Dr Chan Chin-pok from the S.H. Ho Research Centre for Infectious Diseases at the JC School of Public Health and Primary Care, Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, has been awarded funding under the Hong Kong Research Grants Council’s (RGC) Junior Research Fellow Scheme (JRFS) 2026/27, in recognition of his outstanding contributions and potential in infectious disease research.
Dr Chan’s research focuses on integrating multiplex rapid antigen tests (RATs) into participatory surveillance systems to enhance community-level monitoring of respiratory infections. Conventional participatory surveillance mainly relies on self-reported symptoms from the public and lacks the ability to identify the specific pathogens in circulation. Dr Chan’s work aims to address these limitations.
Supported by the RGC-JRFS and CUHK, Dr Chan established a population-based cohort in 2026 targeting 2,000 randomly selected households across Hong Kong. Over a two-year period, participants are invited to perform RATs whenever they experience influenza-like symptoms and report their results, symptom and healthcare-seeking behaviours through digital surveys. The study also collects regular data on social interactions, infection control practices and vaccination uptake to better understand community exposure risks and disease transmission patterns.
By analysing data generated from multiplex RATs, the study aims to provide a more comprehensive characterisation of the burden of multiple respiratory pathogens in the population. Compared with conventional healthcare-based surveillance systems, which tend to capture more severe cases, this approach enables the identification of milder infections relevant to the broader community. The study will also validate the diagnostic performance of multiplex RATs and compare findings with existing laboratory surveillance data to assess their relative strengths and limitations.
The findings are expected to inform the development of more flexible and scalable surveillance strategies for supporting improved outbreak detection. By enabling differentiation between co-circulating pathogens and refining the infection risk estimates, the research contributes to strengthening preparedness for seasonal epidemics and emerging infectious disease threats.
About the RGC Junior Research Fellow Scheme (JRFS)
The RGC Junior Research Fellow Scheme (JRFS, formerly known as the RGC Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme) provides promising local and non-local postdoctoral researchers at UGC-funded universities with support at a pivotal time in their very early careers, as well as supporting their transition to Assistant Professor or Research Assistant Professor positions at UGC-funded universities during the fellowship period. It aims to nurture and expand a pool of research talents, with a view to propelling research and development in Hong Kong and fostering a research culture.