SPEAKER BIOGRAPHY
Plenary Session Speaker Bio
Ms Paola BARBARINO
Chief Executive Officer, Alzheimer’s Disease International
Paola is CEO of ADI. Prior to this, she was CEO of LIFE and occupied senior positions with Cass Business School, Tate, British Library and IIED. She is a Council Member of the World Dementia Council, a Trustee of The Postal Museum, and a Trustee of Lauderdale House.
Previously she was a Non-Executive Director of the Non-Communicable Disease Alliance (NCDA), a Trustee of Shelter, the housing/homelessness charity, and of MLA London. She holds a degree cum laude in Classics from Federico II Napoli University, an MA in Field and Analytical Techniques in Archaeology and an MA in Library and Information Science both from University College London.
Paola leads on all aspects of ADI’s work. Together with the Board, Paola ensures our strategy is implemented and resourced. Paola is ADI’s main spokesperson and represents the organisation internationally.
Dr SHEA Yat Fung
Geriatrician Specialist
Council Members, The Hong Kong Geriatrics Society
Dr. Shea is a geriatrician with dedicated expertise in cognitive disorders. After completing his geriatrics training in 2011, he pursued subspecialty training in the management of cognitive impairment, with overseas experience at the University of Florida and Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach. His interests focus on Alzheimer’s disease biomarkers, familial Alzheimer’s disease, and the development and clinical application of anti-amyloid therapies. Dr. Shea serves as a council member of the Hong Kong Geriatrics Society and as co-convener of its Brain Health Special Interest Group.
Dr CHU Yim Pui
Specialist in Neurology
Dr. Chu Yim Pui Jonathan is a well-regarded neurologist in HK, known for his expertise in diagnosing and treating various neurological disorders. He has a strong background in clinical neurology and has been involved in both patient care and research.
Education and Training
Dr. Chu completed his medical degree in The University of Hong Kong followed by specialized training in neurology in Hong Kong. He had his oversea training in Neurophysiology Department in the University of Turku in Finland. His education has equipped him with a comprehensive understanding of the nervous system and its related diseases.
Professional Affiliations
He currently works as honorary consultant neurologist in Gleneagles Hospital. He also serves as honorary associate clinical professor in Department of Medicine & therapeutics in Chinese University of Hong Kong and honorary clinical assistant professor of Department of Medicine in The University of Hong Kong. Besides, he is the director of Epilepsy foundation of Hong Kong. All these work keeps him connected with the latest advancements and best practices in the field.
Clinical Practice
In his practice, Dr. Chu focuses on conditions such as:
Neurodegenerative diseases, Neurophysiology, Epilepsy, Stroke
Prof CHENG Pak Wing Calvin
Clinical Assistant Professor
Department of Psychiatry, The University of Hong Kong
Dr. Calvin Cheng joined the department in November 2017 as a clinical assistant professor. He is also the honorary associate
consultant of psychogeriatric services in the Hong Kong West Cluster. Before joining the department, he obtained Fellowship of the Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists in 2014. He was the visiting fellow and trained as a functional MRI specialist under Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging in the Massachusetts General Hospital
in same year. He also attended intensive courses of transcranial magnetic and electrical stimulation in Harvard Medical School,
Universitätsmedizin Göttingen and University Medical Center Utrecht from 2014 to 2016. His current research interests reside in pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for geriatric depression, structural and functional brain mapping, non-invasive transcranial brain stimulation for mood disorder and cognitive impairment in elderly. He obtained Distinguished Young Fellow Award given by the Hong Kong Academy of Medicine in 2018.
Research Interests
· Non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) i.e. Repetitive Transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), Direct current stimulation (tDCS) and Transcranial pulse stimulation (TPS)
· Old age psychiatry and neurocognitive disorder (dementia)
· Neuroimaging
· Depression and related issues
· Service/intervention evaluation
Prof LIU Jun
Director of Department of Neurology,
The Second Affiliated Hospital, Institute of Neuroscience, Guangzhou Medical University
Prof. Jun Liu, From 1992 to 2002, He successively obtained his M.D. and Ph.D. degree from Sun Yat-sen University of Medical Science. From 2006 to 2008, he got his post-doctoral training in the University of Kansas Medical Center. He has worked in the Sun Yat-sen Memorial hospital of Sun Yatsen University for 20 years and was transferred to
the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University in 2022. His research field focus on the mechanisms and clinical
research of neurodegenerative disease. And now is the head of Institute of Neuroscience of Guangzhou Medical University and
National Core Advanced Cognitive Impairment Diagnosis and Treatment Center. He got 6 National Natural Science Foundation of China and published more than one hundred peer-reviewed papers. In 2019, he was awarded the title of "Top Ten Outstanding Young Neurologist" sponsored by Chinese Medical Doctor Association.
