People

Dr. Ada Fung, Associate Professor of the Smart Society Lab and the Department of Sport, Physical Education and Health at the Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), is an active scholar in early detection and intervention of cognitive decline and neurocognitive disorders, brain health promotion, dementia risk reduction and determinants of healthy ageing. Her recent research also focuses on developing smart technology for mental health intervention. Prior to HKBU, she served as an Assistant Professor (2018 -2022) and was appointed as the first recipient of Thetos Foundation Endowed Young Scholar in Social Services in the Department of Applied Social Sciences at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Dr. Fung was trained as a clinical gerontologist and completed postdoctoral training in the Department of Psychiatry at the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2017. In 2019, she developed a web-based computerized Hong Kong - Vigilance and Memory Test (HK-VMT) for detection on early subtle cognitive decline in older people, which is funded by Innovation and Technology Fund for Better Living (ITFBL) (www.hkvmt.com). Over 900 older people across different District Elderly Community Centers were benefited by this newly launched online screening platform since late 2021. The project has laid the foundation to support cognitive health and lifestyle modification from mid- through later-life. Dr. Fung was the honorary secretary of the Chinese Dementia Research Association (CDRA), and currently serves as an honorary treasurer of the CDRA, a specialist of the Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications, and an associate editor for a specialty section in Mood Disorders of the Frontiers in Psychiatry. In addition to her research efforts, she is involved in teaching in health promotion at HKBU.

• Early detection and intervention for cognitive decline and neurocognitive disorders
• Promoting cognitive and mental health in older adults
• Dementia risk reduction
• Determinants of healthy ageing
• Development of smart technology in mental healthcare

