Detecting disease
before it begins.
A platform institute for prevention research at HKU - longitudinal cohorts,
screening trials and partner-led studies on shared infrastructure.
The problem
Non-communicable diseases,
every year worldwide
* “>$2T” refers to annual global cost in 2011-2030
Sources: World Economic Forum; World Health Organization, 2025
Why it matters
Prevention is the
highest-return
investment in health.
Moving the moment of discovery earlier - while lifestyle change or low-intensity treatment still works - pays back three times over.
Longer healthy lifespan
Active years gained by acting on signals long before a diagnosis.
Lower strain on health systems
Early intervention displaces the most expensive phases of chronic care.
Stronger economic productivity
Longer active lifespans compound into national prosperity.
Projects
Studies at the Institute
Not a single study - shared infrastructure on which a
growing portfolio of prevention research runs.
Flagship cohort
protecting.health
Hong Kong
www.protecting.health
Ten years of repeated plasma sampling and molecular profiling, feeding the PH1.0 screening algorithm.
Screening trial
Low-dose CT lung
screening
Imaging-based early detection of lung cancer, giving molecular signals a validated reference standard.
Open call
Bring your study
to IPP
Host your prevention study on our platform: cohort access, biobank and assays, data-only projects, or affiliated trials.
Research
Three research areas, one agenda
A convergent institute working from a single question - what does health look like before disease?
1
Clinical research
Cohort design and delivery, with clinicians defining the endpoints that make a signal actionable.
2
Laser science
Ultrafast infrared systems that read a whole molecular fingerprint from a drop of plasma.
3
Data science
Longitudinal models that find pre-symptomatic signatures and turn them into prediction.
Partners
A Local Center of the protecting.health Global Initiative — and an open platform beyond it.
Leadership
Scientific, clinical, and
operational leadership.
IPP is guided by a dual-leadership model linking global scientific expertise and local public-health implementation, alongside scientific, clinical and operational support roles across the wider team.
Prof. Ferenc Krausz
Director and Chief Principal Investigator
Prof. Dennis Ip
Associate Director and Co-Chief Principal Investigator
Prof. Sophia Chan
Chief Scientific Advisor