Registration Link: Click Here
‘Mixed Medicine: Plural Healing Cultures’ Symposium (28-29 May 2026)
Date & Time: 28 May 2026, 9:15-17:15 (Day One)
29 May 2026, 9:15-12:30 (Day Two)
Venue: Lecture Theatre 1, 1/F, HKUMed Academic Building, 3 Sassoon Road, Pokfulam
Co-organiser:
Medical Ethics and Humanities Unit, HKUMed
Department of History, HKU
Supporting Organisation:
Centre for Medical Ethics and Law, HKU
Registration Link: Click Here
Abstract
‘Mixed Medicine: Plural Healing Cultures’ is an interdisciplinary symposium that will be held over one and a half days from 28-29 May, 2026 at the University of Hong Kong. This event is co-organised by the Medical Ethics and Humanities Unit (MEHU) and the Department of History, with the Centre for Medical Ethics and Law (CMEL) as a supporting organisation. The symposium will feature a keynote session, individual and panel presentations and a roundtable discussion to close the event.
The symposium will examine the cultural, historical and practical intersections between diverse healing philosophies and explore the dynamics of medical pluralism, the challenges of integrating different medical systems and the complex forces shaping the outcomes, from the parallel development of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Western medicine frameworks in Hong Kong to their extensive intersecting networks with other healing systems regionally and globally.
Wide-ranging presentations from history, anthropology, social sciences, ethics and the medical humanities to medicine, public health and allied health disciplines will explore how different medical systems have complemented, co-existed and clashed within various geopolitical contexts and timeframes and ask how the narratives of healing have influenced cultural identities and shaped the ethics surrounding healthcare. The presentations will contribute to the discourse on medical pluralism and transcultural healthcare exchanges in an era of globalisation. We welcome scholars, teachers, healthcare professionals and students to join this timely and ongoing conversation.
Main Programme
(As at 6 May 2026)
| DAY ONE: 28 May 2026 (Thursday) | ||
| 0915 – 0930 | Registration | |
| 0930 – 0945 | Welcome and Opening Remarks: Mixed Medicine – Past and Present | Dr Ria SINHA (HKU)
Dr Carol TSANG (HKU) |
| 0945 – 1030 | Opening Keynote
The Evolution of Mixed Medicines During the Past Four Decades – Challenges and Opportunities from a Pharmacist’s Perspective |
Prof Clara Bik-San LAU (HKU) |
| 1030 – 1045 | Coffee/ Tea Interval | |
| Session 1
1045 – 1215 |
Mixed Medicine in History – Chinese Traditions, Colonial Science, and Public Health | Moderator: Dr Bobby TAM (HKU) |
| Career Threat, Civilising Mission, and Scientific Inspiration: Chinese Medicine and the British Medical Establishment in Hong Kong and Shanghai, 1911-1941 | Dr Andrew Thomas PARK (HKU) | |
| From Abolition to Global Fever: Chen Cunren and the Reinvention of Chinese Medicine in the 20th century | Dr Kelvin CHAN (HKBU) | |
| The Problem of Consumption: The Nutrition Research Committee and the Anti-Tuberculosis Campaign in Interwar Hong Kong (1936 – 1941) | Dr Alison SO (HKU) | |
| Poster Power! Hong Kong’s Cross-cultural Public Health Campaigns | Dr Ria SINHA (HKU) | |
| 1230 – 1400 | Lunch | |
| Session 2
1400 – 1530 |
Mixed Medicine – Theory and Practice | Moderator: Prof Emmanuel Cheung (HKU) |
| Visual Framings of Traditional Chinese Medicine as a Cultural and Backward Form: The Hong Kong Museum of Medical Sciences’ Elevation of Western Biomedicine | Ms Lory Shiu Tze WONG (HKU) | |
| The Influence of the Theory and Methods of Chinese Traditional Culture on Modern Western Psychotherapy: A Cross-cultural Dialogue | Dr Danqing YIN (HKU) | |
| Preparing Future Health Professionals for Pluralistic Practice through Inter-professional Education | Ms Cecilia TAM (HKU) | |
| Rethinking Principlism for AI-Enabled Healthcare | Prof Carl HILDEBRAND (HKU) | |
| 1530 – 1545 | Coffee/ Tea Interval | |
| Session 3
1545 – 1715 |
Mixed Medicine – Intimate Bodies, Shared Communities | Moderator: Dr Alison SO (HKU) |
| Beyond Discourse: The Integration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Western Medicine for Menopausal Syndrome in Hong Kong and Mainland China | Dr Carol TSANG (HKU) | |
| East Meets West, But in Sex? On Mixed Methods in Birth Promotion | Mr Ivan FAN (HKU) | |
| “Nurturing Estrogen”: Hormonal Self-Care and Biocitizenship of Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome in Contemporary China | Ms Lulu YUAN (HKBU) | |
| Between Families and Institutions: Relational Care in Esketamine treatments | Ms Xiaofan SUN (HKU) | |
| DAY TWO: 29 May 2026 (Friday) | ||
| 0915 – 0930 | Registration | |
| Session 4
0930 – 1100 |
Mixed Medicine – Pathways of Care across Borders | Moderator: Dr Ria SINHA (HKU) |
| Assembled Care, Exclusionary Borders: Humanitarian of Medical Care and Health Labour in Camps | Ms Zhaohe SHI (HKU) | |
| Asian Pathways of Healing: Communication, Power and Traditional Chinese Medicine in Multicultural Singapore | Dr Pauline Po-Ling LUK (HKU) | |
| Integrating Islamic Ethical Principles in Care for Muslim Minority Patients in Multicultural Societies | Dr Md. Sanwar SIRAJ (HKU) | |
| Comparison of Theory and Practice in Social Prescribing and Traditional Chinese Medicine | Dr Jingjing ZHOU (HKU) | |
| 1100 – 1130 | Coffee/ Tea Interval | |
| 1130 – 1230 | Roundtable Discussion | Conference participants and invited guests |
Keynote Speaker
|
|
Professor Clara Bik-San LAU |
|
Speakers/ Moderators (In alphabetical order of surnames)
Dr Kelvin CHAN |
Prof Emmanuel CHEUNG |
Mr Ivan FAN |
Prof Carl HILDEBRAND |
Dr Pauline Po-Ling LUK |
Dr Andrew Thomas PARK |
Ms Zhaohe SHI |
Dr Ria SINHA |
Dr Md. Sanwar SIRAJ |
Dr Alison SO |
Ms Xiaofan SUN |
Dr Bobby TAM |
Ms Cecilia TAM |
Dr Carol TSANG |
Ms Lory Shiu Tze WONG |
Dr Danqing YIN |
Ms Lulu YUAN |
Dr Jingjing ZHOU |
For general inquiries, please contact the conference secretariat at mehu@hku.hk.