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Professor WONG Chun Ka (黃浚嘉)

Dr Wong Chun-Ka

Clinical Assistant Professor
Specialist in Cardiology

  • MBBS(HK), MRCP(UK), FHKCP, FHKAM(Medicine)
email wongeck@hku.hk
email 2255-3597
email ORCID
Biography

Prof. Chun-Ka Wong is Clinical Assistant Professor in Cardiology at the University of Hong Kong, Honorary Specialist at Queen Mary Hospital, and Co-Director of Hong Kong Valves. He obtained his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree from the University of Hong Kong in 2015, after which he underwent training in cardiology and structural heart intervention at Queen Mary Hospital. In 2024, he was awarded the inaugural Rosie Young Medical Fellowship for Internal Medicine to pursue stem cell research at the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.

Prof. Wong has published over 100 articles in peer-reviewed journals, including Nature Medicine and Circulation. His research interests include (1) structural heart disease, (2) machine learning, and (3) stem cells.

1. Structural Heart Disease
In 2022, Prof. Wong co-invented the UNICORN technique with the Queen Mary Hospital Heart Team for treating patients undergoing valve-in-valve transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) who are at high risk of coronary obstruction. This technique is now widely adopted worldwide for treating patients previously considered to be anatomically infeasible for TAVR. To promote the adoption of best practices in transcatheter electrosurgery and foster research collaboration, Prof. Wong and other regional experts co-founded the Asia Pacific Electrosurgery Working Group in 2023.

2. Machine Learning
Prof. Wong has been a pioneer in cardiovascular machine learning research. A core theme of his work is enabling conventional smartphones to serve as diagnostic tools. Prof. Wong and his collaborators were among the first to demonstrate the feasibility of detecting atrial fibrillation using photoplethysmography (PPG) captured via smartphone cameras, and predicting valvular heart disease by capturing phonocardiography (PCG) with built-in microphones that mimic stethoscopes. Using computer vision and deep learning techniques, his team developed a smartphone electrocardiography (ECG) "App Store" that automatically converts photographs of ECGs taken by clinicians into voltage-time series data for analysis by a wide range of machine learning-based ECG predictors developed by different researchers.

3. Stem Cells
Prof. Wong is a pioneer in using induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes and engineered heart tissues to model viral myocarditis and perform drug screening. Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, his team was among the first to recapitulate the effects of SARS-CoV-2 on human cardiomyocytes. He subsequently applied a similar strategy to model myocarditis caused by rhinovirus, enterovirus 71, and, more recently, the newly described entity of monkeypox virus myocarditis.

Recruitment of Research Students
Prof. Wong is currently welcome undergraduate and postgraduate students to work on:
(1) Stem cells, engineered tissues and organoids
(2) Computer vision and machine learning
(3) Bioinformatics
(4) Clinical trials



