History

In recent years, digestive diseases are rapidly increasing by number and complexity. They have become a global threat that one discipline alone cannot tackle. Professor Joseph Sung, the former Vice-Chancellor of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, firmly believes that ‘the best treatment of gastrointestinal disorders is often through a multidisciplinary approach’. With this vision, he established the Institute of Digestive Disease (IDD) in 2006.

IDD has a culture of interdisciplinary collaboration that strives for excellence. The institute has a team of gastroenterologists, surgeons, interventional radiologists, oncologists, pathologists, microbiologists, psychiatrists, basic scientists and even engineers, all working towards a common goal.

Our missions are to

Provide

quality service as a tertiary referral centre to patients with digestive diseases

Provide

professional training to medical and surgical gastroenterologists with a comprehensive and integrated approach to digestive diseases

Produce

research results that change local and global clinical practice

Educate

the public on treatment and prevention of digestive diseases

Milestones of IDD

From 2006 - 2023

IDD’s dedication to fulfilling its missions has won it a strong reputation in both the local and international community. The institute’s milestones demonstrate its notable performance in teaching, training and research.

2006

  • Accredited as Hong Kong’s only China Food and Drug Administration Centre in GI diseases
  • Organized the “Asia Pacific Working Group Meeting for Prevention of hepatocellular carcinoma in Hong Kong

2014

  • Established the third affiliated centre – S.H. Ho Centre of Digestive Health to provide high quality gastrointestinal and liver examination services to the public as well as comprehensive training to healthcare professionals

2007

  • Won the State Scientific & Technological Progress Award for the achievement and innovation in the treatment of peptic ulcer bleeding

2008

  • Organized the First Asia-Pacific Consensus for Colorectal Cancer Screening
  • Endoscopy Center has been granted by the World Endoscopy Organization as one of the 18 Centers of Excellence in the World
  • Established the second affiliated centre – “CUHK Jockey Club Bowel Cancer and support people at risk of bowel cancers by providing educational talks and screening services to the public

2009

  • Organized the First Asia-Pacific Multidisciplinary Working Party on the Gastrointestinal and Cardiovascular Effects of NSAIDs and Anti-Platelet Drugs

2010

  • Won the Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output Awards (Science and Technology) on the projected entitled ‘Integrative Research on Molecular Basis and Potential Targets for Gastric Cancer’ by the Ministry of Education

2011

  • Launched Master of Science in Gastroenterology programme, Asia’s first and only postgraduate programme in gastroenterology to provide comprehensive training for physicians, nurses and healthcare practitioners to help them become experts in the field of digestive disease
  • Organized the first International Digestive Disease Forum (IDDF)

2012

  • Won the Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output Awards (Science and Technology) on Innovations and technological advancement in preventing peptic ulcer bleeding
  • Won the State Scientific & Technological Progress Award on the development and application of prevention strategies for hepatitis B virus related diseases in the Chinese population

2013

  • Won the Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output Awards (Science and Technology) on the investigation and application of pathogenesis and intervention for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
  • Accredited as State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease in China to promote world-leading research in the improvement of diagnosis and treatment of digestive diseases

2017

  • Received grant from the Prestigious Helmsley Charitable Trust to Investigate Environmental Triggers of Inflammatory Bowel Disease

2018

  • Launched the CUHK Jockey Club Multi-Cancer Prevention Programme to investigate the relationship between cancer and obesity. The programme provides a one-stop multi-cancer screening service, including colorectal, breast and prostate cancer screening, to eligible public.

2020

  • Established CUHK Medical Data Analytics Centre (MDAC) on 1 March 2020, MDAC devoted to utilize big clinical data to answer important research questions through statistical approaches and AI analytics

2022

  • Named “Highly Cited Researchers 2022” by Clarivate Analytics. The honour is given to researchers who demonstrated significant and broad influence in their fields of study through the publication of multiple papers which ranked in the top 1% by citations during the last decade
  • CU Medicine scholars listed in the “Highly Cited Researchers 2022” are as follows:

Professor Francis CHAN, Professor Henry CHAN, Professor Siew NG, Professor Joseph SUNG and Professor Vincent WONG

Past Directors

Founder
Joseph J.Y. SUNG
2006-2010
2018-2021
Francis K.L. CHAN
2010-2012
Henry L.Y. CHAN
2013-2018