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Martin Wong and Jason Huang Receive Top Research Awards at WONCA Asia Pacific 2025 – JC School of Public Health and Primary Care

Martin Wong/LinkedIn

May 8, 2025, 14:35

Martin Wong and Jason Huang Receive Top Research Awards at WONCA Asia Pacific 2025 – JC School of Public Health and Primary Care

JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, CUHK posted on LinkedIn:

“Congratulations, Prof. Martin Wong and Prof. Jason Huang!

We’re proud to announce that two distinguished scholars from JCSPHPC have won prestigious awards at the WONCA Asia Pacific Regional Conference 2025 in Busan!

Professor of JCSPHPC, Prof. Martin Wong, received the Outstanding Research Award for his oral presentation titled “Performance of Screening Tests for Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis”, which pooled data from 32,209 subjects across 161 studies (81 research articles) to compare different diagnostic techniques. The research highlights that endoscopic techniques (peroral and transnasal) and cytology offer comparable diagnostic accuracy, while emerging technologies such as autoantibodies and microRNAs show promise as non-invasive screening tools for Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (ESCC). The findings have been published in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.

Assistant Professor of JCSPHPC, Prof. Jason Junjie HUANG, was awarded the Promising Research Award for his oral presentation, “Revisiting the Starting Age of Colorectal Cancer Screening for Average-Risk Asian Population: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis”. His study, funded by Hong Kong’s Health and Medical Research Fund (HMRF), used a simulation of 100,000 individuals to evaluate colorectal cancer screening initiation at ages 40, 45, and 50.

Findings suggest that starting screening with fecal immunochemical testing (FIT) at age 45 saves more lives compared to 50 while being more affordable than screening at 40. His research, published in Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and Lancet Regional Health, could help optimize Hong Kong’s screening programs.

WONCA stands for the World Organization of Family Doctors. The WONCA Asia Pacific Regional Conference 2025, held from the 24th to the 27th of April 2025, brought together leading experts in family medicine and research across the region.

JCSPHPC extends our sincere congratulations to Prof. Wong and Prof. Huang for their outstanding achievements and contributions to public health research!”

Martin Wong was recognized for his systematic review on ESCC screening techniques, identifying comparable accuracy between endoscopic and cytologic methods and highlighting new non-invasive tools. Jason Huang’s awarded study used simulation modeling to evaluate cost-effective starting ages for colorectal cancer screening, supporting FIT at age 45 as a balanced approach.