Population ageing is a phenomenon affecting almost every country on earth and is now at the highest level in the entirety of recorded human history. The United Nations predicts the rate of population ageing in the 21st century will exceed that of the previous century. Elderly patients have become a major concern for many health authorities. In particular, they suffer easily from a number of age-related illnesses including osteoporotic bone fractures for which, currently, there are no effective treatments.

Professor William Lu is a specialist researcher at the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology where he focuses in the areas of orthopaedic biomechanics, biomaterials, and bionanotechnology. He is also the director of the Orthopaedic Research Centre and a key faculty member in the University's Strategic Research Areas in Biomedical Engineering and Nano-biotechnology.

Professor Lu's research is in the emerging field of bio-mechanics and bio-materials. One of his recent breakthroughs is the development of a novel bio-material that bonds to, and strengthens human bones. Called bone cement, it supports the human body or fractured bone and also stimulates localised bone formation in elderly patients.

While bone cements are not new, the bone cement developed by Professor Lu overcomes previous limitations. It is injectable, has a stiffness close to bone, is bioactive, can osseointegrate, has a low setting temperature, allows immediate load bearing, and is radiopaque.

Professor Lu's research into bone cement is seen as crucial as he has bridged the gap between basic science research and clinical medicine and clinical surgery. He and his team have translated a science discovery and taken it from the laboratory to the bedside.

Internationally, he has achieved substantial recognition in the field of bioengineering and is widely acknowledged as one of the top 1% scholars (2009-2012) according to ISI's Essential Science Indicators. He has been invited to hold honorary and visiting professor positions and has conducted open lectures in more than 40 internationally recognised universities, including the Department of Bioengineering, Columbia University and the Orthopedic Research Center, Department of Orthopaedics, Harvard Medical School.

Among the many honours and awards received by Professor Lu are the Moe Basic Science Award from the Scoliosis Research Society in 2003, the “Young Investigator Award” from the international journal Spine in 2004, and the Best Oral Presentation Prize in both 2003 and 2008 at the SICOT Triennial World Congress.

Professor Lu obtained his PhD degree from the University of Waterloo, Canada, in 1994, earning the Distinguished Graduate Award. In 1995 he joined the Department of Orthopaedics & Traumatology at The University of Hong Kong as an Assistant Professor (non-clinical) and established the Orthopaedic Research Centre, where he has served as director to the present day. In 2001 he was promoted to the position of Associate Professor and was named a full Professor in 2009. 

Professor Lu was nominated to serve as an international conference chairman or conference committee member on more than 40 occasions. He serves as a member of editorial boards and as a reviewer for more than 16 international and local journals, holding the position of Editorial Board Member of The Journal of Bone and Mineral Research, as well as Associate Editor for the Orthopedic Journal of China.