Newsletter No. 535

05 # 5 3 5 | 0 4 . 0 4 . 2 0 1 9 The naming ceremony of the Henry Cheng International Conference Centre was held on 18 March in appreciation of the generous donation from the Chow Tai Fook Charity Foundation (CTFCF). Officiating guests included Dr. Cheng Kar-shun Henry (2nd right), Honorary Chairman, CTFCF; Mr. Cheng Kar-shing Peter (2nd left), Chairman, CTFCF; Dr. Norman N.P. Leung (1st right), Chairman of the Council, CUHK; and Prof. Rocky S. Tuan, Vice-Chancellor, CUHK . With the donation from CTFCF, the University renovated Levels 1 and 2 of Cheng Yu Tung Building to become a well-established venue for hosting academic conferences of international repute. The venue provides a dignified setting and is equipped with broadband and wireless internet access, audio-visual systems, and conferencing and IT equipment. The rooms and areas provide great flexibility for hosting conferences for up to 460 scholars, with venues ranging from a large theatre for keynote speeches to rooms of different sizes for parallel and breakout sessions. Areas for conference catering and academic poster exhibition, together with secretariat room and VIP room set-ups for supporting of events, are also available. 大學於3月18日舉行「鄭家純國際會議中心」命名典禮,以 答謝周大福慈善基金慷慨捐款支持。典禮由基金名譽主席 鄭家純博士(右二)、主席鄭家成先生(左二)、中大校董會 主席梁乃鵬博士(右一),以及段崇智校長(左一)主禮。 在基金支持下,鄭裕彤樓一及二樓重新裝修成為一個舉辦重 大國際學術會議的場所。鄭家純國際會議中心交通便利,設 有寬頻和無線網絡,並配備先進的視聽及電腦會議系統。靈 活的房間與空間設計為舉辦活動提供極大彈性,包括可容 納多達四百六十人的大型演講廳,以及可同時進行會議和分 組討論的中小型房間。此外,中心亦提供餐飲場地、學術海 報展覽區,並預留地方作為會議秘書處或貴賓室用途。 鄭家純國際會議中心命名 Naming of Henry Cheng International Conference Centre 革新香港精神健康服務 Transforming Mental Healthcare Service in Hong Kong 中大副校長張妙清教授(左)與英國倫敦大學國王學院精神、心理及 神經科學研究所執行所長Ian Everall教授(右)於3月8日簽署合作協 議,加強兩校長期的合作夥伴關係,除開展研究及學術交流項目外,更 首次加入精神健康範疇,計劃建立一個採用創新科技以提供精神健康 研究及服務的實驗室,期以發展為亞洲領先的精神健康研究中心。 Prof. Fanny M.C. Cheung (left), CUHK Pro-Vice-Chancellor, and Prof. Ian Everall, Executive Dean, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, renewed their longstanding partnership on 8 March. Cooperative research and other forms of academic interaction will be launched. For the first time, the field of mental health will be covered by establishing a laboratory that adopts novel technologies into mental health research and services with the goal of becoming a leading research centre for mental health in Asia. the ATLAS experiment, based at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (known as CERN). Comprising 17 professors and researchers from CUHK, the University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the team will be leading in some areas of Higgs particle properties measurement and the ATLAS detector upgrade, as well as contributing to the R&D work of the proposed Electron-positron Collider in China. 由物理系朱明中教授(右三)領導的本港跨院校團 隊,參與位於瑞士歐洲核子研究中心的ATLAS大型 國際粒子對撞實驗組,與一眾頂尖科學家尋找宇宙 萬物的基本結構及定律,提升了香港科學界在全球 的影響力。團隊獲大學教育資助委員會第八輪卓越 學科領域計劃撥款約七千八百萬港元支持,擴展在 ATLAS的工作。 香港ATLAS研究團隊成員共十七人,由來自中大、 香港大學和香港科技大學的教授、研究員及研究生 組成。團隊未來的工作包括為探測器進行升級和數 據分析,探尋新物理及理論,發展相關計算科技,並 參與內地擬建的電子對撞機的前期研究工作。 A team of particle physics researchers from across local institutions, led by Prof. Chu Ming-chung (3rd right) of the Department of Physics, CUHK, working on a project to study the fundamental structure of matter, has recently been awarded funding in excess of HK$78 million from the Areas of Excellence (AoE) Scheme under the University Grants Committee. The award will boost the team’s involvement in 卓越學科領域資助中大領導「上帝粒子」香港團隊 CUHK-led Research Team in God Particle Experiment to be Funded as AoE ‘We are actually tackling the greatest challenge to the public healthcare system—an aging population. Both Chinese and western medicines must be given access to resources and development of healthcare services,‘ Sharon Wong pointed out. An aging population brings exponential increase in demand for healthcare services. In 2014, for example, less than 15% of the population were aged 65 or above, but this age group used up nearly half of the total healthcare expenditures. It is foreseeable that when the proportion of the elderly population increases from 20% in 2018 to 30% in 2036, the public western medicine healthcare system can no longer cope. The Government must look elsewhere for new forms of care and treatment. ‘The incorporation of Chinese medicine services into the public healthcare system would lower healthcare expenditures in the long run,’ said Theresa Leung. She explained, ‘Many people have the misconception that Chinese medicine is less effective. In fact, both Chinese and western medicines have more or less equal curative powers for many types of illness. For some types, Chinese medicine works even better with lower costs. ‘The recent epidemic has resulted in long queues and overcrowded wards in public hospitals. Some studies by local researchers found that Jing Fang Bai Du San and Yin Qiao San are effective in suppressing the symptoms of influenza. Chinese medicine should be a choice open to the public.’ At present, government expenditure on Chinese medicine accounts for less than 1% of the total healthcare expenditures. The 18 CMCTRs are self-financing with little government subsidies and thus have to charge higher fees. Though on a tight budget, the 360 Chinese medicine practitioners working in these clinics are already treating 1.2 million patients annually. There are around 9,500 registered Chinese medicine practitioners in Hong Kong. A little more resources committed by the Government would go a long way to augment services by a large margin. Hence they suggested the Government to take over the 18 CMCTRs and in the long run establish a public-funded Chinese medicine hospital and a Chinese Medicine Authority. ‘In fact similar proposals have been raised before by many senior members of the Chinese medicine industry. We wish to see our proposals being considered even after the contest has ended. During the contest we received a lot of assistance from people in the industry and we will continue our lobbying, with the aim that one day the proposals would be implemented,’ said Vincent Tse. Summarizing their experience of the contest, Clementine Chow said, ‘As students without any political pressures, we can construct the most ideal policy model. Many of our professors have helped us during the process, which made our proposals more feasible as well as promoting Chinese medicine ….’ At first we did not imagine we could win. When we faced the public, we were moved by their support and the backing from the Chinese medicine industry. We are aware of the inadequacies of the present policy on Chinese medicine but we believe that good policy proposals can do a lot with the backing of the industry. We have to change ourselves first to bring changes to society. The contest helped us understand Chinese medicine better. It is not a thing of the past but actually moves with the times. It is a treasure trove for us to unearth.’ Adapted by C.F.

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