Francis Ka-Ming Chan

Francis Ka Leung Chan is a Hong Kong gastroenterologist. He is the former Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and the Choh-Ming Li Professor of Medicine and Therapeutics.

Early life and education Chan was raised at Ngau Tau Kok, Hong Kong. He lived at Kwun Tong Garden Estate, a public housing estate, with his parents and younger brother until Form 4 (roughly equivalent to Year 10 in the English education system. Although his father graduated from a university in China, his degree did not benefit him in Hong Kong and so became a taxi driver. He completed his secondary education at St. Francis Xavier's College. He was at Chung Chi College during his undergraduate years. He graduated with an MBChB degree in 1988 as the top student in his class and with the gold medal in Surgery. Drawn by Joseph Sung's enthusiasm in teaching aspiring physicians, he joined Department of Gastroenterology at CUHK Faculty of Medicine.

Career In 1993, Chan received a Croucher Fellowship and went to the University of Calgary in Canada to conduct research in liver transplantation in mice.

Chan left his position of Associate Dean (Clinical) on 1 January 2013 to become the interim Dean of CUHK Faculty of Medicine. when Philip Wai Yan Chiu, the Associate Dean (External Affairs) of CUHK Faculty of Medicine and a professor at the Department of Surgery, will succeed him.

Concurrently, Chan is a member of the Hospital Governing Committee of Prince of Wales Hospital, a member of the Hospital Authority Board since 1 April 2013, and practices at CUHK Medical Centre, a private, non-profit hospital and teaching partner of CUHK.

As Dean of the CUHK Faculty of Medicine, Chan has been an ex-officio member of the Medical and Health Services sector of the Election Committee of Hong Kong since 2021 after the electoral changes enacted that year.

Chan co-founded biotechnology company GenieBiome in 2019. In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Chan stated that “Our initial plan was to come up with a poop company" and that there were initial challenges with dealing with venture capital funding. The company aims to make use of the human microbiome as a disease treatment.

Research Chan's research began with studying the treatment of gastric bleeding and peptic ulcers caused by Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory ddrugs (NSAIDs). In 1997, he reported that eliminating Helicobacter pylori before administering NSAIDs reduced the incidence of NSAID-induced peptic ulcers. At the time, the research community focused on the treatment for H. pylori to prevent gastric bleeding.

In recent years, Chan has focused on studying human microbiome and its effect on health.

Personal life and family Chan's younger brother is Samuel Ka-yan Chan, chairman of the Competition Commission of Hong Kong.

Chan married his wife, also a physician, in 1993. Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (2004) International Leadership Award, American College of Gastroenterology (2018) Silver Bauhinia Star, Hong Kong (2019)