Raymond Chuen-Chung Chang

Since October 2001, I have established my laboratory entitled “Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Diseases” when I was a Research Assistant Professor. Since then, my laboratory has grown from one MPhil postgraduate student to now 24 members (11 PhD students, 1 MPhil student, 2 Master of Medical Sciences, 1 Research Assistant, 4 final year project undergraduate fellows, 4 undergraduate interns, and 1 laboratory manager). I divide the team into three sub-groups for efficient management for a medium-sized group.

In the last twenty years as group leader, I have successfully obtained three international grants (two from The Glaucoma Foundation and one from BrightFocus Foundation, former name as American Health Assistant Foundation), three international exchange grants (France-Hong Kong Joint Research Scheme), thirteen local research grants (General Research Grant from Research Grant Council, Health and Medical Research Grant from Food and Health Bureau, Innovative and Technology Research Fund from Innovative and Technology Commissioner, Croucher Foundation), one Hong Kong – National Science Foundation of China Joint Research Scheme, one Technology Transfer Grant, one private Foundation (Azalea Endowment (1972) Foundation) and numerous internal grants from The University of Hong Kong. I have also attracted contract research from international pharmaceutical company such as GlaxoSmithKline R&D and local biotechnology company such as NeuroTech (Hong Kong) Limited for translational research. In University, I am a team leader in an Area of Excellences (Institute for Molecular Drug Discovery and Synthesis), University Strategic Research Theme on Healthy Aging, University Strategic Research Theme on Drug Discovery to investigate neuroprotective testosterone for Alzheimer’s disease and drug discovery for Parkinson’s diseases and glaucoma. Altogether, I have secured over HK$24.9 million (~ CAN$4.1 million) (~US$3.06 million) research grant for the team in these twenty years.

I have published 169 papers, 15 book chapters and 394 abstracts. I am the editor for four books on “Advanced Understanding of Neurodegenerative Diseases”, “Neurodegenerative Diseases – Processes, Prevention, Protection and Monitoring”, “Lycium Barbarum and Human Health”, and the new one “Neuroprotection”. My h-index calculated by Scopus is 46 from 11628 citations, and by Google Scholar is 58 from 18557 citations. Since 2018, I have been listed as the top 1% highly cited scientists in the world by Journal Citation Report, Web of Sciences. Also, the laboratory has successfully transferred a polysaccharide product from Chinese medicine by our basic science research into one health food supplement in the market in Hong Kong. This product is the first trial for our Faculty of Medicine to transfer results from basic science research into commercial product. The laboratory has proven record in both basic science and applied science.

I have organized 10 International Workshop/Conferences of Dementia: From Public Health to Therapeutic Insights. I am the Secretary and Founding member for HKU Alzheimer’s Disease Network for multi-disciplinary research of Alzheimer’s disease. This conference becomes an eight-university event held in Hong Kong Science Park. I am a member in the Scientific Advisory Board in the International Alzheimer’s / Parkinson’s Diseases Symposium. In 2012, I have also organized International Symposium on Healthy Aging. I am the Editor-in-Chief for American Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias since 2016. This is a journal with over 25 years publications. I am Senior Editor/Asia Chief Editor for Journal of Neuroimmune Pharmacology, handling Associate Editor for Neurodegeneration Sections, Frontiers in Neurosciences, Frontiers in Neurology and Frontiers in Psychiatry. I am currently a member in the Editorial Board of over 20 different journals. I am also a member in Scientific Review Committee for Alzheimer Association. I have built up my international standing and network/collaborations with US, Canada, Australia, UK, France and China.

Research Interests:

• Neurodegeneration
• Pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease
• Molecular mechanisms of risk factors for Alzheimer’s disease
• Parkinson’s disease dementia
• Lewy Body Dementias
• Neuroimmune responses / Neuroimmunology
• Vision loss in Alzheimer’s disease
• Molecular signaling of neurodegeneration

Education / Training

• BSc, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong (1987-1991)
• MPhil, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong (1991-1993)
• PhD, University of Munich (LMU), Munich, Germany (1994-1997)
• Postdoctoral Fellow, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, USA (1997-2000)

Other Affiliations:

• Founder and Secretary, HKU Alzheimer’s Disease Research Network under Strategic Research Theme of Aging, HKU
• Member, State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, HKU
• Member, HKU Strategic Research Themes on Neuroscience, Ageing, Food Science and Drug Discovery

Awards and Distinctions:

• Research Fellow Award for outstanding Hong Kong pre-doctoral student, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), Germany (1993-1997)
• NATO Scholarship – Full sponsorship of the participation in NATO advanced course in flow cytometry, France (1995)
• NIH Visiting Fellowship Award, NIH, USA (1997-2000)
• Research Fellow Award for Research Excellence, National Institutes of Health, USA (1999)
• Neuroscientist-Teacher Partner Award, Society for Neuroscience, USA (2006)
• Young Investigator Travel Award, International Society to Advance Alzheimer Research and Treatment (2008)
• Shenzhen Outstanding Science and Technology Prize (Group Second Prize) (2014)