S H Ho Professorship in Haematology and Oncology

Cancer remains to be a leading cause of death worldwide. The provision of more effective and safe anti-cancer treatment depends on advanced basic and translational oncology research to enhance the understanding of cancer biology, and clinical studies to provide evidence-based medical practice for improving patient outcomes. Cancer medicine is a major research focus at the LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong (HKUMed), and Professor Eric WC Tse is one of the key researchers in the team.

Professor Eric WC Tse is a physician scientist specialising in the area of clinical haematology and experimental oncology. He is internationally known for his expertise in the management of patients with lymphoma and is recognised as a world expert in T-cell lymphoma (top 0.1% of world scholars studying T-cell lymphoma by Expertscape). He and his team also pioneer the use of immune checkpoint blockade therapy in the treatment of natural killer (NK)-cell lymphoma, a type of aggressive lymphoma that is more common in the Asia. Professor Tse is a key opinion leader in the field of lymphoma, providing consultation and sharing his experience with other haematologists and oncologists around the world on management of their patients. In the laboratory, Professor Tse has been studying the role of peptidyl-prolyl-isomerase PIN1 in cancers and his team has established the potential of PIN1 as an important drug target in liver cancer. Another major focus of his basic and translational research is the identification of oncogenic drivers as therapeutic targets of arsenic trioxide in various cancers.

Professor Tse is an alumnus of The University of Hong Kong (HKU). He obtained BSc (Biomed. Sc.) with first class honours before graduating MBBS (HK) as the top student in 1994. After receiving his PhD from the University of Cambridge and the Max Perutz Prize from the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, he joined HKU as Assistant Professor and was promoted to Full Professor in 2017. Professor Tse has been awarded fellowships by all three Royal Colleges of Physicians and the Royal College of Pathologists in the UK. He is currently Associate Dean (Research) at HKUMed and Honorary Treasurer of the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine. He has also held leadership positions in different local and international organisations, including the Hong Kong Society of Haematology (Chairman 2014-16), Hong Kong Society for Thrombosis and Haemostasis (Founding Chairman), Hong Kong College of Physicians (Chairman of the Specialty Board of Haematology and Haematological Oncology), American Society of Hematology (Steering Committee Member of Highlights of ASH program), and the Federation of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of the UK (Examination Board member).