Daniel C K Yu Professorship in Breast Cancer Research

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women worldwide and is a leading cause of cancer deaths globally. In Hong Kong, it is the most common cancer of women with 5,565 new cases in 2021, accounting for 28.5% of all new cancer cases in women.

According to the World Health Organization, breast cancer occurs in women in every country at any age after puberty but with an increasing rate in later life. In 2022, there were 2.3 million women diagnosed with breast cancer and 670,000 deaths around the world. But better public awareness, advances in early detection and improved treatment have increased survival rates.

Professor Ava Kwong is the Daniel C K Yu Professor in Breast Cancer Research and Clinical Professor of Department of Surgery at The University of Hong Kong (HKU). She is also the Chief of Division of Breast Surgery at Queen Mary Hospital, Tung Wah Hospital and was Chief of Division of Breast Surgery of The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital.

She is the Honorary Consultant in Breast Surgery at Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital, and was the Assistant Dean (Knowledge Exchange and Faculty Advancement) of the LKS Faculty of Medicine, HKU, from 2013-2018, and Honorary Clinical Professor of the Department of Medicine (Oncology) from 2015-2019.

Professor Kwong’s main research interests are in breast and ovarian cancer genetics, advanced surgical technologies, epidemiology, psychosocial and clinical trials in oncological treatment. In particular, she focuses on hereditary breast cancer and has been conducting clinical trials in cryosurgery, using a cryoprobe that freezes tumours in early-stage breast cancer patients.

She is also an enthusiastic teacher and is a trainer for the breast cancer surgery subspecialty at the College of Surgeons of Hong Kong. Her supervision of residents, PhD and Master Students has led to over 20 awards on abstracts presented in local and international meetings.

Amongst the many organisations she has been involved with in her career, she founded the Hong Kong Hereditary Breast Cancer Family Registry in 2007 and is the Director of the Hong Kong Hereditary and High-Risk Breast and Ovarian Cancer Programme. Professor Kwong is a founding member of the Asian Hereditary Breast Cancer Consortium and is a member of The Hong Kong Genetic Counselling Practice Consortium of the Hong Kong Genome Institution to enhance the development of genetic counselling.

Professor Kwong has gained multiple awards and scholarships, including the Hong Kong International Cancer Congress Young Investigator Award in 2006 and 2008 and the 2019 BASO Uccio Querci della Rovere prize for her outstanding achievements in, and contribution to, the field of breast cancer surgery internationally. One of her projects supported by Health and Medical Research Fund (HMRF) has been nominated to receive the Excellent Research Award at the Health Research Symposium 2021. In 2023, she shared HKU’s Faculty Clinical Service Excellence Awards for her dedication and clinical excellence.

She also contributes to governmental bodies and was appointed as a member of the Health Bureau’s Cancer Coordinating Committee in August 2014. She was then appointed a member of the Bureau’s Working Group on Colorectal and Breast Cancer Screening for high-risk groups. She also was appointed as a member of Expert Advisory Panel in Cancer of Health and Medical Research Fund until September 2022.

Professor Kwong has authored various chapters in medical books including ABC of Breast Disease, Breast Surgery: A Companion to Specialist Surgical Practice, and Recent Advances in Surgery 40, as well as for patient information books published in Hong Kong. In 2015, she published her first book Healing Breast Cancer with Love, about breast cancer patients and medical personnel reflecting on each other’s lives to raise awareness of the disease.