HKU-SZH introduces medical team from UK

An expert team of cardiologists and radiologists led by Professor Dudley Pennell from Imperial College London and representatives from the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital (HKU-SZH) pose for a photo at Friday's ceremony. Courtesy of HKU-SZH

The University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital (HKU-SZH) introduced an expert team of cardiologists and radiologists led by Professor Dudley Pennell from Imperial College London on Friday.

In addition to providing high-level clinical services, the two sides will collaborate on teaching, training and scientific research in the area of cardiology.

This is the eighth medical team to be introduced by HKU-SZH under Shenzhen’s Sanming Project, which encourages outside medical resources to establish a presence in the city. The other seven cover such fields as respiratory medicine, orthopedics, clinical oncology, reproductive medicine, hepatobiliary and pancreatic surgery, breast surgery and pediatrics.

Dudley Pennell is a professor of cardiology at the National Heart and Lung Institute (NHLI) of the United Kingdom, which is the U.K.’s largest heart and lung institute undertaking world-leading research into all aspects of cardiac, respiratory and vascular science.

Pennell is a fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and has specialized in cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) for over 20 years. He is a director of the CMR units of both the NHLI and Royal Brompton Hospital.

His research interests lie in CMR, specifically in the assessment and differentiation of cardiomyopathies, the measurement of myocardial iron and the assessment of chelation treatment, the detection and assessment of early atherosclerosis and myocardial perfusion imaging.

“Cardiac magnetic resonance has only been provided for a few months in HKU-SZH, so we believe we can help the hospital build this up, improve it and bring it up to a world-class standard,” said Pennell, adding that the cooperation is a good opportunity for both sides to conduct teaching and research.

Yiu Kai-hang, assistant hospital chief executive of HKU-SZH and head of cardiology at the hospital, explained that the cardiology department is one of the six outstanding departments at HKU-SZH.

In 2018, the department received more than 60,000 outpatients and 2,700 inpatients and performed more than 1,100 interventional procedures, according to Yiu.