"Before SARS came in 2003, data analysis and disease modelling was a field where few would engage, a discipline attached with less importance than it deserved. The job of SCADADM is to promote the use of advanced data analytic tools in the prevention of disease by providing robust evidence for policy deliberations. We also hope to broaden the field's appeal, introduce and explain these tools to fellow colleagues and the public through the media, educational activities and public forums," he said.
Cross-sectoral collaboration
Dr LEUNG is Associate Professor in Translational Public Health at the Department of Community Medicine and School of Public Health, the University of Hong Kong.He maintained that service and research are two sides of the same coin. For example, we may reference investigative reports from abroad when a well-documented disease strikes Hong Kong; but if a novel disease is found locally, there would be no books to refer to, and overseas findings may not be applicable to the Hong Kong scenario due to the unique local circumstances. This possible shortcoming in the medical literature is a key reason why local research, performed jointly by the Government and the academic medical sector, is important.
"Public health is inherently a multidisciplinary enterprise. In countries such as the United Kingdom (UK), the service sector has for a long time collaborated closely and unreservedly with academia and other partners in realising a collaborative approach to public health. Data and ideas are always shared openly." As a member of the Scientific Committee, Dr LEUNG supports the CHP's movement towards in this direction. He regards the CHP as a highly competent and efficient organisation that has achieved in one year what other countries would have taken a decade or more to accomplish.
Devotion to public health
Dr LEUNG is a graduate and visiting fellow of the Harvard School of Public Health as well as adjunct faculty at the University of Pennsylvania. After living and studying in the UK and Canada for 15 years, Dr LEUNG chose to return to his native Hong Kong in 1999 because of his deep passion for local health and health care. "Too few of us in Hong Kong are pursuing full-time academic research in public health medicine and related sciences. Although public health has gained prominence after SARS, most in the medical fraternity remain indifferent to or even sceptical about what we do. There are simply too few pairs of hands working in the discipline, and this is why I devote considerable time and energy to training up the next generation of public health specialists." Dr LEUNG was elected Vice President of the Hong Kong College of Community Medicine and also served as its Censor in Public Health Medicine. He is conducting extensive research on public health subjects that are of high priority for Hong Kong. These include SARS, influenza, cancer and other chronic diseases, and health economics and policy.
Dr Gabriel LEUNG gave talks for the Centre for Health Protection from 5-7 January 2006, elaborating Mathematical Modelling in Infectious Diseases.
