Prof. Samuel Yeung-shan WONG
Director and Professor
MD (U. of Toronto), MD (CUHK), MPH (Johns Hopkins), CCFP, FRACGP, FHKCCM,FFPH (UK), FCFP, FHKAM (Community Medicine), FHKAM (Family Medicine)
ORCID: 0000-0003-0934-6385
Scopus Author ID: 21741577200
ResearcherID: D-7311-2013 Professor Samuel Wong is a clinician with training in both Family Medicine and Public Health. He received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the University of Toronto and completed his Family Medicine residency training in Canada. He completed the Master of Public Health at the Johns Hopkins University, USA and the Doctor of Medicine (MD) research degree at The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
He is the Director of the School of Public Health and Primary Care. At the same time, he is the Director of the Master of Public Health Programme and Thomas Jing Centre for Mindfulness Research and Training. He has been appointed as the Associate Dean (Education) of the Faculty of Medicine since July 2019. He has also been a Global Faculty Member of the Stanford Medicine Centre for Asian Health Research and Education (CARE) since 2022. He was awarded the Faculty of Medicine Outstanding Fellowship in 2021.
Professor Wong’s research interests include evaluating and developing mindfulness-based and mental health interventions in primary care; evaluating primary care services and developing primary care service models as well as multimorbidity.
He has published more than 300 original peer-reviewed papers in international journals including the British Journal of General Practice and the Annals of Family Medicine (top journal in Primary Care Medicine; impact factor: 6.302 & 5.707 respectively), Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics (impact factor: 25.617), British Journal of Psychiatry (10.671) and JAMA Internal Medicine (impact factor: 44.460). He has been awarded with more than 60 million (HK$)(1 US$ = 7.8 HK$) in external competitive research grants and has been awarded with more than 100 million (HK$) in donations for various community interventions for improving mental health and primary care. These include the development of primary care models for older adults with multiple chronic condition, integrating exercise programmes into primary care services among patients with diabetes and hypertension, developing mindfulness-based interventions for common health conditions as well as developing e-health interventions for older adults and providing support for older adult living alone and families with SEN children during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2018, he was supported by a donation of 12 million HK dollars for setting up the Thomas Jing Centre of Mindfulness Research and Training, which serves as a regional hub for mindfulness training and research. Since its inception, the Centre has served 15000 people with various mental health issues and needs and has provided training in mindfulness for local and regional professionals.
He has supervised/co-supervised 10 PhD students to completion and has contributed 5 book chapters and co-edited the Oxford Textbook of Public Mental Health by the Oxford University Press published in 2018 which won the Best Book Award by the British Medical Association Medical Book Awards 2019 (First Prize in Category: Psychiatry).
He is an Editorial/Advisory board Member/Section Editor of 3 international scientific journals including the British Journal of General Practice (since 2011), PLOS-One (since 2018) and BMC Family Practice/Primary Care (since 2014). He has been an External Examiner in Family Medicine for the National University of Singapore, University of Malaya, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and the College of Family Physicians of Singapore. He has also reviewed grants for both international and local research funding bodies including the UK Medical Research Council, UK National Institute of Health Research Fellowships Program, National Health Service and the General Research Council of Hong Kong and was appointed as External Examiner for PhD candidates of the University of Hong Kong (Family Medicine, Pediatrics & Psychology) and Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Rehabilitation Sciences & Nursing).
For public services, he has been serving the Hong Kong SAR Government in various capacities including as a Member of the Steering Committee of the Primary Care Development (since 2017), Member of the Expert Panel in Primary Healthcare and Non-communicable Disease (since 2018), Advisory Council on Food and Environmental Hygiene (2015-2021) and Advisory Committee on Primary Care Directory, Advisory Group on Hong Kong Reference Framework for Preventive Care for Children and for Older Adults in Primary Care Settings of the Department of Health (since 2016). He also served as the Chairman of the Diploma of Secondary Education, Health Management and Social Care (HMSC) Subject Committee from 2012-2018 and was responsible for reviewing and improving the quality and standard of the HMSC subject examinations with other committee members from both secondary schools and tertiary institutions. Other public service appointments included being appointed by the Government as a Council Member of the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health (COSH) from 2014-2020. In addition to teaching both undergraduate and postgraduate students in Public Health and Family Medicine, he also provides clinical services in Family Medicine for the Hospital Authority as an Honorary Consultant in Family Medicine.
Research Interests
Mental health and primary care interventions
Mindfulness related interventions
Multimorbidity
Health Services Research
Men’s health
Recent Funded Research Projects
The effects of mindfulness-based intervention for loneliness on older adults: a randomised controlled trial. General Research Fund
Online holistic wellness programme for children with special educational needs and their families. The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust
Combining mind body physical exercise, cognitive training, and nurse-led risk factor modification to enhance cognition among older adults with mild cognitive impairment: a randomized controlled trial. Health and Medical Research Fund
The feasibility and effects of mindfulness based relapse prevention (MBRP) on reducing craving and addictive behaviour in local adults with substance abuse disorders. Beat Drug Fund
Integrated primary care service model for older adults in primary care. The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust
Exercise is medicine: a pilot project at general out-patient clinics in NTEC and related training programme. The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust
The effects of a mindfulness-based intervention - MYmind - for children with ADHD and their parents: a randomised controlled trial. General Research Fund
Cultivating Resilience in Youth: The Mindful Awareness Project for Youth and their Families (MAP for Youth & Families). The D. H. Chen Foundation
Improving well-being of children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their families with mindfulness training in Hong Kong. Health Care Promotional Fund
Feasibility and effectiveness of a mindfulness-based intervention for bereaved parents of children with cancer related death: a pilot study. Children’s Cancer Foundation Fund
Community primary care programme for older people with multiple chronic conditions. The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust
