TWC - Key Persons
Albert "Skip" Rizzo is a Clinical and Neuro- Psychologist, and Director of the University of Southern California Institute for Creative Technologies Medical VR Lab. He is also a research professor in both the USC Dept. of Psychiatry and in the School of Gerontology. Skip conducts research on the design, development and evaluation of VR systems targeting the areas of clinical assessment, treatment and rehabilitation. In the psychological domain, he has directed the development/implementation of the Virtual Iraq/Afghanistan VR exposure therapy system for combat-related PTSD and is involved in translating these simulation assets for PTSD assessment and prevention (stress resilience). His cognitive work has addressed the use of VR applications to test and train cognitive functioning. In the motor domain, he develops VR game-based applications to promote rehabilitation in persons with CNS dysfunction (e.g., stroke and TBI). He is also involved in the creation of artificially intelligent virtual human patients for clinical training and for creating online virtual human healthcare guides for breaking down barriers to care in psychological health and TBI. In 2010, he received the American Psychological Association Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Practice of Trauma Psychology for his R&D work on VR exposure therapy for PTS and in 2015 he received the Society for Brain Mapping and Therapeutics "Pioneer in Medicine" award. He recently received the 2019 American Psychological Association Society for Military Psychology Presidential Citation for his trauma work and was recently award the 2020 International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies Innovation Award. Prof. Rizzo's track record of government/private funding (over 60 Million Dollars overall, with 30 Million in the Virtual Human domain alone) as of 1/2023 has served to produce advanced VR research and development and has driven innovation that has supported the understanding and growth of the field of clinical VR
Biography
After a decade of experience as a secondary school teacher, Professor Allan H.K. Yuen began his career in higher education and served various higher education institutions or universities in Hong Kong and Australia since 1990. He completed his undergraduate studies in Philosophy and Mathematics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He then received postgraduate qualifications in Christian Studies, Mathematics Education, Educational Technology, Computer Science, and Artificial Intelligence, and earned his PhD from La Trobe University. He has a genuine commitment to education and research, and his research interests focus principally on aspects of Science of Learning, particularly the use of technology in teaching and learning from an interdisciplinary approach. He has a successful track record in leading local as well as international research projects supported by various funding sources and publishes widely in the research areas. Currently, he is an Honorary President of Hong Kong Association for Educational Communications and Technology (HKAECT); and serving the Assessment Panel for Competitive Research Funding Schemes for the Local Self-Financing Degree Sector (APSF) under the Research Grants Council (RGC). He served on the HKCAAVQ Liaison Panel for Academic Accreditation (2019-2022); and Quality Education Fund (QEF) Assessment and Monitoring sub-committee (2009-2015).
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- Professor at Università Cattolica Del Sacro Cuore
Professor Andrea Gaggioli is a psychologist and Full Professor at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, Italy, where he directs the Research Center in Communication Psychology (PSICOM) and the International Master in User Experience Psychology. His research focuses on the intersection of psychology, technology, and human experience, with particular emphasis on the use of immersive media and generative artificial intelligence to support mental health and well-being. He is a leading scholar in the field of Positive Technology, which explores how digital technologies can enhance personal experience and promote psychological growth. He has published extensively on presence, creativity, and cyberpsychology.
In addition to his Adjunct Professor role at Tung Wah College, Douglas Bell serves as a full-time Professor of English Language Education at the University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC), where he is currently the Director and Admissions Tutor for the MA TESOL programme and supervisor for 11 doctoral students.
Professor Bell has been involved as an international educator in various aspects of English Language and Modern Foreign Language teaching since the late 1980s. His main area of specialization is in the field of English for Specific Purposes (ESP), particularly the teaching of English for Academic Purposes (TEAP) and English for International Business (TEIB). In 2008, he was one of the original team responsible for creating the now widely-recognised Competency Framework for Teachers of English for Academic Purposes (BALEAP).
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- Member of the Management Board
- Head, Quality Assurance Office
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- Member of the Management Board
- Vice President ( Administration and Development )
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- Member of the Management Board
- Librarian, Library
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- Associate Dean ( Practical Education ) & Associate Professor / School of Nursing
Dr. Beeto LEUNG is an Assistant Professor in the School of Arts and Humanities, Tung Wah College. Dr. Leung received his undergraduate training at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and continued his postgraduate studies at the University of Hong Kong specialized in Health and Positive Psychology. Dr. Leung's researches mainly focus on promoting subjective well-being, linkage between positive traits, including hope, resilience, and mindfulness, their consequences on mental health.
Biography
Cathy obtained her PhD at the University of Hong Kong. She is also a registered kindergarten teacher qualified in Hong Kong and Australia. Her research broadly focused on individual factors to learning, reading and language comprehension development among young learners at 0 - 8 years old, their family influences, and instructional approaches; that included: developing and implementing an integrated model to enhance the quality of childcare services, building quality standards and framework of early childhood education, supporting non-Chinese speaking kindergarten students to learn Chinese as a second language, and examining reading and language comprehension development in Chinese.
