Honorary Fellow Professor CHOY Kwong Wai Richard (2025)

Professor Choy is a preeminent scientist whose dedication and pioneering work in Genetics and Genomics have profoundly shaped the landscape of prenatal diagnosis and reproductive medicine, not only in Hong Kong but across Asia and internationally.

Professor Choy has a distinguished academic foundation, he earned his Bachelor of Biomedical Sciences and Master of Science in Medicine with distinction in research in United Kingdom. He was then conferred Doctor of Philosophy by The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1999. Fascinated by the genetic advances at that time, he then pursued overseas training at world-leading institutions, including cancer genetics in National University of Singapore and University of Pennsylvania, preimplantation genetics in Cornell University, and prenatal genetics in Brigham and Women’s Hospital of Harvard Medical School from 2000 to 2004. In 2006 and 2014 respectively, he co-founded the Prenatal Genetic Diagnosis Centre and the Preimplantation Genetic Testing Laboratory in Prince of Wales Hospital under CUHK, where he currently serves as Deputy Director.

Though Professor Choy is a scientist, his contributions to our specialty are multifaceted and exceptional:

His research expertise spans the fields of prenatal diagnosis and reproductive genetics. Over the last 25 years of services in CUHK, his ground-breaking research and innovation include:

Pioneering the prenatal application of chromosomal microarray in 2009 and the identification of pathogenic copy number variants in fetuses with increased nuchal translucency in 2011;

Spearheading non-invasive preimplantation genetic testing and is the first one to report the pregnancy outcomes after mosaic embryo transfer in Asia in 2019;

Leading the development and clinical application of the novel Low-pass Genome Sequencing technique in 2016, and Whole Genome Sequencing for prenatal diagnosis in 2021.

He has published over 240 articles in international referred journals, with an h-index of 47.

His outstanding academic achievement earned him multiple awards, including the Outstanding Contributions Award for Prevention and Control of Birth Defects at the International Conference on Genomics in 2018, the Excellent Research Awards at the Health Research Symposium in 2019, 2021 and 2024, as well as the 10th HMRF Anniversary award from the Food and Health Bureau. All of his works had been translated into clinical services, contributed enormously to various aspects of genetic diagnostic services in Hong Kong and in Asia.

Professor Choy is a dedicated educator and mentor since 2 decades ago. He is currently the Program Director of the MSc in Medical Genetics in CUHK and the graduates came from more than 13 countries. He also collaborated with the Baylor College of Medicine, Peking Union Hospital and The Universiti Malaya in running many training courses in mainland China and in Asia. His track record on training next generation genetic research scientists and medical geneticists in Asia, was recognized internationally by the Association of Chinese Geneticists in America (ACGA), Excellence in Genetics Education Award in 2023.

Last but not the least, Professor Choy’s contribution to our specialty is beyond Hong Kong. Professor Choy is a respected global leader in prenatal and reproductive genetics.

He has been serving in the Boards of the Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis International Society since 2023, that of International Society for Prenatal Diagnosis since 2024, and the Chair of Special Interest Group in Reproductive Genetics for the Asia Pacific Initiative on Reproduction since 2025, as well as editors of many prestigious journals.

Professor Choy's unique expertise, unwavering dedication and profound impact has significantly advanced clinical services and research capabilities within our specialty, both locally and internationally.

Mr President, I present Professor CHOY Kwong Wai Richard for the Honorary Fellowship of the Hong Kong College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Dr HUI Shuk Yi Annie
at the conferment ceremony in 2025