CUHK and Cambridge reaffirm commitment to autism research

CUHK and the University of Cambridge (Cambridge) have reaffirmed their commitment to work together in autism research by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). A multidisciplinary team of experts at CUHK comprising psychologists, psychiatrists, neurologists, and geneticists will be working with researchers at Cambridge on a study on autism with comorbid attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder.’ Prof. Fanny Cheung, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, remarked, ‘We are pleased to see our collaboration in autism research evolving in a new direction. A new stream of research will be pursued on autistic children who have comorbid attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. As this comorbidity was only recently formally recognised, it is timely to explore this new area to look for genes associated with this disorder. A multidisciplinary team of experts at CUHK comprising psychologists, psychiatrists, neurologists, and geneticists will be involved in the study.’

The MOU signing ceremony took place during a visit led by Prof. Sir Leszek Borysiewicz, Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge, in February 2015. The delegation was welcomed by the University’s leadership and senior academics, including Prof. Joseph Sung, Vice-Chancellor. Besides autism research, collaboration in other areas such as engineering, bioethics, ageing, and linguistics were also discussed.

Cambridge has been identified as a strategic partner of the University. A number of agreements are in place for multifaceted collaborations, including the Clare Hall Visiting Fellowship Programme, college-level student exchange, and cooperation in the Global Physician-Leadership Stream of the MBChB Programme.