HK$30 million donation from Mr Li Ka-shing
CUHK received a generous donation of HK$30 million from Mr Li Ka-shing to support the Faculty of Medicine’s wider application of artificial intelligence (AI) in medical teaching and research. Together with the same amount of funding matched, the Faculty will invest a total of HK$60 million to enhance the use of AI in medical education. The goal is to equip the Faculty’s staff and students as the next generation of clinicians with the readiness to understand, apply and develop AI-powered tools in clinical practice, and get prepared for the ethical challenges associated with the application of medical AI tools.
Mr Li Ka-shing remarked, “Without question, AI is transforming the world, and it is important to bolster applied AI meaningfully in health and life-enhancing research, medical curriculum and services that will lead to future new therapies and treatments to improve health and quality of life.”
Professor Francis K.L. Chan, Dean of Medicine at CUHK, expressed his heartfelt gratitude to Mr Li Ka-shing. “With the support of Mr Li, CU Medicine will be able to strengthen AI training in medical education.”
With the generous donation from Mr Li Ka-shing, the Faculty of Medicine will roll out an “AI in Medical Education” scheme comprising two parts, including training for students and capacity building of faculty members. The Faculty will provide students guided learning with a problem-based, case-powered chatbot. The latter aims at enhancing and enabling staff members to consider integrating AI into their teaching, research, and professional practice.
The Faculty will establish a digital lab to provide computing resources, AI-related software and tools, diverse and high-quality medical datasets (e.g., medical images and health records) for students to practise with and gain experience in working with healthcare data. To ensure that staff and students keep abreast of the latest developments in AI and its applications in medicine, the Faculty will also establish partnerships and collaborations with world leaders in AI, in addition to providing conferences, workshops and training.
