Government announces appointments to Hong Kong Genome Institute

     The Government announced today (November 5) the appointments to the Board of Directors of the Hong Kong Genome Institute (HKGI).
      
     The Secretary for Food and Health has appointed Mr Philip Tsai Wing-chung and Professor Raymond Liang Hin-suen as the Chairperson and the Deputy Chairperson of the HKGI respectively. A total of 13 non-official Directors have also been appointed. The appointments of the Chairperson and the Deputy Chairperson are effective from July 27, 2020, while the appointments of the non-official Directors will be effective from November 5, 2020. The term of appointments is two years.
      
     Dr Lo Su-vui has been appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of the HKGI. He will be a Director of the Board when he assumes the position of Chief Executive Officer in due course. 
      
     The HKGI is a newly established private company limited by guarantee and wholly owned by the Government with an aim of implementing the Hong Kong Genome Project (HKGP). The HKGP is a large-scale genome sequencing project, with the pilot phase focusing on patients and their family members with undiagnosed disorders and hereditary cancers, and 40,000 to 50,000 genomes would be sequenced. Patients with informed consent will be recruited from the three partnering centres at the Hong Kong Children's Hospital, Queen Mary Hospital and Prince of Wales Hospital. Sequencing analysis results will be fed back to patients once available to aid diagnoses or clinical management. 
      
     The Secretary for Food and Health, Professor Sophia Chan, said, "We welcome the newly appointed Board of Directors of the HKGI, which represents stakeholders from a broad spectrum, including the Hospital Authority, universities and patient group, as well as commercial, accounting, legal and public relations sectors.
      
     "We are confident that under the leadership of Mr Tsai and with the valuable expertise and contribution of Professor Liang and the other Directors, as well as Dr Lo's vast management experience in healthcare research and services, the HKGI will be able to launch the HKGP smoothly in collaboration with the stakeholders. This catalyst project will help establish a talent pool, bring benefits to patients and enable research development."
      
     The membership of the Board of Directors of the HKGI is as follows:

Chairperson:               Mr Philip Tsai Wing-chung
Deputy Chairperson:    Professor Raymond Liang Hin-suen
Non-official Directors:  Dr Derrick Au Kit-sing
                                 Professor Chan Wai-yee
                                 Mr Ray Chan
                                 Ms Ivy Cheung Wing-han
                                 Dr Chung Kin-lai
                                 Professor Nancy Ip Yuk-yu
                                 Professor Lau Chak-sing
                                 Dr Shawn Leung Shui-on
                                 Dr Isabella Liu
                                 Professor Dennis Lo Yuk-ming
                                 Professor Alfonso Ngan Hing-wan
                                 Mr Tim Pang Hung-cheong
                                 Professor Yiu Siu-ming
Official Directors:        Under Secretary for Food and Health
                                 (Dr Chui Tak-yi)
                                 Deputy Secretary for Food and Health (Health)3
                                 (Mr Fong Ngai)
                                 Deputy Director of Health
                                 (Dr Ronald Lam Man-kin)