Belinda Hung Outstanding Young Professorship

Sleep is recognised as one of the three primary pillars of health. Yet, sleep problems are among the most common medical conditions experienced by adults around the world. Specifically, insomnia, characterize by difficulty initiating sleep and difficulty maintaining sleep, is the most prevalent sleep complaint, affecting around 30% of the general population. Increasing evidence suggests that sleep problems, if left untreated, may lead to a range of negative health-related consequences.

Professor Shirley X Li is an Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology, The University of Hong Kong (HKU), and is also the Belinda Hung Outstanding Young Professor. Her research focuses on exploring the intricate relationship between sleep and circadian disturbance and psychopathology.

Professor Li is the Principal Investigator at HKU’s State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. Her clinical and research interests centre on sleep and sleep disorders particularly sleep disturbance and mental health, and psychological and behavioural treatments of sleep problems in the context of psychiatric and medical illnesses across the lifespan.

Her work aims to investigate the aetiology, epidemiology and consequences of sleep and circadian disturbances including chronic insomnia, circadian rhythm disorders and nightmares. Drawing on her clinical psychology background, Professor Li is working to translate research into practice by developing evidence-based psychological and behavioural treatments and preventive programmes for sleep problems in clinical settings and at a community level.

Professor Li obtained her PhD in Medical Sciences (Psychiatry) from The Chinese University of Hong Kong and received her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from University College London. She is a Clinical Psychologist registered with UK’s Health and Care Professions Council and Hong Kong Institute of Clinical Psychologists (HKICP), and is an accomplished clinician-researcher with extensive training in sleep medicine, psychiatry, and clinical psychology.

Her research efforts have been recognised globally and she has received several international research awards. Notably, she was honoured with the Elio Lugaresi WASM Award for Sleep Medicine from the World Association of Sleep Medicine in 2009. She has also received the Young Investigator Award twice in the World Congress on Sleep Medicine in 2013 and 2015, as well as the Outstanding Early Investigator Award (Honourable Mention) from Sleep Research Society in 2017. At HKU, she was awarded the Social Sciences Outstanding Research Output Awards for Applied Research in 2016-2017 and the Outstanding Young Researcher Award in 2021-2022. Since joining HKU in 2015, she has secured numerous competitive external research grants as a principal investigator/co-principal investigator, including the Theme-based Research Scheme (TRS), Young Collaborative Research Grant (YCRG), General Research Fund (GRF, awarded six times), Early Career Scheme (ECS), and Health and Medical Research Fund (HMRF).

Professor Li has demonstrated exemplary leadership and commitment to excellence in academia and community service. At HKU, she served as the Programme Director of the Master of Social Sciences in Clinical Psychology Programme from 2022 to 2024. From 2016 to 2018, she was also the Programme Director of the Doctor of Psychology (Clinical Psychology) Programme and the PhD with Specialisation in Clinical Psychology Programme.

In addition to her academic leadership, Professor Li has made significant contribution to community engagement through various knowledge exchange activities. She has developed a range of free psychoeducational materials and online resources for the local communities.

In her professional capacity as a clinical psychologist, Professor Li has been serving as the Council Member of the HKICP, the only healthcare professional body accredited by the Department of Health, the Government of Hong Kong SAR, responsible for administering the register of clinical psychologists in Hong Kong.

Professor Li is actively engaged in delivering public education and participating in media interviews. She also conducts talks and training workshops on sleep interventions for multidisciplinary professionals both locally and regionally. Moreover, she has published over 120 peer-reviewed publications and five book chapters.