Prof. Ko Wing-hung
Associate Vice-President (Student Experience)
University Dean of Students
Biography
Professor Ko Wing-hung is the University Dean of Students and Associate Vice-President at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He received his B.Sc. from CUHK's Department of Biology in 1989 and his PhD from CUHK's Department of Physiology in 1992. Following post-doctoral training at the Institute of Physiology, University of Glasgow, he returned to his alma mater in 1993 as a lecturer. He is now an Associate Professor in the School of Biomedical Sciences.
Professor Ko has over a decade of experience as a College Dean of Students before taking on the role of University Dean of Students since 2022. He is deeply committed to enhancing student services and fostering an environment that promotes holistic student growth. He has implemented various initiatives to support students' academic success, mental health, and personal development.
Professor Ko is an expert in renal physiology instructing medical, pharmacy, and biomedical sciences students. He has received four teaching grants to develop e-learning micro-modules enhancing comprehension of complex physiological concepts (e.g., counter-current multiplier, bicarbonate ion reabsorption and regeneration). Professor Ko's innovative approach has significantly improved learning outcomes and fostered a more dynamic educational experience for his students.
Professor Ko's research focuses on purinergic receptor-regulated signalling events and ion transport in human airway epithelia, with emphasis on airway inflammation and the development of novel anti-inflammatory medications. Recently, he has expanded his research to explore how traditional cigarette smoke and electronic cigarette vapour affect airway epithelial function. His laboratory is among one of the few worldwide capable of measuring real-time intracellular signalling events and ion transport activity in polarized epithelia simultaneously. This technically demanding approach is being employed to unravel novel molecular mechanisms underlying stimulus-secretion coupling in polarized epithelia.