Academic and Academic-related Staff

Prof Alex K. Gearin (PhD) is a medical anthropologist whose work explores the intersections of mental health, social context, and cultural beliefs. His research focuses on how practitioners of psychedelic medicine and meditation construct themselves ethically while navigating illness, disease, healing, and altered states of consciousness. His recent book, Global Ayahuasca: Wondrous Visions and Modern Worlds (Stanford University Press, 2024), investigates the Indigenous Amazonian brew ayahuasca among networks in Peru, Australia, and China. Alex has secured over 1 million HKD in funding from the Hong Kong University Grants Council for two GRF projects on environmental dimensions of meditation in Hong Kong (2022-2024) and the spatial dimensions of clinical psychedelic usage in Australia (2024-2027). He serves as Assistant Professor and Deputy Director of the Medical Ethics and Humanities Unit, where he is dedicated to educating medical students on narrative medicine, the cultural aspects of psychopharmacology, and social justice in medicine. He is currently developing virtual reality films to enhance affective and atmospheric literacies among medical students and others.

Carl Hildebrand is an ethicist and philosopher, having graduated with a DPhil in philosophy from the University of Oxford in 2018. His research engages questions at the intersection of ethics, moral psychology, and the history of philosophy. His current research focuses on the role of sympathy in Immanuel Kant’s conception of moral character and the good life, and he is working on a project on the philosophy of forgiveness funded by the University Grants Committee of Hong Kong. He has taught ethics in a variety of settings, most recently teaching “A Life Worth Living” and developing a new course on the ethics of human relationships as viewed through different scales and cross-cultural perspectives. Prior to that he taught in philosophy departments at the University of the Fraser Valley and the University of Oxford. He has taught ethics to public policy students at the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government and medical students at the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Medicine.

Dr Olivia Ngan has a multidisciplinary background in neuroscience (BS, University in Michigan – Ann Arbor), bioethics (MS, Columbia University), and public health (PhD, Chinese University of Hong Kong). Prior to joining the Unit in 2022, she was a lecturer and bioethics co-ordinator (pre-clinical curriculum) at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

She has a research interest in reproductive health, public health genomics, rare diseases, and empirical bioethics. Her primary work explores ethical issues in the translational application of emerging technologies in genomic medicine and healthcare services, including reproductive technologies, prenatal screening and diagnosis, and newborn screening. In her doctoral work, she employed a mixed method study, looking at the public health and social implication of non-invasive parental test (NIPT) screening for chromosomal aneuploidy in the two-tiered healthcare system. At present, she is collaborating with Hong Kong Children’s Hospital to explore public receptivity towards the storage of dried blood spot cards and whole-genome sequencing newborn screening. She is also interested in examining how the pandemic exacerbates health issues among vulnerable populations. Over the years, she has authored books and published papers in international peer-reviewed journals in public health, healthcare research, ethics, and medical education.

In addition to research, she is also passionate about cultivating ethical sensitivity among medical students. She awards courseware and teaching development grants in the capacity of PI, leading bioethics learning activities outside the classroom. She also provides supervision for undergraduate and postgraduate student projects related to medical ethics and medical education, such as moral distress.

Dr. Po Ling Pauline, LUK is a Lecturer in the Bau Institute of Medical and Health Sciences Education and the Medical Ethics and Humanities Unit. She is a health communication scholar and researcher. She is involving in online curriculum design and project coordination for students’ experiential learnings and student partnerships. She also teaches in diversified courses that involve multiple skillsets, e.g. problem-based learning for medical students, interdisciplinary health research projects for medical and nursing students, inter-professional education courses for multidisciplinary students, and communication courses for Masters students in Public Health, Nursing, and undergraduate students in the English Language.

She began facilitating medical humanities courses in 2021-22, for health diversity and ageing related topics.  She engaged in a medical history immersive theatre performance project that involved HKU students from different faculties in January 2022.

Dr. Ria Sinha is a Lecturer in the Medical Ethics and Humanities Unit at the University of Hong Kong where she coordinates History of Medicine teaching and learning. She trained in biology and parasitology at King’s College London and gained a PhD from Imperial College London in collaboration with Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC) in the Netherlands. Specialising in vector-borne diseases, her doctoral work focused on the development of transgenic malaria parasites to advance transmission blocking vaccine development. Her research and teaching at HKU has expanded into interdisciplinary research that considers the complex and dynamic sociocultural, ecological, historical, technological, and medico-scientific determinants of infectious disease emergence and management. She is currently curating the Covid-19 Archive Project to document the coronavirus pandemic, and is completing a book on the History of Malaria in Hong Kong.

Dr Nicolette Ray completed her Family Medicine training at King’s College, London, and has since practiced in both the NHS and private sectors in London. In 2010, she relocated to Hong Kong, where she has spent a significant portion of the past 12 years teaching at HKUMed. She currently serves as a lecturer in the Medical Ethics and Humanities Unit and holds an honorary assistant professor role in the Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care.

Nicolette has a longstanding passion for wellbeing and holistic patient care. She focused on nutrition during her studies, emphasizing the importance of diet, exercise, and emotional health in her patient care approach. Recently, she completed a course in Prescribing Lifestyle Medicine. Additionally, she has a keen interest in spiritual health, practices yoga and meditation regularly, and is trained as a Reiki Master.

Diana currently holds a joint appointment as Lecturer in the Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care and the School of Clinical Medicine Medical Ethics and Humanities Unit. She completed her medical school training and specialty training in family medicine at the University of Toronto, Canada. She currently focuses on teaching medical students across all years of the MBBS program including in-class and consultations-teaching at the Ap Lei Chau General Out Patient Clinic. She is interested in enriching the medical student learning experience with teachings in professionalism, discussions in medical ethics, and self-reflection and introspection. She is a firm believer that understanding of the human condition as explored through the medical humanities is an indispensable part of becoming of a great physician.

Ki Sum Samson holds a background in gerontology (MSocSc Distinction), thanatology (Certified Thanatologist, ADEC), and medical education (FAcadMEd, FHEA).

He specializes in experiential learning in medical humanities, on topics ranging from ageism to grief education.

Prior to transitioning to a part-time role in 2024, Samon had served full-time in MEHU, during which each of his HKU Teaching Development Grant (TDG) project received a minimum of one QS Reimagine Education Award nomination each.

He currently serves as reviewer across different teaching accreditation schemes, including Reviewer (D2) at HKU Advance HE Fellowship Scheme, Mentor at Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PACP) of HKU, Assessor at the Academy of Medical Educators in UK, and Judge at QS Reimagine Education Awards 2024.

Dr Md. Sanwar Siraj is currently a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Centre for Medical Ethics and Law of the Faculty of Law and the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine and is hosted by the Medical Ethics and Humanities Unit at the School of Clinical Medicine, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine. He received his Ph.D. from the City University of Hong Kong, focusing on medical law and ethics, particularly in living organ donation for transplantation. Dr Siraj also completed Post-Doctoral training in Switzerland, focusing on issues related to organ donation decisions and medical decision-making. He is specialized in empirical bioethics (in-depth interviews and observations), alongside training in normative/ethical analysis. His current scholarship focuses primarily on organ donation decisions, and decision making for patients with critical/end-of-life care. Dr Siraj also has a broad vision of getting involved in teaching health law and ethics to, among others, medical students and healthcare professionals.