CU NURSING 360 Issue 45 JUNE 2026

	DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE
	ANNIVERSARY SPECIALS
	GRANTS & AWARDS
	RESEARCH CENTRES
	ACTIVITY HIGHLIGHTS
	ACADEMIC EXCHANGE

JUNE 2026

HIGHLIGHTS & UPDATES

GRANTS & AWARDS

RESEARCH & EDUCATIONAL GRANTS

Our academic and research staff have recently received eight research grants and donations, as well as five educational grants, with a total amount of around HK$7.6 million.

Funding Source	Capacity *(PI / Co-PI* / Co-I)**	Project Title
Health and Medical Research Fund (HMRF)	Prof. Connie CHONG* Prof. Wai Tong CHIEN Dr. Kai Chow CHOI	Acceptance and Commitment Therapy‑Based Lifestyle Counselling Programme for Improving Physical Activity in People with Recent‑Onset Psychosis: A Randomised Controlled Trial
Health and Medical Research Fund (HMRF)	Prof. Ying LAU* Dr. Kai Chow CHOI Dr. Hermione LO	Evaluation of a Couple-based Psycho-socio-educational Intervention Using WeChat/WhatsApp on Dyadic Psychological and Sleep Outcomes: A 3-armed Randomised Controlled Trial
Health and Medical Research Fund (HMRF)	Prof. Connie CHONG	Efficacy of Digital Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia (CBT-I) Utilizing Embodied Artificial Intelligence Agent in Virtual Reality: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Health and Medical Research Fund (HMRF)	Prof. Connie CHONG	Development and Feasibility Study of a Culturally Adapted, Digitally Augmented Self-Help Stress Management Intervention (iDE-SH+) for Family Caregivers of Older Adults
Health and Medical Research Fund (HMRF)	Prof. Alan TAM Prof. Aileen CHAN	Feasibility and Acceptability of Implementation of Mindfulness-Based Intervention for Community-Dwelling Older Adults with Emigrant Children Suffering from Loneliness: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial
Alice Ho Miu Ling Nethersole Charity Foundation	Prof. Ying LAU*	Supporting Growth through Care-driven Mentorship (CARErise) Programme for Newly Graduated Nurses: A Sequential Mixed-methods Design
Beat Drugs Fund	Prof. William LI*	Empowering University Students with Peer Counselling Skills to Implement a Dual-Track Model Including Game-Based Prevention Education and mHealth Supported Treatment
Hong Kong Council of Social Service — Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Fund	Prof. Suzanne LO*	Caring Hand Spa
Courseware Development Grant Scheme	Prof. Dorothy CHAN* Prof. Laurie HO*	Empower students as designer: AI-supported scenario creation for sexual health learning
Courseware Development Grant Scheme	Prof. Laurie HO* Prof. Dorothy CHAN*	“Move Your Body”: Game-based Learning for Body Mechanics and Range of Motion Exercises
Courseware Development Grant Scheme	Prof. Thomas LAM* Dr. Cecilia CHAN Dr. Dixon TANG	Learning Anatomy in a Fun and Innovative Way: Development and Evaluation of a “Bones Detective” Game for Nursing Students at CUHK
Courseware Development Grant Scheme	Dr. Gigi LING* Dr. Rebecca PANG Prof. Fiona TANG	Seeing Through Empathic Perspectives (S.T.E.P.): A First‑Person VR360° Immersive Loss and Grief Workshop to Strengthen Empathy in Nursing Students
Courseware Development Grant Scheme	Dr. Anna NGAN* Prof. Jojo WONG Dr. Cheryl YEUNG	Enhancing Nursing Students' Competence in Diabetes Care through AI-enabled Virtual Patient Simulation

AWARDS & HONOURS

Research & Entrepreneurship Awards

Prof. Sek Ying CHAIR received the Top Scoring Scientific Abstract Award at the 2026 Conference on the Science of Tai Chi and Qigong as Whole Person Health (organiser: Osher Center for Integrative Health, a collaboration between Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital), where she presented her winning abstract.
Prof. Helen CHAN, in collaboration with Health View Bioanalytic Limited, a CUHK startup, received the Bronze Award (Open Category) of the 2nd Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Innovation and Technology Awards for their project “Automatic Retinal Image Analysis (ARIA) for Sleep Health Risk Assessment”.
PhD in Nursing Year 4 student Ms. Myrian FAN received the Reaching Out Award under the HKSAR Government Scholarship Fund 2025/26. In addition, she was named First Runner-up at the 3MT® Competition 2026, under the supervision and support of Prof. William LI, Prof. Sek Ying CHAIR and Prof. Laurie HO. [View her award-winning presentation.]
A startup project led by a team of Year 5 Bachelor of Nursing students was awarded Second Prize (Social Enterprise Category) at the 12th Hong Kong University Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition.

University and Faculty Accolades

Celebrating Dedication: CUHK Long Service Awards
Six colleagues across the School’s academic, administrative, and technical teams received the CUHK Long Service Award 2025.

