Dr. Raymond Chan introduced the　　　　　　　 Dr. Simon Lui presented the work 
work of the NACN Lab to the visitors　　　　　 on behalf of Dr .Eric Cheung on the　
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 joint research programme with the　　　 
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 NACN Lab at the Castle Peak Hospital　 

A group of internationally renowned scholars and clinicians were invited by Dr. Raymond Chan of the Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience (NACN) Lab， and the Key Laboratory of Mental Health, the Institute of Psychology to attend a forum on neuropsychiatric disorders research on Dec 8th 2009. These scholars included Professor John McGrath from Queensland Brain Institute, Australia; Professor Pak Sham and Dr. Grainne McAlonan from the University of Hong Kong. A team of psychiatrists from the Castle Peak Hospital (Hong Kong), led by Dr. Eric Cheung, was also taking part in this forum.

The main purpose of this forum was to facilitate and strengthen collaborative work on neuropsychiatric disorders research between Australia, Hong Kong, and Beijing. Dr. Chan presented the work done by the NACN Lab and Dr. Simon Lui from Castle Peak Hospital also presented their research programme (jointly run by the NACN Lab) to be initiated in Hong Kong. All the experts then shared their viewpoints on neuropsychiatric disorders research in Australia, Hong Kong and mainland China, and commended more concrete work on how to set up a research-oriented programme for neuropsychiatric disorders in Hong Kong and mainland China.

After the forum, they also paid a visit to the local psychiatric hospital and discussed with the clinical collaborators of the NACN Lab. They were impressed by the rapid development of research in neuropsychiatric disorders, schizophrenia research in particular, in mainland China. However, they also suggested that there was still much room for improvement and a multidisciplinary approach of research is badly needed. They recognized and appreciated very much the contribution of psychologists in neuropsychiatric research in mainland China. They all agreed this was a very successful forum and it was the commencement of the collaboration among us. A stronger link should be reinforced and facilitated between Australia, Hong Kong, and mainland China in the near future.

The delegates from the Castle Peak Hospital, Drs. Simon Lui, Amy Liu and William Chui also received a 3-day intensive training on the administration of neuropsychological tests and behavioural paradigms developed by the NACN Lab. Moreover, Drs. Raymond Chan and Eric Cheung also discussed the progress of their collaborative work on prospective memory in first-onset schizophrenia and their nonpsychotic first-degree relatives in Hong Kong.

Professor John McGrath is the Professor and director of the Epidemiology and Developmental Neurobiology Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, the University of Queensland, and Head of Research Group at the Queensland Brain Institute, and the Park Centre for Mental Health.
He is internationally renowned expert in epidemiology of schizophrenia. His team develops animal models that are informed by epidemiology, and cross-links with key neurobiological correlates of schizophrenia. Moreover, his team also focuses on epidemiologically-informed risk factors for schizophrenia that have obvious pubic health implications.

Professor Pak Sham is the Head and Chair Professor in Psychiatric Genomics at the Department of Psychiatry and co-director of the Genome Centre at the University of Hong Kong. He is internationally renowned scholar in behavioural genetics. His research areas mainly focus on genetics and epidemiology of psychiatric disorders, and statistical methodology for genetic and epidemiological studies. He is also one of the members involving in the International HapMap Consortium.

Dr. Grainne McAlonan is the Assistant Professor and deputy chief of research at the Department of Psychiatry, the University of Hong Kong. She received her medical training at University of Cambridge and University of London, U.K. She gained a PhD in behavioural neuroscience from University of Cambridge. Her research focus is on disorders of neurodevelopment, using MRI, along with neuropsychological and neurophysiological testing, to link brain and behaviour in people with autism, ADHD and schizophrenia.

Dr. Eric Cheung is the consultant psychiatrist of the Castle Peak Hospital in Hong Kong. He is also the Cluster Coordinator (Psychiatric Service) in-charging for the New Territories West region in Hong Kong. He has been a collaborator of Dr. Raymond Chan for 9 years and has been involving in a number of projects in schizophrenia research.

Professor John McGrath and Dr. Grainne McAlonan commented
on the need of research component in a clinical programme of
first-onset schizophrenia and how we can optimize such a
programme in clinical setting


Professor Pak Sham (sitting at the right-hand side) expressed  his
 viewpoint on statistical analysis of gene-environment interaction


A picture for the participants of the forum


Drs. Raymond Chan and Eric Cheung’s (centre) team