Emerging infectious diseases, such as COVID-19 and pandemic influenza, have a significant impact on the healthcare system and the society. Rapid diagnostic tests are essential for guiding patient management and infection control measures, which lead to improvement in patient outcome and prevent outbreaks in the community and in hospitals. In recent years, fully automated testing has greatly reduced the complexity of diagnostic testing and shortened the turn-around time. Despite their potential benefits, several challenges need to be addressed. In this talk, Professor To will present the advances in rapid diagnostic testing, and will discuss about the hurdles in implementing these novel technologies in real-life settings.
Professor To is currently the Department Chairperson and a Clinical Professor of the Department of Microbiology, LSK Faculty of Medicine, the University of Hong Kong (HKU). He obtained BSc (Microbiology) from the University of British Columbia and MBBS from the University of Hong Kong. He has obtained professional qualifications as a clinical microbiologist and as a physician.
Professor To’s research focuses on emerging respiratory virus infection. He has a particular interest in diagnostic tests, genomic analysis, and seroepidemiology. He has published over 300 articles, and classified as a “Highly Cited Researcher” in 2021 and 2022. He has received the State Science and Technology Award for his work on avian influenza viruses, and the RCPath Achievement Award in 2021 (Highly Commended) from the UK Royal College of Pathologists for his contribution to the saliva-based respiratory virus testing.
Clean water and clean air are vital for public health. This project focuses on developing high-efficiency and environmentally sustainable filters for removing harmful air/water pollutants. The team has developed novel architectures and functionalities for the filters to achieve high permeance, high removal efficiency, and excellent reusability.