Prof Doris YU
Professor, Chair (Research)
School of Nursing, The University of Hong Kong
Professor Yu is a distinguished faculty member in the HKU School of Nursing. Since joining HKU in 2022, she has achieved full-tenured professorship since 2015. Her research primarily focuses on nursing and aged care, with particular emphasis on promoting healthy longevity, dementia and heart failure care innovations, and advanced asset-based community development for caregiving. She has integrated the WHO-ICOPE model, digital and dyadic science to optimize the care innovation development and empirical evaluation. These efforts attracted substantial competitive research funding (PI) totaling US$21.7M including the Strategic Topic Grant, Collaborative Research Fund and Research Impact Fund. She was also awarded with USD$11million (Knowledge Translation Funds) to translate the evidence-based program into practice. In addition to her research achievements, Professor Yu serves as an Associate Editor of Journal of Advanced Nursing, and sits on the editorial boards of several Q1 journals in nursing. She has been honored as a Fellow by the American Academy of Nursing (AAN) and the Gerontological Society of America. Her expertise is sought in various government grant review boards, including the Research Grant Council Biology and Medicine Panel for Joint Research Schemes, solidifying her reputation as a leading researcher. Professor Yu contributes to tertiary education, aged care services and policies, and the nursing profession, serving on numerous professional and government bodies, including the AAN Expert Aging Panel.
Dr Kaele STOKES
Executive Director,
Services, Advocacy and Research of Dementia Australia
Dr Kaele Stokes is Executive Director Services, Engagement and Research at Dementia Australia.
Her portfolios span all of Dementia Australia’s client-facing services as well as those parts of the organisation that deliver community development, engagement and research activities. After almost 20 years’ experience in the health and ageing sectors, Kaele is passionate about quality service delivery that meets the needs of people impacted by dementia, as well as elevating the voice of people living with dementia, their families and carers through a wide range of consumer engagement activities. She is also committed to building community awareness through dementia-friendly community initiatives and supporting international and national dementia research, with a particular focus on translating research into practice.
Kaele has held a number of roles at Dementia Australia and its precursor Victorian organisation and she also has a background in retirement living and aged care, having previously worked in the areas of policy, strategy and new service development for an organisation that focused on individual and community wellbeing.
Prior to this work, Kaele completed an M.Phil and PhD in history at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom as well as working as an editorial assistant in Belgium and running her own grant writing consultancy.
Prof Veeda Michelle M. ANLACAN
Associate Professor
College of Medicine, University of the Philippines Manila
Veeda Michelle Anlacan completed her medical degree at the University of Santo Tomas in Manila, Philippines in 1997 and finished her Adult Neurology residency training at the University of the Philippines- Philippine General Hospital in 2002. She then completed fellowship in Dementia at the National Neuroscience Institute- Singapore General Hospital Campus from 2004-2005. A lifelong learner, she completed the Artificial Intelligence for Healthcare Programme from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore in March 2024.
She is currently an Associate Professor at the University of the Philippines College of Medicine and an Affiliate Research Faculty of the Institute on Aging of the University of the Philippines National Institutes of Health.
She currently heads the Center for Memory and Cognition of the Philippine General Hospital and the Memory Center of Cardinal Santos Medical Center. She was the previous chair of the dementia council of the Philippine Neurological Association and the immediate past president of the Alzheimer’s Disease Association of the Philippines.
Her current research projects and publications are on neurological consequences of covid-19, immersive gamification technology systems including virtual reality for dementia, monitoring drug efficacy through multiomics research in Alzheimer’s disease and artificial intelligence in neurological care.
Invited Speaker Bio
Ms Amalia Fonk-UTOMO
Head of Accreditation, Alzheimer's Disease International
Amalia works from The Netherlands as the Head of Accreditation.
Amalia has a background in creative marketing. After working for the global agencies Lowe, DDB and Ogilvy, she started her own agency, Juara, which lead her to do pro-bono project with Alzheimer’s Indonesia (ALZI) by creating the campaign ‘Jangan Maklum Dengan Pikun’ (Do not under estimate memory loss). She also created a ’10 signs’ handy accordion brochure which has been translated into over 15 languages.
