Major Projects

Our research team has been conducting comprehensive studies investigating the epidemiology, genetics, pathogenesis, and treatment of IBD. We are the pioneer of the first large scale epidemiologic study of IBD across 15 countries in Asia-Pacific and an Asian Microbiota Consortium. We developed the Hong Kong IBD Registry to determine disease burden locally and set up studies of natural history and environmental risk factors of IBD to identify potential aetiological factors and preventive strategies.

ACCESS

The Asia-Pacific Crohn's and Colitis Epidemiology Study, ACCESS, is a collaboration project between 11 countries across Asia and Australia, focusing on research of Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) in Asia-Pacific.

Hong Kong IBD Registry

The Nixon-TAM Hong Kong IBD Registry aims to investigate the prevalence, disease characteristics, treatment, and prognosis of IBD patients in Hong Kong. 13 public hospitals have been participating in the registry.

ENIGMA

The ENIGMA Consortium comprised of leading clinicians, microbiologists and scientists aims to make discoveries about key microbial organisms and related environmental factors that cause or contribute to the development of Crohn’s disease.

MECONIUM

The MECONIUM study aims to compare the bacterial profiles of pregnant women with and without Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and their newborn babies. The goal is to explore the role of genetic make-up, disease activity throughout pregnancy, medications and clinical features on the bacterial composition of the baby.

ASSURANCE

The ASSURANCE programme aims to define the colorectal cancer (CRC) risk in geographically diverse IBD patient populations, to monitor screening outcomes according to the physician’s approach, evaluate adherence to guidelines and assess any cost benefits of surveillance. These data will help shape future CRC surveillance strategies in this at-risk population.