A medical student who developed a risk prediction model for post-stroke epilepsy, and a linguistics student who created a metaverse-based gaming world for children with communication difficulties were among the awardees of the Innovation and Technology Scholarship 2025.
Launched in 2011 by the Innovation and Technology Commission, HSBC, and the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, the I&T Scholarship supports 25 outstanding undergraduates each year.
Recipients receive up to HK$150,000 to join elite training programmes, including overseas or mainland attachments, local internships, mentorships, and service projects.
Celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, the initiative has nurtured 375 young talents to date.
Among this year’s awardees, Kandace Chan Chi-wing, a medical sophermore at the University of Hong Kong, is developing a predictive model named the “isCHEMiA Score” with the HKU Stroke Epilepsy Team to address a critical gap in the city’s healthcare system.
Her inspiration came during a clinical attachment, where she observed that many stroke patients later developed epilepsy, yet early screenings often missed these cases due to the predominant focus on preventing secondary strokes.
In collaboration with Harvard University and Queen Mary Hospital, the model was initially built using clinical and imaging data from epilepsy patients at Harvard, then validated in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Europe.
With the scholarship’s support, Chan will intern at the Massachusetts General Hospital in the US this July, where she will study advanced epilepsy research methods and refine the model using artificial intelligence and big data analytics to generate dynamic risk scores.
Looking ahead, she hopes to establish a government-recognized epilepsy center in Hong Kong to improve diagnosis, treatment, and public awareness.
Another awarded talent is Leung Tze-ying, a freshman majoring in English and Applied Linguistics at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, who is working to create a metaverse-based gaming world for children to learn with fun.
Observing that some children who grew up during the pandemic struggled with basic communication skills, Leung plans to use the scholarship to let children practise problem-solving, creative thinking and teamwork by completing tasks and interacting with others in AI-generated scenarios.
At the award presentation ceremony on Thursday, Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong reaffirmed the government’s commitment to developing Hong Kong as an I&T hub, citing progress such as attracting over 200 I&T enterprises to set up operations in the city over the past two years.
(Cheng Wong)