Back-to-Back Triumph: CUHK VC’s Exemplary Teaching Award
The School received the prestigious CUHK VC’s Exemplary Teaching Award, one of the highest teaching accolades at CUHK, for the second consecutive year:

Dr. Zoe KWOK (2024 honouree) officially received her award at the Inauguration Ceremony of Professorships and Presentation of Teaching and Research Awards.
Prof. Ka Ming CHOW (2025 honouree) will receive her award at a later ceremony.

Rising Star Educator: CUHK Medicine Faculty Education Award
Prof. Marques NG was honoured with the Faculty Education Award (Early Career Faculty Members).

Other Recognitions

Faculty & School Accolades

Over 200 scholarships and awards were presented to undergraduate students at the TSA Ceremony 2026, while nearly 120 scholarships and awards were presented to postgraduate students at individual programme ceremonies.
Teacher of the Year Awards (Undergraduate Programmes): Prof. Marques NG (Year 1), Dr. Cecilia CHAN (Year 2), Prof. Ka Ming CHOW (Year 3) and Dr. Yan WONG (Year 4 & 5)
Best Teacher Awards (Postgraduate Programmes): PhD in Nursing – Prof. Wai Tong CHIEN; Doctor of Nursing – Prof. William LI; Master of Nursing – Prof. Fiona TANG and Dr. Gigi LING; Master of Nursing Science (Pre-registration) – Dr. Hermione LO, Dr. Rebecca PANG, and Mr. Kevin YAU
Nursing Clinical Mentor’s Teaching Award: Mr. Kin Wa LING
Alumni Teaching Award: Ms. Diana MAN (Bachelor and Master of Nursing alumna)

HKSAR Government Scholarships

Our undergraduate students were awarded under the HKSAR Government Scholarship Fund 2025/26, including 15 Talent Development Scholarships and 5 Reaching Out Awards.

RESEARCH CENTRES

COCHRANE HONG KONG

A recently completed diagnostic study on nasogastric tube (NGT) verification, led by Ms. Mei Yi MAK, Nurse Consultant (Community), Hong Kong East Cluster, and conducted collaboratively by the Hospital Authority (HA) and Cochrane Hong Kong, has addressed a significant practice gap. A total of 675 patients were recruited from 40 wards across four hospitals and six community sites. The study provides evidence that point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS) is a reliable, real-time bedside alternative to X-ray for verifying NGT placement.

The findings and their implications were discussed at a meeting held at the Hospital Authority Head Office (HAHO) on 2 April 2026. The abstracts reporting the pilot results of this POCUS study, along with the main findings of a previously completed capnography study, were published in the special supplement of the 8th Pan-Pacific Nursing Conference cum 2nd Cochrane Hong Kong Symposium in the International Journal of Nursing Studies (Abstract 1 | Abstract 2). Both studies offer important insights to inform safe, cost-effective and time-efficient clinical practice in NGT verification.

Cochrane Hong Kong is pleased to recommend Beyond Belief: How Evidence Shows What Really Works by Helen PEARSON. The idea for this book emerged from Pearson’s engagement with leading figures in evidence-based medicine, including Iain CHALMERS, a co-founder of the Cochrane Collaboration, alongside diverse contributors to the wider evidence-based practice community. Drawing on over 250 interviews, Pearson explores the ‘evidence revolution’—a global movement that prioritises evidence over opinion in decision-making, which has continued to transform healthcare, policymaking, education, and other sectors. Before release, Prof. Janita CHAU participated in an interview with the author on behalf of Cochrane Hong Kong. As we navigate an era of misinformation and contested truths, this book resonates strongly with our shared commitment to advancing evidence-based decision-making.

ASIA-PACIFIC GENOMIC AND GENETIC NURSING CENTRE

The Centre's autism spectrum disorder (ASD) research is progressing well. The project investigating the relationship between structural variants (SVs) in ASD and related endophenotypes has obtained ethical approval from the Joint Chinese University of Hong Kong – New Territories East Cluster Clinical Research Ethics Committee and has been registered in the Chinese Clinical Trial Registry. In the next stage, the team will initiate family-based recruitment through local non-governmental organisations and collect blood samples from participants with ASD and their first-degree relatives. This will further our understanding of the genetic factors contributing to ASD phenotypes and the distinct clinical features associated with potential SV mutations.

In March 2026, two clinical visits were organised for students of the Genetic and Genomic Nursing Study Stream of the Master of Nursing Programme and Professional Certificate Programme in Advanced Nursing Practice. They visited the Genetic Clinic at Prince of Wales Hospital, where they observed real-world genetic counselling sessions and gained firsthand insights into the practical duties of genetic nurses. They also visited the Department of Clinical Genetics at the Hong Kong Children’s Hospital (HKCH), where professionals shared their experiences and daily responsibilities, giving students a comprehensive look into the clinical workflow of genetic services—spanning from case referral and laboratory analysis to diagnosis and pre- and post-test counselling.

ACTIVITY HIGHLIGHTS

ACADEMIC EXCHANGE

@ The Nethersole School of Nursing, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong