Brief Summary

Prof Winnie Chu is a devoted educator and an academic radiologist in the Prince of Wales Hospital, the teaching hospital of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), which is the tertiary referral center in Hong Kong with 1700 beds.  She is the radiologist in- charge of general pediatric imaging and team head for ultrasound service.

She is the Assistant Dean of Admission and Chairman of the Medical Student Admissions Committee at the Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK).

Professor Chu’s dedication to undergraduate medical student teaching is evident in her substantial contributions to the development and organization of radiology educational courses within the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBChB) program. Departing from traditional didactic lectures, she spearheaded the implementation of an innovative educational approach characterized by real-time interactive engagement between instructors and students. Recently she has introduced hands-on AI platform for CXR and plain CT Brain teaching. This pedagogical shift has significantly enhanced the overall learning experience of the students.

In addition to her responsibilities in undergraduate teaching, Professor Chu plays a significant role in postgraduate education, serving as a committee member of the graduate panel and assessment panel for postgraduate students in the Department of Imaging & Interventional Radiology. Furthermore, she previously served as the Director of the Master of Science (MSc) program in Diagnostic Ultrasonography at CUHK. Since its inception in 2013, Professor Chu has been actively involved as a mentor and project supervisor in the Global Physician-Leadership Stream (GPS) program. Her contributions to medical student education were acknowledged through the receipt of the 2023 & 2024 Faculty Education Award (Collaborative team) and the 2023 University Education Award (Collaborative team). She was the nominee of 2023 UGC Teaching Award (Collaborative team).

She is the Head of CUHK MRI Core Facility. She has conducted research in pediatric and adult patients with a wide spectrum of diseases from head to toes. She has published over 500 papers in peer reviewed journals and over 200 conference presentations/ abstracts, with a citation of 14410 according to Web of Science. Prof Winne Chu is actively involved in multiple collaborative research initiatives in her Department, in particular MRI research. Her prime interest is Paediatric Imaging. She has been working closely with multiple clinical departments and her research areas include neuroimaging, breast imaging, liver imaging and AI in medical image.

She has co-authored five books on pediatric radiology including major textbooks in pediatric imaging such as Caffey’s Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging (Coley editor, 12^th and 13^th editions) and she is the associate editor of Pediatric Imaging: Practical Imaging Evaluation of Infants and Children (Lee editor, Wolters Kluwer 2018). She has co-authored four books on ultrasound imaging. She is the PI/ co-I of over 60 competitive research grants related to imaging in the last 15 years.

Internationally recognized for her expertise as an Academic Radiologist, Professor Chu holds the esteemed position of President and founding member of the Asian Oceanic Society of Paediatric Radiology (AOSPR). She is the honorary member of the Society of Pediatric Radiology (SPR). Additionally, she serves as the Chair of Academic Development for the International Society of Paediatric Thoracic Imaging (ISPTI) and member of Pediatric Imaging Subcommittee of RSNA. She is the representative of Hong Kong College of Radiologists for International consensus guidelines for imaging in suspected child physical abuse (IGISPA). For over a decade, Professor Chu has fulfilled the role of Academic Secretary of AOSPR, playing a pivotal role in advancing paediatric radiology education in the region. She is frequently invited as a distinguished speaker at local and international radiology educational conferences.

Within the local radiology community, Professor Chu serves as the Training Head in the Radiology Department of Prince of Wales Hospital and is a member of the Educational Committee of the Hong Kong College of Radiologist (HKCR). She is the examiner of the Royal College of Radiologists (RCR). Her endeavors focus on educating and upholding the professional standards of radiologists, promoting radiation reduction in imaging, and advocating for non-invasive and state-of-the-art imaging in medical research and patient care.

She is also an active member of the Grant Review Board (GRB) for reviewing applications to the Health and Medical Research Fund (HMRF) under Research Office of the Food and Health Bureau, Government Secretariat, The Government of Hong Kong SAR.

She is member of several assessment panels, including Hospital Authority Central Institutional Review Board, Enterprise Support Scheme under Innovation Technology Fund, Clinical Translation Catalyst under Hong Kong Science &Technology Parks Corporation.

Professor Chu’s impact extends to the realm of scientific publishing. She serves as an Editor of the Hong Kong Journal of Radiology (HKJR) for more than 10 years and holds the position of Section Editor for the European Journal of Radiology (EJR). She is on the Editorial Advisory Board for BJR Open/ World Partner Network. She is the Advisor for WHO Classification of Tumor Subcommittee, 6^th Edition: Imaging/ Radiology under International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), World Health Organization (WHO).  She has just stepped down from the editorial board member of Pediatric Radiology after serving the journal for more than 20 years. Her role in these editorial boards further contributes to global education and scientific advancements within the field of radiology.

Expertise

• MRI Imaging, Image Post-processing, Artificial Intelligence, Paediatric Radiology, Ultrasound Imaging

Research Interests

• Deep Learning and Machine Learning in Medical Imaging
• Advanced MRI Imaging in Brain & Hepatology
• Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis 
• Paediatric Oncology & Haematology 
• Fetal Imaging & Congenital Anomalies in Children 
• Ultrasound Imaging

Prof Winnie Chu is a dedicated educator in radiology. She has been giving a great varieties of radiology lectures in international, regional and local conferences. Her audience include radiologists (general/ paediatric radiologists/ trainees/ specialists), clinicians (paediatricians, surgeons, oncologists, neurologists, obstetricians, family doctors) and allied health members (radiographers, nurses).  

She is also actively involved in under-graduate medical student teaching and post-graduate radiologist/ sonographer training. She is the Director of the MSc course in diagnostic ultrasonography. She is also the lecturer for MSc in Gastroenterology; MSc Neurological Sciences; and MSc in Obstetric and Midwifery Care, contributing to the imaging part of the syllabus of these professional programs.

She is the coordinator of the in-house radiology training for residence within the Department of Imaging & Interventional Radiology in the Prince of Wales Hospital.

She is the regular keynote speaker and faculty member of the annual meeting of AOSPR (Asian Oceanic Society of Pediatric Radiology). She has been invited to give lectures in large international radiology meetings such as RSNA and SPR.

Professor Winnie Chu provides regular weekly clinical service sessions for the public and private patients at the Prince of Wales Hospital. Her main expertise remains in the paediatric imaging, where she provides frontline imaging service covering MRI, CT and ultrasound in paediatric imaging, plus additional input into clinico-radiological conferences and ad hoc consultations. She also provides breast imaging, CT and MRI imaging for adult patients.

She is one of the few paediatric radiologists in Hong Kong who has vast clinical experience in Dynamic MR Urography for congenital urinary track anomalies in children, fetal MRI and functional MRI neuroimaging and hepatology imaging.

She is the honorary clinical consultant of the Department of Imaging & Interventional Radiology in the Prince of Wales Hospital and honorary consultant in the New Territories East Cluster. She is the clinical coordinator of paediatric imaging service, as well as clinical coordinator of Ultrasound service in PWH.

She is the member of clinical work group (Paediatric Radiology) & Task Force on Development of Hong Kong Children’s Hospital, member of working group of Paediatric Radiology training guidelines and paediatric radiology subspecialty trainer for the Hong Kong College of Radiologists. She is also the expert panel member to the Council of Hong Kong Paediatric Society (HKKPS), a member of Grant Review Board for reviewing applications to the Health and Medical Research Fund (HKRF) under Research Office of the Food and Health Bureau.

Professor Chu has given many years of service to the Hong Kong College of Radiologists. She is the Editor-in-Chief for the Hong Kong Journal of Radiology (HKJR) since 2011. She is a member of the Education Committee of HKCR. Professor Chu is an examiner for joint the Royal College of Radiologists UK and the Hong Kong College of Radiologists Final Examination for the Fellowship.

Besides being an academic researcher, her other major service to The Chinese University of Hong Kong includes Assistant Dean (Admission), Chairlady of Faculty Student Admission Committee, Member of Global Physician-Leadership Stream (GPS) program, the Fitness to Practice Committee and Student Residence Subcommittee, the Taskforce on AI in Medical Curriculum, Head of MRI Division.

Professor Winnie Chu is an academic radiologist specializing and focusing in the research, education, and clinical service in Paediatric Imaging.

Professor Chu is the author of over 500 peer-reviewed scientific papers and over 200 presented scientific paper abstracts. She is the foundation member and currently the Academic Secretary of Asian Oceanic Society of Pediatric Radiology, AOSPR and editor of the online journal AOfPR. She is also the Program Committee member of AOSOR (Asian Oceanian School of Radiology) for Asian Oceanian Society of Radiology (AOSR)

She is the editorial board member of “Pediatric Radiology” journal. She is also the Editor-in-Chief of Hong Kong Journal of Radiology (HKJR) and section editor of European Journal of Radiology (EJR).

She is the contributor of major textbooks in paediatric imaging including Caffey’s Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging (Coley editor, 12th and 13th editions, Elsevier Saunders) and the associate editor of Pediatric Imaging: Practical Imaging Evaluation of Infants and Children (Lee editor 2017, Wolters Kluwer). These books are comprehensive & considered reference texts in the field of Pediatric Imaging & have been published by premier publishing companies in the world. She is also the co-author of a few ultrasound textbooks (Amirsys series).

Professor Chu’s main research interest and her MD title is on morphometric Studies of Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS). She is the academic radiologist who has published the largest number of MRI-related research on AIS. Her presentations have been chosen to be the best clinical science paper in Harrington Spine Symposium 2005 and in the IRSSD meeting in 2010 & 2016. She has obtained several competitive research grants related to AIS research as the Principal Investigator.