Selected publications
  1. Cheang I, Yao W, Zhou Y, Zhu X, Ni G, Lu X, Liao S, Gao R, Zhou F, Shen J, Leung AYL, Jiang M, Kong H, Bai L, Mahemuti A, Yuan H, Dong YG, Wong CK, Xu Q, Zhang G, Wu J, Lu Q, Zhang J, Cha C, Ren Q, Fu L, Wang B, Xu Y, Hu H, Dong J, Shang Z, Yu C, Li S, Yao C, Gao L, Zhang H, Rosenzweig A, Jia Z, Li X; QUEST Trial Committees and Investigators. The traditional Chinese medicine Qiliqiangxin in heart failure with reduced ejection fraction: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Nat Med. 2024 Aug;30(8):2295-2302.
  2. Chan KYE, Chan DTL, Lam CCS, Sze MSY, Un KC, Tam CCF, Lam YM, Wong CK*. First-in-human undermining iatrogenic coronary obstruction with radiofrequency needle (UNICORN) procedure during valve-in-valve transcatheter aortic valve replacement. Circ Cardiovasc Interv. 2022 Oct 21:e012399. (*Co-corresponding author)
  3. Wong CK, Eric Chan KY, Chan DT, Chiu HAC, Un KC, Sze SY, Tam FC, Lee CW, Wong MK, Lau M, Law PK, Ko AT, Shek J, Lam TH, Lee YT, Cheng MK, Lin M, Lam YM, Tang GHL, Lam SC. UNICORN for Valve-in-Valve Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement: UNICORN Hong Kong Registry. JACC Asia. 2026 Jan;6(1):52-63.
  4. Lam SC, Chiu HAC, Chan KE, Chan DT, Lee YT, Lin P, Sze SY, Lee CW, Shek J, Tam FC, Wong MK, Yin WH, Lee YT, Poon K, Tang GHL, Un KC, Wong CK*. BenchTop Validation of UNICORN Leaflet Modification Technique in Redo-Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement. JACC Cardiovasc Interv. 2026 Jun 22;19(12):1607-1619. (*Co-corresponding author)
  5. Chan KE, Un KC, Chiu HAC, Tai-Leung Chan D, Sze SY, Yin WH, Lee YT, Lee YT, Lin P, Abdel-Wahab M, Pop AM, Tchetche D, Freeman P, De Backer O, Poon K, Chandavimol M, Tang GHL, Wong CK*, Lam SC. Leaflet Modification Technique With UNICORN in Failed Aortic Bioprosthesis: Procedural Step-by-Step, Best Practice, and Troubleshooting. JACC Cardiovasc Interv. 2026 Jun 22;19(12):1565-1578. (*Co-corresponding author)
  6. Wong CK, Cheung-Chi Lam S, Yin WH, Lee YT, Wongpraparut N, Gurvitch R, Chandavimol M, Chak-Yu So K, Un KC, Alston Conrad Chiu HO, Tsao TP, Brooks M, Ngernsritrakul T, Lai LKL, Ka-Ho Kam K, Tai-Leung Chan D, Tang GHL, Eric Chan KY, Poon K. Multicenter Experience of Aortic Valve Leaflet Modification in TAVR: From the Asia-Pacific Electrosurgery Working Group. JACC Asia. 2026 Jun 4:S2772-3747(26)00274-7.
  7. Chan PH, Wong CK, Pun L, Wong YF, Wong MM, Chu DW, Siu CW. Head-to-head comparison of the Alivecor Heart Monitor and Microlife WatchBP Office Afib for atrial fibrillation screening in a primary care setting. Circulation. 2017 Jan 3;135(1):110-112.
  8. Chan PH, Wong CK*, Poh YC, Pun L, Leung WW, Wong YF, Wong MM, Poh MZ, Chu DW, Siu CW. Diagnostic performance of a smartphone-based photoplethysmographic application for atrial fibrillation screening in a primary care setting. J Am Heart Assoc. 2016 Jul 21;5(7):e003428. (*Co-first author)
  9. Wong CK, Lau YM, Lui HW, Chan WF, San WC, Zhou M, Cheng Y, Huang D, Lai WH, Lau YM, Siu CW. Automatic detection of cardiac conditions from photos of electrocardiogram captured by smartphones. Heart. 2024 May 20:heartjnl-2023-323822.
  10. Wong CK, Luk HK, Lai WH, Lau YM, Zhang RR, Wong AC, Lo GC, Chan KH, Hung IF, Tse HF, Woo PC, Lau SK, Siu CW. Human-induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes platform to study SARS-CoV-2 related myocardial injury. Circ J. 2020 Oct 23;84(11):2027-2031.

Grant record
  1. Principal Investigator, General Research Fund (GRF) 2023, Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong SAR, China: “Glucagon-like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist for Reduction of Peri-operative Myocardial Injury in Non-cardiac Surgeries: A Randomized Controlled Trial” (Amount: HKD $1,072,696)
  2. Co-Principal Investigator, Collaborator Research Fund (CRF) 2023, Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong SAR, China: “Programmable RNA Pseudouridylation for Premature Termination Codon Suppression as Gene Therapy for Cardiac Laminopathy” (Amount: HKD$2,661,362)
  3. Principal Investigator, Health and Medical Research Fund (HMRF) 2024, Hong Kong SAR: “Sodium Glucose Cotransporter 2 Inhibitors for Repaired Tetralogy of Fallot Patients for Enhancement of Cardio-Pulmonary Status Trial (STEPS Trial)” (Amount: HKD $1,404,000)
  4. Co-Principal Investigator, Research Impact Fund (RIF) 2024, Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong SAR, China: “Thin, soft, wireless, air and sweat permeable electronics for long term ECG monitoring” (Amount: HKD $5,600,000)
  5. Co-Principal Investigator, Collaborator Research Fund (CRF) 2024, Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong SAR, China: “Next-generation AI-XR Empowered Surgical Planning and Intraoperative Guidance System via Effective Fusion of Empirical Knowledge, Human Interaction, and Machine Inference” (Amount: HKD $5,864,885)

Awards and Prizes
  1. Li Shu Fan Medical Fellowship for Internal Medicine 2022, Li Shu Fun Medical Foundation, Hong Kong SAR, China.
  2. Rosie Young Medical Fellowship for Internal Medicine 2024, Sun Chieh Yeh Heart Foundation, Hong Kong SAR, China.
  3. Young Author Achievement Award 2025, JACC: Asia, American College of Cardiology Scientific Sessions 2026, USA.