The Official Opening Ceremony of the Translational Research Centre for Digital Mental Health (TRC-DMH) at Tung Wah College (TWC) cum Public Lecture was held at King’s Park Campus on 12 July 2024. TWC has received a grant of nearly HK$3.5 million under the Institutional Development Scheme Research Infrastructure Grant for the establishment of its first research centre.
The first-of-its-kind in Hong Kong, TRC-DMH will strive to be a leading regional research centre in digital mental health, bringing together academics, industry partners and students from diverse fields. Through evidence-based and interdisciplinary digital mental health research, it will support the applications, services, and education of mental health, and transforming research outcomes into real-world solutions. By leveraging advanced technology and innovative digital mental health solutions, it aims to raise public awareness and understanding of mental health and make a lasting impact on society.
The Opening Ceremony was officiated by Professor Sally Chan, President of TWC and Co-Director of TRC-DMH, Professor Alex Chan, Dean of the School of Arts and Humanities and Co-Director of TRC-DMH and the management team of TRC-DMH. Over 220 academics, industry professionals, and students attended the ceremony onsite or online, witnessing the establishment of the College's first research centre.
Professor Sally Chan delivered the welcoming remarks and said,” This event marks a significant milestone for Tung Wah College on its path to becoming a private university. TRC-DMH is an interdisciplinary translational research platform dedicated to advancing innovative digital mental health research. This interdisciplinary hub promotes research collaboration by bringing together a diverse team of mental health professionals, scientists, academics, industry partners, and students from different fields, such as medicine, nursing, allied health, gerontology, digital technology education, and psychology, etc. Through fostering interdisciplinary collaboration, the research centre aims to translate research outcomes into practical solution that can enhance digital mental health preventive services, professional training for mental health practitioners, and community education.”
TRC-DMH emphasises the application of digital innovative technology in mental health services, aiming to promote the use of various emerging digital technologies in mental health, such as mental health assessment apps, online counselling, mood tracking apps, virtual reality therapy, and chatbots for mental health support, to make mental health services more accessible. The research centre will also organise workshops, seminars, professional training programmes, and international conferences to strengthen faculty and students’ research capacity and competence.
Professor Sally Chan said, “I am also pleased to announce that the College recently held an unveiling ceremony for the Affiliated Translational Research Centre for Digital Mental Health in Chengdu, Sichuan, marking an important milestone in our regional collaboration. The affiliated centre in Chengdu will operate in close collaboration with this research centre in Hong Kong, to conduct research, share knowledge and build capacity for researchers.”
After the opening ceremony, TRC-DMH hosted its first public lecture, with Professor Roger Ho, Professor and Senior Consultant (Psychiatry) of Department of Psychological Medicine at National University of Singapore, as the keynote speaker. He shared his latest research findings on advanced medical technologies in psychiatric diagnosis and his insight on the process of translating next-generation technologies into clinical settings.