To-Chan, S.P.T., Loh, E.K.Y.*, & Hung, C.O.Y. (2023). A longitudinal study of Chinese as asecond language kindergarteners' orthographic awareness and its association with their lexical learning performance. Current Psychology. 42, 4543-4554. DOI: 10.1007/s12144-021-01797-2 [SSCI; IF = 2.8]
Hung, C.O.Y.* (2021). The role of executive function in reading comprehension amongbeginning readers. British Journal of Educational Psychology.
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- Vice President ( Administration & Development )
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- Senior Lecturer
- English Language Education, Applied Linguistics / TESOL, English for Academic Purposes
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- Social Media and Networked Communication, Communication Theories, Research Methods, Statistics
Biography
Dr. Yifeng Raphael HONG serves as a Lecturer in English at the School of Arts and Humanities, Tung Wah College. He is also the coordinator of the Language Buddy Programme at CAPLE. Prior to joining Tung Wah College, he taught at Rikkyo University as an English Lecturer and Waseda University as an Adjunct English Lecturer in Tokyo, Japan for five years. He also taught English as a Second Language (ESL) courses in Philadelphia, U.S. for three years before the relocation to Japan. Dr. HONG's primary research interests include internationalization of higher education (IoHE) policies and practices in East Asia, the nexus of educational/academic mobility and migration, migrant transnationalism, critical studies of English and English pedagogy.
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- Associate Professor ( 副教授 )
Dr. Wong Kam Chung is an Associate Professor in the School of Arts and Humanities, Tung Wah College. Dr. Wong received his undergraduate training at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and continued his postgraduate studies at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University specialized in Family-centered Social Work. Dr. Wong's research areas mainly focus on service learning, service quality of social service and programme evaluation.
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- Head
- Member of the Management Board
- Head, Information Technology Services Office
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- Professor in Genetics and Wellbeing at the Department of Biological Psychology
Meike Bartels (1973) is University Research Chair Professor in Genetics and Wellbeing at the Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. She published over 275 papers in peer-reviewed journal including the first molecular genetic evidence for wellbeing in PNAS and the first genomic variant for wellbeing in Nature Genetics. She is the immediate past-president of the International Positive Psychology Association and one of the past presidents of the Behavior Genetics Association. She combines research with teaching and is the Director of the Research Master Genes in Behaviour and Health, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam. She was awarded a prestigious European Research Council Consolidator grant and an NWO VICI grant to build, expand and consolidate her line of research on Genetics and Wellbeing. In 2023, she co founded XplorIT- the foundation for Wellbeing and Human Potential to explore a paradigm shift to a new standard of governance of our commons based on the principles of wellbeing and human potential, in which collectives of human potential are consistently enabled.
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- Member of the Management Board
- Head, Facilities Management Office
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- Member of the Management Board
- Head of Student Affairs
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- Ex - Officio Member
- Chairman, TWC College Council
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- BBA ( Hons ) ( Major in Accounting ) Graduate ( 2015 ) President 's Award Recipient ( 2015 )
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- HD in Nursing Graduate / President 's Award Recipient ( 2015 )
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- BHS ( Hons ) ( Majoring in Nursing ) Student
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- Head
- Head of Student Affairs
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- Graduate of Bachelor of Medical Science ( Hons ) in Radiation Therapy ( 2018 ) Awardee of President 's Award ( 2018 )
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- Member of the BoG
- Member of the Management Board
- Head, Research Office
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- Member of the Management Board
- Secretary of the Audit Committee
- Head, Internal Audit Unit
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- Member of the Management Board
- Director of Human Resources, Human Resources Office
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- Secretary to Board of Governors and College Council
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- Member of the Management Board
- Secretary
- Head, President 's Office
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- Senior Lecturer
- Information Technology and Multimedia Applications, Graphic Design, Digital Imaging, 3D Computer Graphic
Biography
Ada obtained her teaching qualifications and registrations in Hong Kong. Before joining Tung Wah College, she has been working in various international and local kindergarten settings. She was formerly working as a School Development Officer at the Education Bureau, Deputy Head and School Coordinator in international kindergartens. Ada has also been teaching in various tertiary institutes. Her teaching areas focus on early childhood special education, inclusive education, English teaching and learning, early childhood curriculum, and early childhood learning and teaching.
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- Assistant
- Executive Officer
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- Assistant
- Executive Officer
Biography
Carmen is currently a Lecturer in the School of Arts and Humanities at Tung Wah College. Prior to joining Tung Wah College, she had frontline teaching and management experience from preschool to post-secondary level. Before embarking on her career in higher education, Carmen distinguished herself as an experienced head teacher and school coordinator within the kindergarten setting.
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- Assistant
- Executive Officer
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- Member of the Management Board
- Head, Communications and Public Relations Office
Biography
Ms. Claire Kan has extensive academic teaching experiences in tertiary education sector over the past 10 years, teaching courses of Mental health, Counselling skills, Human development, and Exception children. She has been trained as a counsellor, specialized conducting in Cognitive-behavioral therapy and the use of play in therapy. The major service targets of Claire in her counselling practice were gamblers and SEN students.
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- Senior Student Affairs Manager
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- Assistant Student Affairs Manager
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- Assistant Student Affairs Manager ( Student Counsellor )
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- Assistant Student Affairs Manager
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- BHSc ( Hons ) ( Major in Nursing ) Graduate ( 2015 ) President 's Award Recipient ( 2015 ) Currently Works As Registered Nurse in Kowloon Hospital
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- Graduate of Bachelor of Health Science ( Hons ) in Nursing
Biography
Ms. Irene Hui is currently an English Lecturer at the School of Arts and Humanities, Tung Wah College. With a diverse background in English Language Education, she specialises in material development, curriculum design and teaching pedagogies. She taught English Language at both secondary and tertiary levels. Prior to joining Tung Wah College, she worked in two secondary schools and several tertiary institutions. Over the years, she has worked closely with professional organisations, such as Education Bureau and Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority, on various curriculum initiatives
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- Assistant Student Affairs Manager
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- Assistant Student Affairs Manager ( Student Counsellor )
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- Assistant Student Affairs Manager
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- Assistant
- Executive Officer
Biography
Ms. Rachel Cao is an English lecturer at the School of Arts and Humanities, Tung Wah College. She holds BA and BEd degrees from The University of Hong Kong, as well as an MSc from the University of Oxford. Prior to joining TWC, she worked at several local tertiary institutions and has also taught English at both elementary and secondary levels. Her diverse teaching background enriches her approach to fostering a supportive and engaging learning environment for learners.
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- Graduate of Bachelor of Health Science ( Hons ) in Nursing ( 2018 ) Currently a Registered Nurse in North District Hospital
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- Graduate of Bachelor of Health Science ( Hons ) in Nursing ( 2016 ) Currently a Registered Nurse in Shatin Hospital
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- Student Affairs Manager ( Senior Student Counsellor )
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- Dean and Professor / School of Business
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- Dean and Professor
- Professor of the School of Arts
Biography
Professor Alex Chan is currently the Dean and Professor of the School of Arts and Humanities at Tung Wah College. He joined Tung Wah College in July 2022. Alex also serves as the co-Director of the newly established Translational Research Center of Digital Mental Health (TRC-DMH) at Tung Wah College. Alex has obtain ed 23 external grants (with a total funded amount of HKD 38.4 million) as Principal Investigator (PI), Co-Principal Investigator (Co-PI), or Project Leader (16 external grants), and as Co-Investigator (Co-I) or Team Members (7 external grants) since 2014.
Prior to joining TWC, he was an Associate Professor in Department of Counselling and Psychology, Hong Kong Shue Yan University (HKSYU). While in HKSYU, he also served as Director of University Research, Associate Director of Industrial Attachment, and Chairperson of Human Ethics Research Committee. He was the founding Director of Positive Psychology Laboratory at HKSYU.
Alex has been devoting himself to advocate rigorous research and evidence-based practice in positive psychology. He has been actively engaging in school-based and community-based projects and workshops to promote positive education and strength-based approaches to support mental health and well-being of teachers, parents, children, youth, elderly people, and the wider community. His research interests also include cyberpsychology and positive technologies by applying positive psychology theories and scientific approaches to develop interventions to alleviate online risky behaviors as well as using emerging technologies to cultivate strengths, build resilience, and support human flourishing. Alex has been collaborating with a number of renowned scholars in the fields of positive psychology, developmental psychology, and cyberpsychology, and has published their research in high-ranked academic journals.
Prof. Cathrine Neilsen-Hewett is the Academic Director of Early Years, School of Education, University of Wollongong. Prof Neilsen-Hewett conducts translational work with community and industry partners to support high-quality early childhood education and care practice, enhances the access to ECEC and health services, and fostering effective early learning and development. Her particular expertise in workforce and pedagogical reform along with her work on children's self-regulation, behaviour and child assessment has impacted educational practice, programs and policy both in Australia and overseas.
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- Professor
- Vice President ( Academic )
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- Acting Dean & Professor / School of Medical & Health
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- Dean & Professor / School of Nursing
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- Associate Dean ( Programmes ) & Professor / School of Nursing
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- Associate Dean ( Research ) & Professor / School of Nursing
Professor Raymond Ngan is the former Dean, School of Social Sciences and Head, Department of Social Work, Hong Kong Nang Yan College of Higher Education. Previously he taught at the City University of Hong Kong as the MSW, MSSSW, BSoc.Sc(SW), MSSC (Counselling) Program Leaders, and Chair of these programmes' validation and re-valuation committees and as the Associate Head, Department of Applied Social Sciences. He has extensive involvement with various non-governmental welfare agencies as Consultant and member of their Board of Directors and Council, notably the Hong Kong Association of Gerontology and the Hong Kong Employment Development Services (HKEDS) Ltd.. His research interest is in Social Gerontology: Active and Smart Aging, Promoting Resilience and Well-being among older adults in Hong Kong.
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- Adjunct Professor of the Department of Social Science