Rate My Professor Paul Kwong Hang Tam

Professor Paul Kwong Hang Tam, JP, MBBS (HK, 1976), ChM (Liv), FRCS (Eng, Edin, Glas, Ire), FRCPCH, FHKAM (Surgery), and member of the Hong Kong Academy of Sciences, is a distinguished surgeon, scientist, educator, and university administrator. He serves as Chair Professor of Paediatrics and Surgery and Vice-President at Macau University of Science and Technology, and as Emeritus Professor and Honorary Clinical Professor at the University of Hong Kong. Following his graduation from the University of Hong Kong, he worked in its Department of Surgery until 1986. He then held positions as Senior Lecturer at the University of Liverpool (1986-1990), Reader and Director of Paediatric Surgery at the University of Oxford (1990-1996), and Chair of Paediatric Surgery (1996-2022) and Li Shu-Pui Professor in Surgery (2013-2022) at the University of Hong Kong. At HKU, he also served as Vice-President for Research (2003-2015), Provost and Deputy Vice-Chancellor (2015-2019), and Acting President and Vice-Chancellor (2018).

Professor Tam's research specializes in minimal invasive surgery, genetics, developmental biology, immunology, inflammation, and regenerative medicine for birth defects, particularly Hirschsprung’s disease, biliary atresia, choledochal cyst, and childhood tumours. He has authored over 500 articles in refereed journals, garnering more than 32,000 citations with an h-index of 61, and secured research grants exceeding US$28 million. Notable awards include the BAPS Prize, Honorary Fellowship of the American Surgical Association, Denis Browne Gold Medal (2017, highest BAPS award), Rehbein Medal (2020, European Paediatric Surgeons’ Association), and Coe Medal (2025, highest PAPS honour). He was President of the Pacific Association of Paediatric Surgeons (2008-2009), Editor for the Pacific Region of the Journal of Pediatric Surgery, International Advisory Board Member of The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, and serves on Stem Cells Translational Medicine. Professor Tam has delivered invited lectures at Nature Forum, Days of Molecular Medicine, and international pediatric surgery congresses, and led training programs nurturing over 3,000 pediatric surgeons, particularly in China.