Selected Peer Reviewed Articles

• Fung AWT, Lee ATC, Ma SL, Lam LCW. Development and validation of cognitive ageing risk score (CARS) for early detection of subtle cognitive deficits in older people. BMC Geriatr. 2024 Mar 21;24(1):277. doi: 10.1186/s12877-024-04879-5. PMID: 38515012; PMCID: PMC10956393.
• Lai, C.Y.Y., Chen, L.H., Lai, F.H.Y. et al. The association between satisfaction with life and anxiety symptoms among Chinese elderly: a moderated mediation analysis. BMC Geriatr 23, 855 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-023-04490-0
• Lu H, Li J, Fung AWT, Lam LCW. Diversity in verbal fluency performance and its associations with MRI-informed brain age matrices in normal ageing and neurocognitive disorders. CNS Neurosci Ther. 2023 Jul;29(7):1865-1880. doi: 10.1111/cns.14144. Epub 2023 Mar 13. PMID: 36914578; PMCID: PMC10324358.
• Qin P, He J, Yang X, Chen S, Chen X, Jiang H, Fung AWT, Wang Z, Lau JTF. The Role of Depressive Symptoms and Physical Activity Levels in Mediating the Association Between HIV Status and Neurocognitive Functions Among Individuals Aged at Least 50 Years in China: Cross-sectional Study. JMIR Public Health Surveill. 2022 Aug 19;8(8):e32968. doi: 10.2196/32968. PMID: 35984684; PMCID: PMC9440416.
• Lai, VKY, Fung, AWT, Lam, LCW, Lee, ATC. Is sleep quality a potential predictor of neurocognitive disorders? A 6-year follow-up study in Chinese older adults. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2022; 1- 8. https://doi.org/10.1002/gps.5783
• Lai FH, Tong AY, Fung AW, Yu KK, Wong SS, Lai CY, Man DW. Information Communication Technology as Instrumental Activities of Daily Living for Aging-in-Place in Chinese Older Adults With and Without Cognitive Impairment: The Validation Study of Advanced Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale. Front Neurol. 2022 Mar 9;13:746640. doi: 10. 3389/fneur.2022.746640. PMID: 35356457; PMCID: PMC8959306.
• Lee, A.T.C., Fung, A.W.T., Richards, M. et al. Late-life longitudinal blood pressure trajectories as predictor of dementia. Sci Rep 12, 1630 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-05680-3
• Lam LCW, Lee ATC, Cheng ST, Yip BHK, Chan WC, Fung AWT, Ma SL, Cheng CPW, Kong R, Chiu HTS, Lai FHK, Wong SYS. Mindfulness Awareness Is Associated With a Lower Risk of Anxiety and Depressive Symptoms in Older Adults With Neurocognitive Disorders. Front Psychiatry. 2021 Oct 21;12:721583. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2021.721583. eCollection 2021. PMID: 34744817.
• Fung, A.W.T., Lam, L.C.W., Chan, S.S.M. et al. Knowledge of mental health symptoms and help seeking attitude in a population-based sample in Hong Kong. Int J Ment Health Syst . 2021; 15(39). DOI: 10.1186/s13033-021-00462-2.
• Lee A, Fung A, Richards M, Chan WC, Chiu H, Lee R, Lam L. Risk of Incident Dementia varies with Different Onset and Courses of Depression. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2021; 282: 915 920. 10.1016/j.jad.2020.12.195.
• Fung, AW. Effect of physical exercise and medication on enhancing cognitive function in older adults with vascular risk. Geriatr. Gerontol. Int. 2020; 20(11): 1067–1071. DOI: 10.1111/ggi.14048
• Steve R Makkar, Darren M Lipnicki, John D Crawford, Nicole A Kochan, Erico Castro-Costa, Maria Fernanda Lima-Costa, et al., APOE ε4 and the Influence of Sex, Age, Vascular Risk Factors, and Ethnicity on Cognitive Decline, The Journals of Gerontology: Series A, Volume 75, Issue 10, October 2020, Pages 1863–1873, https://doi.org/10.1093/gerona/glaa116.
• Fung AWT, Lam LCW. Validation of a computerized Hong Kong - Vigilance and Memory Test (HK-VMT) to Detect Early Cognitive Impairment in Healthy Older Adults. Aging Ment Health. 2020; 24(1):186-192. DOI: 10.1080/13607863.2018.1523878.
• Lipnicki DM, Makkar SR, Crawford JD, Thalamuthu A, Kochan NA, Lima-Costa MF, et al. Determinants of cognitive performance and decline in 20 diverse ethno-regional groups: A COSMIC collaboration cohort study. PLoS medicine. 2019; 16(7): e1002853-e.
• Qin P, He J, Wang Z, Chen X, Li J, Fung AWT, et al. Efavirenz use and neurocognitive performance among older people living with HIV who were on antiretroviral therapy. AIDS Care. 2019:1-9.
• Fung AWT, Lee ATC, Cheng ST, Lam LCW. Loneliness interacts with family relationship in relation to cognitive function in Chinese older adults. International psychogeriatrics. 2019; 31(4):467-75.
• Lu H, Ni X, Fung AWT, Lam LCW. Mapping the Proxies of Memory and Learning Function in Senior Adults with High-performing, Normal Aging and Neurocognitive Disorders. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD. 2018;64(3):815-26.
• Fung AWT, Lee JSW, Lee ATC, Lam LCW. Anxiety symptoms predicted decline in episodic memory in cognitively healthy older adults: A 3-year prospective study. International journal of geriatric psychiatry. 2018;33(5):748-54.
• Ma DY, Wong CHY, Leung GTY, Fung AWT, Chan WC, Lam LCW. Physical Exercise Helped to Maintain and Restore Functioning in Chinese Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment: A 5-Year Prospective Study of the Hong Kong Memory and Ageing Prospective Study (HK-MAPS). Journal of the American Medical Directors Association. 2017;18(4):306-11.
• Lu H, Chan SSM, Fung AWT, Lam LCW. Beyond a Differential Diagnosis: Cognitive and Morphometric Decoding of Information Processing Speed in Senior Adults with DSM-5 Mild Neurocognitive Disorders. Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD. 2017;58(3):927-37.
• Lipnicki DM, Crawford JD, Dutta R, Thalamuthu A, Kochan NA, Andrews G, et al. Age-related cognitive decline and associations with sex, education and apolipoprotein E genotype across ethnocultural groups and geographic regions: a collaborative cohort study. PLoS medicine. 2017;14(3):e1002261.
• Fung AWT, Lam LCW. A cross-sectional study on clinical correlates of anxiety disorders in 613 community living older adults in Hong Kong. International journal of geriatric psychiatry. 2017;32(7):742-9.
• Fung AW, Chan WC, Wong CS, Chen EY, Ng RM, Lee EH, et al. Prevalence of anxiety disorders in community dwelling older adults in Hong Kong. International psychogeriatrics. 2017;29(2):259-67.

