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The University of Hong Kong (HKU) welcomes the HKSAR Government's announcement today (23 September) on designating its LKS Faculty of Medicine (HKUMed) as the operator of the Greater Bay Area International Clinical Trial Institute (the GBAICTI). Located in the Hong Kong Park of the Hetao Shenzhen–Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone, the GBAICTI is scheduled to begin operations in the fourth quarter of this year, with the aim of becoming an innovative clinical research platform with global influence to attract mainland and multinational pharmaceutical institutions.

On August 1, 2024, 20 secondary students visited the HKU Phase 1 Clinical Trials as a part of the HKUMedify – Clinical Exposure Programme 2024. Through our introduction of the realistic clinical trials procedure, in-depth tour of the Phase 1 Centre, and their hands-on experience on simulating volunteer recruitment, we believe the session offers remarkable exposure on the importance of volunteer protection, scientific validity and data integrity.

HKU-CTC has been walking together with Hong Kong in the past 25 years in advancing human healthcare. To commemorate this milestone, we held the silver jubilee celebration event earlier. The event brought together government officials, academic and industry representatives, as well as our dedicated colleagues in clinical research, with some 300 attendees. It was a joyous occasion started with speeches from Professor Richard Wong, Acting President & Vice-Chancellor of HKU, Dr. Stephen Wong, Head of Chief Executive’s Unit of HKSAR Government, Mr. Henry Fan, Chairman of Hospital Authority and Professor Leung Wai-Keung, HKU-CTC’s Chief Director, who commended the center's contributions to healthcare innovation in Hong Kong and its commitment to societal well-being. We also took the opportunity to express our appreciation to 10 colleagues who have been of service with HKU-CTC for 5 to 20 years, and congratulate our 5 trainees for their successful completion of our trainee programme during 2022-23. Let's take a moment to relive the highlights of this memorable evening!

The year 2023 was a year full of challenges, but HKU-CTC never stopped its efforts. We hosted the Clinical Research Governance World Conference and International Clinical Trial Center Network - ICN Symposium earlier. The theme was "Clinical Research Success through Good Governance" and it brought over 250 representatives on-site from government agencies, research institutions, and the biomedical industry from around the world to discuss the latest trends in clinical trial governance. We were honored to have Professor Lo Chung-Mau, Secretary for Health, Mr. Li Chuang, Deputy Director of Shenzhen Municipal Health Commission, Professor Lau Chak-Sing, Dean of Medicine at The University of Hong Kong, and Dr. Christiane Blankenstein, Chairperson of International Clinical Trials Center Network, delivered speeches at the opening ceremony, making it a lively and momentous occasion. Now, let's take a look at the highlights of that exciting day!

On February 23, 2023, a group of secondary school students were given a rare opportunity to visit the HKU Phase 1 Clinical Trials Centre. They learned about the importance of ethical considerations, volunteers’ safety and data integrity, as well as the role that clinical trials play in advancing medical knowledge and improving patient care. As the students toured around the facility, they were impressed by the level of details put into the Centre’s design for safety and accuracy. The visit highlighted the importance of clinical trials in advancing medical knowledge and left a lasting impression on the students, inspiring them to consider careers in medical research and healthcare.

The ICN Annual Steering Board Meeting 2021 took place on November 16, 2021 in the form of virtual meeting and was hosted by Cambridge Clinical Trials Unit (CCTU), Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, one of the steering board members. During the meeting, all steering board members made decisions on key governance items. Mr. Henry Yau, ICN Chairperson cum Managing Director of HKU-CTC and Ms. Dr med Christiane Blankenstein, ICN Vice-Chairperson cum Director of Muenchner Studienzentrum, led the discussion on the strategic plan of ICN for the incoming year, which set out a direction for the Operations Team to work on in the year to come.

The ICN Annual General Meeting 2021 was held on November 17, 2021. Three experience sharing sessions were arranged and representatives from Cambridge University Hospitals and AstraZeneca were invited to talk about patient and public involvement as well as the influences of COVID-19 on clinical trials, which are both hot topics in 2021. Enthusiastic responses were received during the Q&A session. The next ICN Steering Board Meeting and Symposium will be hosted by Muenchner Studienzentrum, Technical University Munich, School of Medicine, in October 2022.

Curious about our HKU Phase 1 Clinical Trials Centre? In the episode 1 of the interview, you will have a view of the Centre, and Mr. Henry Yau, our Managing Director, will also introduce HKU’s efforts and achievements in clinical research and novel drugs development.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWzwTAenZzA

In episode 2, you will know more about the strengths of Hong Kong in conducting clinical trials, as well as the challenges we need to overcome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsT8brGP_F4

HKU-CTC successfully hosted the 6^th ICN Steering Board Meeting and Annual General Meeting 2020 on 24-25 November, 2020. Participants engaged actively and had vivid discussions – even though the meetings were moved online due to the pandemic.

At the Steering Board Meeting, Mr. Henry Yau, Managing Director of HKU-CTC, was elected the new ICN Chairperson. He will work with the new Vice Chairperson, Dr. Christiane Blankenstein of Munich Study Center, Technical University of Munich, the ICN Steering Board, and the ICN Operations Team to contribute to the further development of ICN in the coming two years. The Steering Board also formulated a strategic plan towards realization of the values of “Global, Excellence, Harmonization, Impacts”.

The next ICN Steering Board Meeting and Annual General Meeting will be hosted by Cambridge Clinical Trials Unit (CCTU), Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in November 2021.

Clinical research is an essence of medical advancement and a cornerstone of a robust health care system. In general, there are two types of clinical research – industry-sponsor studies and investigator-initiated studies (IISs) – whereas those initiated by investigators are increasingly important nowadays for its variety and diversity. They also bridge the research gaps on areas which are rarely covered by the industry. Facilitation of IISs is therefore a focus of The University of Hong Kong Clinical Trials Centre (HKU-CTC). In order to encourage investigators to initiate more high impact IISs, HKU-CTC has recently launched PRACTISE^® IIS – a training programme addressing the specific considerations for IISs.

The first course was completed by way of an online seminar on 28th August, 2020. Professor Ian Wong, Head of Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, and Dr. Helen Zhi, Director of Biostatistics and Clinical Research Methodology Unit, shared their practical tips and experience in designing and managing big data research and clinical studies with over 300 participants and received enthusiastic response. CTC will continue to organize other courses on IISs.

HKU-CTC set up a Chinese New Year Booth at Queen Mary Hospital on 21st January, 2020, to celebrate Chinese New Year with the supporters. Dr. Hong, one of the CTC Panda Ambassadors, visited the booth on that day. He gave out calendar cards and fai-chuns to the visitors. Visitors who participated in the quiz game at the booth and answered all questions correctly were given specially designed red packets as well. The responses were enthusiastic. Here are some highlights of the event: