Strength and Expertise

The Department of Paediatrics at the Prince of Wales Hospital has played a prominent role in research involving different aspects of paediatric and neonatal health care. Our efforts have paid rich dividends in terms of fundamental knowledge of childhood diseases and major therapeutic advances. Continual research collaboration both locally and internationally will be sought in order to build on our currently available expertise and infrastructure to strengthen our research capabilities and to promote better health care management of children.

Our department has been granted SFDA accreditation in the subspecialties of Haematology & Oncology, Immunology, Respirology and Infectious Diseases. Thus, we are well equipped and prepared for carrying out a wide variety of clinical trials for mainland China. We have the expertise in conducting research independently and experience in collaborating with colleagues from other specialties and institutions to carry out research in common childhood diseases.

Our on-going research strategy has focused on four main areas of paediatrics:

Neonatology
Our neonatal intensive care is the busiest and one of the most sophisticated in Hong Kong. With 18 Level III intensive care beds, we provide tertiary medical and surgical service for all aspects of neonatal diseases. Neonatal research activities are closely integrated into other aspects of paediatric medicine, especially infectious disease, basic molecular science and respiratory medicine. Perinatology is an officially designated major focus area for the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and internationally we have firmly established ourselves at the forefront of neonatal research.
We have an excellent tract record in carrying out clinical trials, especially randomised controlled studies of new treatment in preterm and term newborns. Completed clinical trials included oral vancomycin for prevention of necrotising enterocolitis, 5% albumin versus normal saline for treatment of hypotension, 5% albumin versus normal saline for partial exchange transfusion, inhaled corticosteroids for treatment of respiratory distress syndrome, oral erythromycin for treatment of gastrointestinal dysmotility, and the use of a “stress” dose of hydrocortisone for treatment of refractory hypotension. In addition, the neonatal research team has developed its expertise in studying diagnostic markers of infection; in the area of neonatal endocrinology such as effects of maturation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in preterm infants and new hormones e.g. ghrelin, resistin and leptin; and in investigation of chronic lung disease and anthropometric studies. We have also developed animal models and cell culture experiment for studying glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy, stem cells and traditional Chinese medicines.

Allergy and Immunology
Our department is the chief coordinating centre for epidemiological research on asthma and allergies in Hong Kong and Chinese Mainland under the global ISAAC collaboration. We have an established pulmonary function assessment unit and a sputum-processing laboratory, and facilities for carrying out non-invasive airway inflammation assessment are readily available. We have a close working relationship with the Departments of Medicine and Therapeutics and Chemical Pathology, and over the past 5 years, the three departments have been very active in biomarker researches with the objective of defining better non-invasive inflammatory markers for asthma and atopic dermatitis. The participating Departments also pioneered in characterizing the nature and extent of indoor aeroallergens (house dust mites, animal dander, cockroach, house moulds) in Hong Kong between 1995 and 1998.
We have completed six company-sponsored clinical trials for allergies. Besides, our Department is currently conducting a clinical trial involving the use of traditional Chinese medicine in the treatment of childhood atopic dermatitis.

Haematology & Oncology
Our Haematology & Oncology division has 24 beds, together with a four-bedded bone marrow transplant unit are located in Lady Pao’s Children’s Cancer Center with the state-of-art laboratory facilities to support all kinds of basic, molecular and clinical research work. Over the past 5 years, we have completed a variety of randomised clinical trials, which include the use of I-BFM-SG in the management of childhood non-B acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, use of traditional Chinese medicine herb (Ling Zhi) in children with cancer and its effects on their quality of life, multinational study of treatment on Ewing’s sarcoma and treatment of refractory / relapsed acute myeloid leukaemia.
Our center is one of two children bone marrow transplant units in Hong Kong and since its establishment in 1995, we have carried out over 200 bone marrow and haematopoietic stem cell transplants.

Respiratory Infectious Diseases
Respiratory infectious disorders are a leading cause of admission to Hong Kong's paediatric wards. Our research team together with the Department of Microbiology have been active in revealing the secular trend of hospital admission pattern for different respiratory conditions. During the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003, our department was able to quickly assemble a dedicated team of specialists in the field of infectious diseases, immunology and virology to carry out clinical and basic science research on this novel virus.

We were one of the international designated centres for carrying out randomised, double-blind multicentre trials to assess efficacy and safety of new vaccines, including: oral live attenuated human rotavirus (HRV) vaccine in healthy infants, cold-adapted influenza trivalent vaccine in children 6 - 59 months of age and live cold-adapted, liquid formulation, trivalent Influenza vaccine, administered concomitantly with a combination of live, attenuated mumps, measles, and rubella vaccine (MMR) in healthy children aged 11- 24 months.