The Nephrology Division at the Department of Medicine has a long tradition at The University of Hong Kong and has gained a reputation internationally for innovative research into kidney diseases. The division has evolved continuously since its formative days in the 1960s under the leadership of Professor Richard Yu. Today the Nephrology Division cares for people with kidney diseases, dialysis patients, and kidney transplant recipients and has obtained recognition for its work in many areas of nephrology and cell biology.

Professor Chan, who graduated from The University of Hong Kong in 1985, is a world expert in the treatment of kidney diseases that complicate systemic lupus erythematosus. His research team has also made significant contributions in the areas of peritoneal dialysis and viral hepatitis in patients on dialysis or after kidney transplantation. His research has resulted in much improved treatment outcomes of patients. A major achievement is the development of a new immuno-suppressive treatment regime for severe lupus nephritis that has replaced the previous standard therapies in use since the 1970s. The high efficacy, as well as the better tolerability, of this new treatment has been welcomed by patients and doctors alike, and this treatment pioneered by Professor Chan and his team is now established internationally as the new first-line therapy for this common and important disease.

Professor Chan received training in nephrology and internal medicine at Queen Mary Hospital and Guy’s Hospital in London. He became Professor of Medicine in 1999, was promoted to Personal Chair in 2005, and received the Yu Professorship in Nephrology in 2007.

He has actively led research into clinical studies to look for newer and better methods to treat patients, and basic science studies on the mechanisms that lead to disease in lupus nephritis, which can potentially lead to the discovery of new methods to tackle the diease with regard to both prevention and treatment.

Professor Chan is a Fellow of the Royal Colleges of Physicians of London, Edinburgh, and Glasgow, and the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine. He has previously served as President of the Hong Kong Society of Transplantation and Programme Director of the Advanced Internal Medicine Board and Nephrology Board of the Hong Kong College of Physicians, and is currently Chairman of the Nephrology Board. He also sits on the Executive Committees of the Asian Society of Transplantation and the Asian Pacific Society of Nephrology, and is presently Associate Dean of the Medical Faculty at The University of Hong Kong.

Professor Chan’s research achievements have gained much international recognition, and he has been invited repeatedly to lecture at leading academic conferences such as the American Society of Nephrology meetings. His research has been published in leading journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine. He has over two hundred original articles in peer-reviewed international journals, and his papers have repeatedly received citation rankings in the top 1% according to Essential Science Indicators.