News & Events

Aug 16, 2024
- Dr. Grace Xie and Miss Qingling Yang were granted a patent titled "A Machine Learning-based Method for Preclinical Osteoporosis Screening" on August 16, 2024; for their innovative work in utilizing machine learning techniques to improve early detection of osteoporosis.

Aug 13, 2024
- Congratulations to Miss Qingling Yang, our PhD student, to be awarded the Healthcare 2024 Travel Award in recognition of her outstanding research contributions in the field of healthcare. The award will support Miss Yang's participation in a leading conference, providing her with valuable opportunities to present her work, engage in scientific discussions, and establish collaborations with experts in the field. Congratulations to Miss Yang on this well-deserved achievement!

Jun 19, 2024
- PhD student, Miss Qingling Yang, published a research article titled "Cohort profile: migraine exposures and cardiovascular health in Hong Kong Chinese women (MECH-HK)" in the BMJ Open Journal. This is the 3rd paper of the MECH-HK study, a unique cohort to investigate the associations of migraine features with cardiovascular health in Hong Kong Chinese women. This paper provided a comprehensive MECH-HK cohort profile, detailing the cohort methodology, baseline characteristics and reporting on longitudinal migraine features. The cohort will be followed up every 2 years, providing unique longitudinal data on migraine features and their linkage to cardiovascular disease risk progression in Hong Kong women.

Mar 18, 2024
- Dr. Grace Xie, Mr. Longben Tian, Miss Qingling Yang and Miss Yan Zhang attended the EPI|Lifestyle Scientific Sessions 2024 held by the American Heart Association in Chicago from Mar 18 to Mar 24. The topics of their presentations are listed as follows:
  - Dr. Grace Xie: Associations between Healthy Lifestyles Score and Metabolic Syndrome in Hong Kong Chinese Women: An Age-matched Nested Case-Control Study
  - Mr. Longben Tian: Women With Migraine Had Higher Progression of 10-year Stroke Risk Than Those Without Migraine: Findings From a Nested Case-Control Study
  - Miss Qingling Yang: Increased trunk fat and Decreased limb fat Linked to Elevated Cardiovascular Risk in Hong Kong Chinese Women
  - Miss Yan Zhang: Prolonged Sitting Time Was Associated with Central Obesity-related Parameters among Hong Kong Chinese Women: A Cross-sectional Study

Mar 6, 2024
- Dr. Grace Xie, Dr. Yunyang Deng, Mr. Longben Tian, Miss Qingling Yang and Miss Yan Zhang attended the 27th East Asian Forum of Nursing Scholars (EAFONS) conference in HKU from Mar 6 to Mar 7. The topics of presentations are listed as follows:
  - Dr. Yunyang Deng: Higher Healthy Lifestyle Scores/Indices Were Associated with a Lower Metabolic Syndrome Risk: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
  - Mr. Longben Tian: The association between migraine and stroke risk progression: A cohort study among Hong Kong Chinese women
  - Miss Qingling Yang: Migraine Prevalence and Clinical Features in Hong Kong Chinese Women: Findings from the MECH-HK Study
  - Miss Yan Zhang: Effectiveness of Digital Health Interventions on Sedentary Behavior Among Patients with Chronic Diseases: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Feb 20, 2024
- We created a combined lifestyle index using eight lifestyle factors: not smoking, being physically active, getting good sleep, experiencing low or no stress, low or no fatigue, having a healthy diet, maintaining a standard body mass index, and not drinking alcohol. Our study suggests that following such a healthy lifestyle pattern may help prevent migraine attacks. Conversely, it is also possible that women with migraine have a less healthy lifestyle compared to those without headaches. The research has been published in The Journal of Headache and Pain. Dr. Yunyang Deng, my postdoctoral researcher, played a key role in data cleaning, analysis, and writing the manuscript. Great work, Yunyang.

Feb 16, 2024
- We investigated how eight lifestyle factors collectively impact metabolic syndrome in Hong Kong Chinese women. Our results indicate that following a healthy lifestyle pattern, characterized by non-smoking, physical activity, low sedentary time, good sleep, low or no stress, low or no fatigue, healthy diet, and light alcohol drinking, could help prevent metabolic syndrome. The study has been published in Nutrients. My postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Yunyang Deng, was instrumental in cleaning the data, conducting the analysis, and writing the manuscript. Well done, Yunyang.

Jan 15, 2024
- Olivia, Hoya, Qingling, and two student helpers attended the third seminar organized collaboratively by our research partner, the Hong Kong Health Care Alliance (HKHCA), and our 'AID' Project. Over 40 community members joined the seminar. HKHCA invited a speaker to share the latest vaccination policies in Hong Kong and assisted participants in on-site appointment scheduling.

Dec 22, 2023
- Dr Xie, Olivia, Hoya, Yan, Ben, and two student helpers attended the third offline activity organized by the Jade Club. Over 30 community members participated in the activity. The AID project team conducted a prize quiz, focusing on knowledge related to COVID-19 vaccines, early testing, and self-protection. Participants who answered correctly were rewarded with coupons.

Dec 19, 2023
- Olivia, Hoya, Ben, Qingling, Yan, and two student helpers attended the second seminar jointly hosted by the research partner “中華慈行協會” and our 'AID' Project. Around 50 community members participated in the seminar. The director of the Association, Mr. Yeung, shared his experience about the vaccine uptake, and Olivia conducted the Q&A sessions for all the participants.

Nov 27, 2023
- Olivia and Hoya attended the second seminar jointly hosted by the research partner Hong Kong Health Care Alliance (HKHCA) and our 'AID' Project. More than 40 community members participated in the seminar. The HKHCA staff introduced vaccination and long COVID to the participants.

Nov 15, 2023
- Olivia and Hoya attended the second offline activity organized by the Jade Club. Over 30 community members took part in the activity. Olivia shared knowledge about self-protection, followed by a 20-minute Q&A session.The "AID" project team also provided support to participants in completing surveys and scheduling appointments for COVID-19 vaccinations.

Nov 9, 2023
- Dr Xie and Ben attended the European Course on Advanced Imaging Techniques in Neuroradiology held by the European Society of Neuroradiology Diagnostic and Interventional (ESNR) in Malta. This course aimed to deepen understanding of AI methodologies and brain volumetry tools in clinical contexts.

Nov 8, 2023
- We developed an AI-based, easily accessible, and high-performance preclinical risk assessment tool for osteoporosis screening. The paper has been published in JMIR Aging. My PhD student, Miss Qingling Yang, was chiefly responsible for model testing, data analysis, and manuscript writing. Well done Qingling.

Oct 31, 2023
- Dr Xie, Olivia and Hoya attended a seminar jointly hosted by the research partner “中華慈行協會”and our 'AID' Project. More than 50 community members participated in the seminar. The AID team shared the videos and PPT slides of the vaccination and self-protective measures for the participants.

Oct 30, 2023
- Dr Xie, Olivia and Ben attended a seminar jointly hosted by the research partner Hong Kong Health Care Alliance (HKHCA) and our 'AID' Project. More than 30 community members participated in the seminar. The HKHCA invited a guest speaker to introduce the different type of vaccines for the prevention of COVID-19, pneumonia, and flu.

Oct 30, 2023
- Olivia and Ben attended a tea gathering activity jointly hosted by the research partner 有心人長者支援有限公司 and our 'AID' Project. More than 40 community members participated in the activity. This was the booster session of the community-based health education programme by the research partner.

Sep 27, 2023
- Olivia, Hoya, and Ben attended the community activity held by the Jade Club. In total 23 community members participated in the activity. Olivia shared the COVID-19 relevant knowledge and the latest vaccine policy from the Hong Kong government. A 40-min Q&A session was conducted thereafter, to address the questions from the participants. The “AID” project team also assisted the participants to fill out questionnaires and make COVID-19 vaccine appointments.

Sep 26, 2023
- Dr. Xie, Olivia and Ben joined a health education seminar hosted by the 有心人長者支援有限公司. More than 40 community members attended the seminar. Dr. Xie shared the findings of vaccine hesitancy from the “AID” project, and answered participants' questions onsite. After the event, the organizer presented a thanks letter to acknowledge the contribution of our “AID” project team in promoting vaccination in the community.

Sep 21, 2023
- The UBSN of PolyU shares Dr Xie's MRI study on exploring mechanism of Tai Chi training in migraine prophylaxis in their newsletter.

Sep 19, 2023
- The 3rd paper of Tai Chi for migraine prophylaxis in our team is now published.

Sep 5, 2023
- A new publication about the sleep and depression in couples.

Sep 4, 2023
- Welcome new team members, Ms Yan Zhang and Dr Yunyang Deng!

Two new co-authored papers published: vaccination hesitancy and hand washing.

Aug 30, 2023
- Oliva and Hoya attended the workshop jointly delivered by our "AID" project and the Christian Family Service Centre (CFSC), to motivate the center members for COVID-19 vaccine uptake and self-protective measures.

Aug 25, 2023
- Two online train-the-trainer workshops were conducted for six local NGOs, to facilitate them with the skills and knowledge in implementing community-based education programmes towards COVID-19 vaccine uptake.

Aug 20, 2023
- Dr Xie, Ben, and Hoya attended the 3rd off-line activity organized by the “陽光老友同學會”, to enhance the COVID-19 vaccine uptake for participants, and get feedbacks towards our "AID" project.