E-mail: assuntaho@cuhk.edu.hk
Administrative support: Ms. Esther Lam
Telephone (office): (852) 3505-2982
E-mail: esther-lam@cuhk.edu.hk
Dr. HO Chi Hang Assunta
何志恆醫生
Associate Consultant, Department of Paediatrics, Prince of Wales Hospital
Clinical Associate Professor (honorary), Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong
MBChB, MRCPCH (London), FHKAM (Paediatrics), FHKCP, DCH (Hong Kong, International)
Clinical Team(s): General Paediatrics, Paediatric Rheumatology
Biography
Dr. Assunta Ho joined the Department after receiving her MBChB from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1999. She obtained the Membership of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health in United Kingdom in 2003, as well as the Fellowships of the Hong Kong College of Paediatricians and the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine three years later in 2006.
Inspired by Dr. Joannie Hui, her mentor and long term friend, she develops an immense interest in Paediatric Rheumatology early in her career. In 2008, she was awarded the HM Lui Fellowship to embark on Paediatric Rheumatology training at the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children in the United Kingdom.
Dr. Ho is the serving President of the Hong Kong Society for Paediatric Rheumatology (HKSPR). Regarding professional collaboration, she is currently a member of the Paediatric Rheumatology Special Interest Group, the Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology and the Paediatric Rheumatology European Society.
She has been leading several local and regional initiatives, including the Hong Kong Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) treatment algorithm, the Hong Kong territory-wide JIA registry, as well as contributing to the APLAR PaedsRheum SIG projects.
Dr. Ho is very passionate towards working with friends and colleagues in the subspecialty. She believes, by coming together, the rheumatology community can better raise the awareness in the society and ultimately improve the care provided to these children.
Research Interests
Epidemiology of paediatric rheumatic diseases
Focus conditions include Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, inflammatory myositis, non-infectious uveitis, etc.
Non-CUHK honorary appointments
President, the Hong Kong Society for Paediatric Rheumatology
Work group member, Asia Pacific League Against Rheumatism Paediatric Special Interest Group (APLAR PaedsRheum SIG)
Honorary Visiting Consultant, Heep Hong Society
Professional Service
Member, Joint CUHK-NTEC Clinical Research Ethics Committee
Reviewers for international journals
Academic Engagement in CUHK
Undergraduate teaching for medical students
Postgraduate teaching for medical, pharmacy and nursing colleagues on topics including paediatrics, paediatric rheumatology, etc.
Awards and Honour
The HM Lui Fellowship, 2008
Hospital Authority Corporate Scholarship (Rheumatology), 2019/2020
Selected Publications - Rheumatology
Antibody-Mediated Striatal Encephalitis and Aseptic Meningitis in A Child with Neuropsychiatric Lupus: A Case Report. SM Yu, TY Yuen, KC Chan, KM Yam, WP Sze, ACH Ho. Hong Kong J Radiol. 2023;26:198-201. Epub 31 Aug 2023
High prevalence of sacroiliitis and early structural changes in the sacroiliac joint in children with enthesitis-related arthritis: findings from a tertiary centre in Hong Kong. OM Chan, ASY Leung, TF Leung, ACH Ho. Pediatric Rheumatology. 2023 May 3;21(1):45.
Ho ACH, Wong SN, Leung CK, Chan WKY, Chong PCC, Tse NKC, Yeung RHM, Kong SY and Lee KP on behalf of the JIA Work Group, Hong Kong Society for Paediatric Rheumatology. Biological Disease Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs in Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis of polyarticular course, Enthesitis Related Arthritis and Psoriatic Arthritis: A Consensus Statement. Hong Kong Medical Journal 2020;26:56-65.
Saper VE; Chen G; Deutsch GH; Guillerman RP; Birgmeier J; Jagadeesh K; Canna S; Schulert G; Deterding R; Xu J; Leung AN; Bouzoubaa L; Abulaban K; Baszis K; Behrens EM; Birmingham J; Casey A; Cidon M; Cron RQ; De A; De Benedetti F; Ferguson I; Fishman MP; Goodman SI; Graham TB; Grom AA; Haines K; Hazen M; Henderson LA; Ho A; Ibarra M; Inman CJ; Jerath R; Khawaja K; Kingsbury DJ; Klein-Gitelman M; Lai K; Lapidus S; Lin C; Lin J; Liptzin DR; Milojevic D; Mombourquette J; Onel K; Ozen S; Perez M; Phillippi K; Prahalad S; Radhakrishna S; Reinhardt A; Riskalla M; Rosenwasser N; Roth J; Schneider R; Schonenberg-Meinema D; Shenoi S; Smith JA; Sonmez HE; Stoll ML; Towe C; Vargas SO; Vehe RK; Young LR; Yang J; Desai T; Balise R; Lu Y; Tian L; Bejerano G; Davis MM; Khatri P; Mellins ED; Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance Registry Investigators. Emergent high fatality lung disease in systemic juvenile arthritis. Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. 78(12):1722-1731, 2019 Dec.
Ho M, Chen LJ, Sin HPY, Iu LPL, Brelen M , Ho ACH, Lai TYY, Young AL. Experience of using adalimumab in treating sight-threatening paediatric or adolescent Behcet’s disease-related uveitis. Journal of Ophthalmic Inflammation and Infection (2019) 9:14.
Ho A, Hasson N, Singh-Grewal D. Sarcoidosis or scleroderma? An unusual case of sarcoidosis in a 3-year-old Caucasian girl. Rheumatology 2009;48(9):1172-1173.
Wong SN, Tse KC, Lee TL, Lee KW, Chim S, Lee KP, Chu WP, Chan W, Fong LW, Hui J, Li SPS, Yeung PS, Yuen SF, Ho ACH, Leung LCK, Luk D, Chan SY, Cheung HM, Chow CM, Lau D. Lupus nephritis in Chinese children--a territory-wide cohort study in Hong Kong. Pediatric Nephrology. 2006; 21(8):1104-12.
WH Chan, MYW Kwan, DC Lung, WKY Chan, MC Chan, FWT Cheng, CM Chow, ACH Ho, TL Ku, WM Lai, DWY Mak, CH Ng, FMH Poon, SMY Wong, RMS Wong, SN Wong, EKC Yau, HLY Chan, MH Chang, JF Wu, XB Xie, YL Lau, KC Chan. Recommendations in the Prevention and Management of Hepatitis B Reactivation in Paediatric Patients Receiving Immunosuppressive Therapy in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. Hong Kong Journal of Paediatrics (New Series) 2021;26:245-253.