Encyclopedia Entry

• Fung A.W.T., Cheng ST., Lai F.H.Y. (2019) Respite Care. In: Gu D., Dupre M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Gerontology and Population Aging. Springer, Cham.

1. Loneliness in Chinese older adults: Association with inflammation and cognitive decline. A 2-year longitudinal study. (Funding body: GRF, Capacity: PI. Ref. No.: 15601522. Funding: $1,319,530. Study Period: 01/01/2024 – 31/12/2026)
2. Effect of a six-week integrated attention training program on the cognitive functions of older adults with co-occurring anxiety symptoms and subjective cognitive complaints. (Funding body HMRF, Capacity: PI. Ref. No.: 10211426. Funding: $ 1,338,655. Study Period: 01/07/2023 – 30/6/2025)
3. Online longitudinal study investigating the long-term impact of lifestyle factors on cognition in 50s (Online 50s). (Funding body: HKBU Research Development Fund: Research Network on Healthy Ageing, Capacity: PI. Ref. No.: RNHA202305. Funding: $ 180,000. Study Period: 01/01/2024 – 31/12/2028)
4. The acquisition of online health information by Hong Kong older adults and their physical and mental wellbeing. (Funding body: HKBU Research Development Fund: Research Network on Healthy Ageing, Capacity: Co-I. Ref. No.: RNHA202305. Funding: $ 150,000. Study Period: 01/09/2023 – 30/11/2024)
5. Creating an enabling environment to facilitate healthy life style in older age. (Funding body: HKBU Research Development Fund: Research Network on Healthy Ageing, Capacity: Co-I. Ref. No.: RNHA202303. Funding: $ 180,000. Study Period: 01/12/2023 – 30/11/2024)
6. Innovative Active Ageing Research Centre. (Funding body: PolyU Funding for Research Centres (non-PAIR), Capacity: Co-I. Ref. No.: P0042707. Funding: $7,500,000. Study period: 21/06/2022 – 20/06/2025) 
7. RISA Healthy Aging Blockchain Ecosystem with Person-centred Care Approach for People with Cognitive Impairment: A pilot pragmatic-controlled trial. (Funding body: PolyU Research Institute of Smart Ageing (RISA), Capacity: Co-I. Ref. No.: P0043000. Funding: $1,000,000. Study period: 01/09/2022 – 30/08/2024)
8. Using a Community Based Participatory Action Research to Address Elder Abuse. (Funded by PolyU One-line Budget, Capacity: Co-I. Ref. No: P0041177. Funding: $ 2,000,000. Study Period: 30/06/2022 – 29/06/2025)
9. Model and Capacity Building for Intergenerational Digital Literacy Training for Older Adults in Hong Kong. (Funding body: Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Fund, Capacity: Co-I. Ref. No.: P0038665. Funding: $ 2,994,339. Study Period: 1/10/21 – 31/03/2024)
10. Innovative Active Ageing Research Centre. PolyU (UGC). ((Funding body: Funding for Research Centres (non-PAIR), Capacity: Co-I. Ref. No.: P0042707, Funding: $ 7,500,000. Study Period: 21/06/2022 – 20/06/2025)

• SOSC 1006 Invitation to Social Sciences
• PERM 4898 Honors Project
• SLM 7080 Health Promotion

• 2022 Thetos Foundation Endowed Young Scholar in Social Services

• Chinese Dementia Research Association Ltd.
• Gerontological Society of America
• Hong Kong Society of Behavioral Health
• Asian Academy of Family Therapy

• Honorary Treasurer, Chinese Dementia Research Association
• Specialist, Hong Kong Council for Accreditation of Academic and Vocational Qualifications
• Supporting Coordinator, Hong Kong Lutheran Social Service
• Associate Editor, Frontiers in Psychiatry (Specialty section in Mood Disorders)
• Reviewers
  • Aging and mental health
  • Applied Research in Quality of Life
  • Archive of Gerontology and Geriatrics
  • BMC Geriatrics
  • Disability and Rehabilitation
  • Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
  • Frontiers in Psychiatry
  • International Journal of Environment Research and Public Health
  • Life
  • Psychogeriatrics
  • Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences
  • The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry