KE Spotlight - Community Engagement - HKU Knowledge Exchange

Faculty Knowledge Exchange Awards 2018

The annual Faculty Knowledge Exchange (KE) Awards recognise each Faculty’s outstanding KE accomplishment that has made demonstrable economic, social or cultural impacts to benefit the community, business/industry, or partner organisations. Results of the 2018 Faculty KE Awards are now available.

HKU medical research team reveals damage to biliary system by ketamine abuse reversible after quitting

A research team of the HKU Department of Medicine and North District Hospital’s Department of Surgery performed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) on 257 ketamine abusers who had been abusing ketamine for an average duration of 10.5 years. Sixty percent of participants had abnormalities of the biliary system on MRI. Biliary tract damage was reversible in six participants who had a second MRI scan after quitting ketamine abuse, which found all participants had improvement in abdominal symptoms and normalization of liver enzymes. The reversibility of biliary tract damage after quitting ketamine and the development of liver cirrhosis after longstanding exposure are important public health messages which should be emphasized in educational efforts when combating against substance abuse. Dr Walter Seto Wai-kay, HKU Clinical Associate Professor of Gastroenterology and Hepatology said the study enhances their understanding of the toxic effects of ketamine on the biliary system and the liver. He hopes the findings will motivate current drug abusers to quit, and will encourage our community’s efforts in ‘saying no’ to drug abuse.

Students smoking less, HKU study shows

An HKU School of Public Health study, commissioned by the Food and Health Bureau and conducted from November 2016 to June 2017, revealed that smoking prevalence among Primary Four to Six and Form One to Six students was 0.1% and 2.5% respectively, representing a drop of 0.1 and 0.2 percentage points compared to the 2014/15 survey. According to the latest Thematic Household Survey published by the Census and Statistics Department, conducted from June to September 2017, among teenagers aged between 15 and 19, daily cigarette smoking prevalence also decreased from 1.1% in 2015 to 1.0% in 2017.

Making Our City More Walkable for All

The HKUrbanLab, the research and knowledge exchange arm of the Faculty of Architecture at The University of Hong Kong, is working with Civic Exchange and the Hong Kong Council of Social Service on a project called ‘Walking with Wheels’, aimed at finding the best barrier-free routes for people in wheelchairs and those with prams and trolleys. Watch the full video.

HKU medical chemists discover peptic ulcer treatment metallodrug effective in “taming” superbugs

A research team led by Professor Sun Hongzhe of the Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Dr Richard Kao Yi-Tsun of the Department of Microbiology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, discovered an alternative strategy by repositioning colloidal bismuth subcitrate (CBS), an antimicrobial drug against Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) -related ulcer. The team revealed a bismuth-based antimicrobial drug for treating peptic ulcers can effectively paralyze multi-resistant superbugs, e.g. Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) and Carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP), and significantly suppress the development of antibiotic resistance, allowing the lifespan of currently-used antibiotic to be largely extended. Director of the HKU Centre for Infection Dr Ho Pak Leung said CBS can disarm superbugs reducing them to almost sensitive strain which can be easily killed by commonly used Carbapenem antibiotics and is having a good potential for future clinical applications. A patent has been filed in the US for the discovery.

HKU routine surveillance programme detects H5N6 virus in fresh provision shop

The HKU routine surveillance programme for avian influenza at markets and fresh provision shops, commissioned by the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD), detected traces of H5N6 virus from an environmental swab of a chopping board and skin swabs of a chilled duck sample taken from a fresh provision shop in Wan Chai earlier. After analysis by experts, it was believed that the chilled duck concerned was not infected and it was only contaminated by traces of virus on its outer skin. The chance of infection through properly treated chilled poultry meat is very slim. FEHD is investigating the source of the contamination.