PolyU-led research projects secure $27.8m funding from RGC to enhance the community’s health and well-being

Ten projects led by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) have recently received funding support from the inaugurated Research Impact Fund (RIF) under the Research Grants Council (RGC). Among them, half of them are health-related, covering areas of drug development, detection of scoliosis, myopia control and food safety. This has rightly demonstrated not only the strong research capabilities of the University but also the contribution of its research to the well-being of the community.

The funded health-related research projects include the followings:

Project	Project-in-charge	Funding Amount (HK$ million)
Development of a colistin/adjuvant antimicrobial regimen that exhibits low toxicity and high efficacy in combating multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogens	Professor CHEN Sheng, Professor of Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, PolyU	6
Early Detection of progressive adolescent idiopathic scoliosis and optimization for non-surgical treatments using novel 3D ultrasound imaging	Professor ZHENG Yongping, Head, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Henry G. Leong Professor in Biomedical Engineering, PolyU	8.4
Tackling grand challenges in food safety: a big data and IoT enabled approach	Professor CAO Jiannong, Chair Professor of Distributed and Mobile Computing, Department of Computing, PolyU	5.4
Effective of bright light therapy, myopic defocus, atropine and the combinations for controlling myopic eye growth in schoolchildren: a randomized control trial	Professor TO Chi-ho, Head, School of Optometry and Henry G. Leong Professor in Elderly Vision Health, PolyU	8
Total amount		27.8

Details of the research projects are listed in the Appendix.

“Committed to conducting impactful research for the benefit of the community, PolyU has made healthcare and medical-related research one of our foci of research. From drug development, AI-powered medical images, predictive analytics and diagnosis, to surgical robotic systems and preventive medical intervention, we are leveraging our cross-disciplinary strength to come up with solutions to help prevent and treat illnesses as well as to enhance the health and well-being of the community,” said Ir Professor Alex Wai, Vice President (Research Development) of PolyU.

The 10 PolyU projects funded by RIF received a total of HK$65 million, representing one-third in terms of both funding and number of projects of the RIF in 2018/19. Other than the health-related projects, the other projects are related to the development of smart city, transportation and marine reclamation.

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