St. Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, Professor Davidson has an established programme of research in supporting individuals living with chronic conditions and developing innovative models of transitional care. A primary objective of her work has been to improve the cardiovascular health of underserved populations through development of innovative, acceptable, and sustainable initiatives within Australia and beyond. She is a Fellow of the Australian College of Nursing, the American Heart Association, the Preventive Cardiovascular Nurses Association, and the American Academy of Nursing. She is also the Counsel General of the International Council on Women’s Health Issues and is actively involved in the international activities of Sigma Theta Tau International. Since 2003, Professor Davidson has supervised and mentored more than 33 researchers. Currently she is an editor of Collegian and the International Journal of Nursing Studies, and is on the editorial boards of a number of other journals including the European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes, Heart, Lung and Circulation, and the Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. She has secured over US$8 million in competitive research funding from national and international funding bodies, and co-authored 290-plus peer-reviewed journal articles, 18 book chapters, and more than 70 peer-reviewed abstracts.

Professor Maggie Kirk (SFHEA FRCN) spent the first nine years of her postgraduate career as a mammalian geneticist working at the Medical Research Centre Genetics Division at Harwell in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. Her work focused on mouse models of congenital malformations. In 1985 she made the decision to become a nurse, practising in the coronary care setting after qualifying. She moved into nurse education in 1992. At Swansea University, she lectured in biomedical sciences, including genetics. In 1996, Professor Kirk joined the Genomics Policy Unit, University of Glamorgan (now University of South Wales) to explore the impact of advances in new genetic technologies on healthcare, assessing the implications for health professionals in particular. From 2004-2012, she led the UK nursing programme for the NHS National Genetics Education and Development Centre. Her work continues to focus on factors promoting engagement with genetics/ genomics through a variety of approaches. In 2012 she was nominated as President-elect of the International Society of Nurses in Genetics, serving as President from 2013-2014. She is the 2^nd non-US nurse being elected to this position in its 25-year history. With US and other UK colleagues, Professor Kirk is currently working on the establishment of an international consortium to develop nursing practice that maximises the benefits of genomic healthcare.

Professor Patsy Yates is jointly appointed as Head, School of Nursing at Queensland University of Technology and Director for Queensland Health’s statewide Centre for Palliative Care Research and Education. She leads a programme of research focused on advancing understanding of the experiences of people affected by cancer and health system interventions to improve services for people affected by cancer. She has conducted several large scale trials of novel interventions and service delivery models to improve patients’ symptom outcomes and quality of life. She has published extensively and her work is widely cited and incorporated into practice guidelines and policy. Professor Yates has also served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia, and is currently the President of Palliative Care Australia. She was a member of the Executive Committee of the International Society of Nurses in Cancer Care from 2004-2012. She has received awards in recognition of her research, teaching and service, including the Tom Reeve Oration Award for Outstanding Contribution to Cancer Care and Life Membership from the Cancer Nurses Society of Australia as well as the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia. In 2010, she was awarded a Citation from the Australian Learning and Teaching Council for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning. Professor Yates is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and has recently been inducted into the Sigma Theta Tau International’s International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame.