"This professorship is named in honour of my uncle Dr Tsao Yen-Chow, an expert on child health and medicine whose expertise helped shape the field of paediatric medicine in Hong Kong since the 1970s. The Foundation hopes that this professorship will contribute to the professional development of paediatric medicine in Hong Kong in its crucial role of safeguarding the well-being of our future generations."
Dr Walton W T Li
Chairman, Li Shu Fan Medical Foundation
Tsao Yen-Chow Professorship in Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine
Professor Patrick Ip is a renowned expert in Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. He serves as a Clinical Professor at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) and is an Honorary Consultant in Queen Mary Hospital and Hong Kong Children's Hospital. Professor Ip obtained his MBBS, MPH, and MD from HKU, with additional overseas training at Imperial College London.
Prof Ip is globally recognised for his leadership in developmental behavioral paediatrics, population studies, and community-based interventions. He co-chairs the Lancet Psychiatry Series on Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, the first such study commissioned by Lancet Psychiatry on a single disease. He also pioneered the Comprehensive Child Development Service, a groundbreaking territory-wide programme that provides timely interventions for children in need of health and developmental support. His research expertise and contributions have been well recognised by the Outstanding Asia-Pacific Paediatrician Award (2022), Knowledge Exchange Impact Award (2021), Humanity Award (2020), Faculty Outstanding Research Output Award (2019), and UNICEF Best Research Award (2015).
Professsor Ip’s overarching goal is to advance the agenda of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine by identifying hidden risks, empowering vulnerable populations, piloting evidence-based practice models, and fostering community-engaged multidisciplinary partnerships. His research interests aim to promote evidence-based practice and build multidisciplinary partnerships and span across 1) childhood adversity and development; 2) ADHD and mental health; 3) physical activity, growth and nutrition; and 4) emerging diseases and vaccinations. He has led and published over 400 scientific publications in world renowned peer-reviewed journals, such as Lancet Psychiatry, Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, JAMA Pediatrics, and Clinical Infectious Diseases. In the past five years, his h-index has exceeded 50, with over 10,000 citations.
The evidence generated from Professor Ip's studies has informed local policy and had significant international impacts. He plays a crucial role in global efforts to enhance child health and development. Notably, he is the only paediatric scholar in the UNICEF’s high-impact project on standardising early development scales for children in the East Asia-Pacific region. Additionally, he is the sole Chinese paediatric scholar invited to the WHO Working Group on the Lancet Early Childhood Development Series, which aims to improve early childhood development worldwide. He also serves as Co-Principal Investigator of the TIMESPAN consortium, funded by the European Union (EU) Horizon 2020- Research and Innovation Framework programme, to advance the management of adult ADHD and co-occurring cardiometabolic diseases.
Patrick Ip