As a clinician radiologist, Prof Chu has been working closely with multiple clinical departments related to paediatric and maternal care, including general paediatrics, paediatric surgery, paediatric orthopaedics, neonatology, children cancer unit and antenatal obstetrics care. Her other paediatric research interests include imaging of paediatric oncology and haematology patients, fetal MRI, imaging of congenital anomalies in children (including CNS, thoracic and urogenital malformations). She has published widely on the applications of ultrasound in children imaging including development of dynamic imaging protocol for urinary bladder and Color Doppler imaging of ureteric waveforms. An invited review paper has been published on the above topic in the Pediatric Radiology Journal.

During the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2003, Prof Chu has collaborated with paediatrics centres in Toronto and Singapore and reported the chest radiograph pattern in a cohort of children suffered from SARS from different nations. This paper has been chosen as the prestigious Walter Berdon Award for the best Clinical Scientific paper in Paediatric Radiology in 2004. CUHK has conducted a multi-centre follow up of SARS children among five hospitals in our locality and coordinating high resolution CT imaging for this group of patients. During the outbreak of renal complications related to melamine-tainted milk products, Prof Chu has collaborated with the pediatric department and published papers on this topic, including one article in the New England Journal of Medicine. Two external competitive grants have been obtained on follow up of this cohort of patients.

Publications

1. Cheung YT, Ma CT, Lam HHW, Ling SC, Kwok K, Li CH, Ha CY, Yip SF, Wong RSM, Chu WCW, Li CK. Clinical, neuroimaging, and behavioural risk factors for neurocognitive impairment in Chinese patients with haemophilia: A multicentre study. 2023 Jun 19. Online ahead of print.
2. Qian Y, Wong VWS, Wang YX, Hou J, Jiang B, Zhang X, Wong GLH, Chan Q, Yu SCH, Chu WCW, Chen W. Dynamic glucose-enhanced imaging of the liver using breath-hold black blood quantitative T1ρ MRI at 3.0 T. J Magn Reson Imaging. 2023 Jun 14. Online ahead of print.
3. Tam AKY, Zhu XL, Chow SMW, Lee SKJ, Lai CCF, Chan KY, Chu WCW, Tong MCF. Intracranial nasofrontal dermoid cyst and a hair in the nose tip without a sinus tract identified with single-staged combined approach excision done. Clin Case Rep. 2023 May 26;11(6):e7414. eCollection 2023 Jun.
4. Mahomed N, Kilborn T, Smit EJ, Chu WCW, Young CYM, Koranteng N, Kasznia-Brown J, Winant AJ, Lee EY, Sodhi KS. Tuberculosis revisited: classic imaging findings in childhood. Pediatr Radiol. 2023 May 23
5. Abrigo JM, Ko KL, Chen Q, Lai BMH, Cheung TCY, Chu WCW, Yu SCH. Artificial intelligence for detection of intracranial haemorrhage on head computed tomography scans: diagnostic accuracy in Hong Kong. Hong Kong Med J. 2023 Apr;29(2):112-120.
6. Liao X, Aljufairi FMAA, Lai KKH, Chan KKW, Jia R, Chen W, Hu Z, Wei Y, Chu WCW, Tham CCY, Pang CP, Chong KKL. Clinical significance of corneal striae in thyroid associated orbitopathy. J Clin Med. 2023 Mar 15;12(6):2284.
7. Poon PKM, Tam KW, Lam T, Luk AKC, Chu WCW, Cheung P, Wong SYS, Sung JJY. Poor health literacy associated with stronger perceived barriers to breast cancer screening and overestimated breast cancer risk. Front Oncol. 2023 Jan 5;12:1053698. eCollection 2022.
8. Chen Q, Abrigo J, Deng M, Shi L, Wang YX, Chu WCW; Alzheimer’s disease neuroimaging initiative. diffusion changes in hippocampal cingulum in early biologically defined Alzheimer’s disease. J Alzheimers Dis. 2023;91(3):1007-1017.
9. Huang C, Qian Y, Yu SC, Hou J, Jiang B, Chan Q, Wong VW, Chu WCW, Chen W. Uncertainty-aware self-supervised neural network for liver T1ρ mapping with relaxation constraint. Phys Med Biol. 2022 Nov 18;67(22).
10. Vergari C, Skalli W, Abelin-Genevois K, Bernard JC, Hu Z, Cheng JCY, Chu WCW, Assi A, Karam M, Ghanem I, Bassani T, Galbusera F, Sconfienza LM, Brayda-Bruno M, Courtois I, Ebermeyer E, Vialle R, Langlais T, Dubousset J. Spine slenderness is not an early sign of progression in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. Med Eng Phys. 2022 Oct;108:103879. Epub 2022 Aug