Since moving to Groningen, The Netherlands, she is active as Chair for Alzheimer Indonesia Nederland Foundation and as Honorary Board for Alzheimer’s Indonesia With her 26 years expertise in creative marketing, she manages to deliver simple message on behaviour change in dementia awareness.
Prof Tuan Anh NGUYEN
National Ageing Research Institute (NARI), Victoria, Australia
Professor Tuan Anh Nguyen is a leading public health and social gerontology researcher dedicated to advancing equity in ageing, dementia prevention, and care. Based at Swinburne University of Technology and National Ageing Research Institute, he leads multinational collaborations improving outcomes for culturally and linguistically diverse communities and vulnerable populations across the Asia–Pacific. He is Principal Investigator on NHMRC - eASIA and MRFF-funded projects developing AI-powered carer support. An Atlantic Fellow at Global Brain Health Institute, Trinity College Dublin, he has secured over $19M in research funding and plays a global leadership role through ISTAART.
Dr Upasana BARUAH
National Ageing Research Institute (NARI), Victoria, Australia
Dr. Upasana Baruah is a Research Fellow at the National Ageing Research Institute (NARI), Melbourne, in the Division of Social Gerontology. A psychiatric social worker and translational researcher, she has over 15 years of experience in mental health, ageing, and dementia care. Her work focuses on culturally adaptable, evidence-based, and digital interventions for carers and families. She currently manages the e-DiVA project, and is passionate about bridging research, practice, and policy in global dementia care.
Ms Zara PAGE
National Ageing Research Institute (NARI), Victoria, Australia
Zara Page is a Research Assistant in the Division of Social Gerontology NARI, working on the e-DiVA project. She is also a final year PhD candidate at the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing at UNSW Sydney. Her work focusses on the development of culture and language informed neuropsychological assessments and processes to deliver more equitable diagnostic services for older adults from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. Zara has been actively involved in international dementia research initiatives and has previously been an ambassador for the Alzheimer's Association.
Dr Sarah CULLUM
University of Auckland, New Zealand
Dr Sarah Cullum is an Atlantic Fellow for Equity in Brain Health, Old Age Psychiatrist and Associate Professor at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. She led a cross-cultural programme of research to ultimately support the first national multi-ethnic dementia prevalence study of dementia in NZ (data collection ongoing). She works with colleagues in Computer Science to develop machine learning models with electronic health records to improve detection of dementia in older people. She is also the NZ Principal Investigator of the “e-DIVA (Empowering Dementia Carers with an iSupport Virtual Assistant)”. In her spare time she loves to ski.
Dr Thanh Binh NGUYEN
National Geriatric Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam
Dr. Thanh Binh Nguyen is a neurologist at the Vietnam National Geriatric Hospital and a member of the e-DiVA research group. With over 16 years of clinical and research experience in neurodegenerative disorders, her work focuses on dementia, Parkinson’s disease, and elderly mental health. She has actively contributed to international projects such as REACH-VN and e-DiVA, which aim to strengthen dementia care, family support, and research capacity in Vietnam through evidence-based and culturally adapted interventions.
Dr Carmen NG
Social & Elderly Wellness Director,
Hong Kong Housing Society
Dr Carmen Ng is currently the Social and Elderly Wellness Director of the Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS), overseeing the elderly housing and related services to assist the older adults to age in place.
Before joining HKHS, Dr Ng had been the Head of Consumer Education of the Consumer Council, Secretary-General of the Community Investment and Inclusion Fund of the Labour and Welfare Bureau, Executive Director of the Hong Kong Alzheimer’s Disease Association, and Chief Operating Officer of the Senior Citizen Home Safety Association, where she steered the development of new service models to address the evolving needs of the older adults and the society at large.
Dr Jacky CHOY
Research Assistant Professor
Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong
Dr. Jacky Choy is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work and Social Administration at The University of Hong Kong. His research focuses on family care shared by multiple informal carers, and Cognitive Stimulation Therapy (CST). His recent work, supported by Research Grants Council of Hong Kong, explores the trajectories of dementia care shared among multiple carers, with emphasis on family-level preparedness and the impact of carer wellbeing. Since 2017, he has played a key role in the development of CST in Hong Kong, facilitating its professional training for over 800 care professionals.
Mr Stephen CHAN
Director of Care Services, Dementia Singapore
Stephen Chan is the Director of Care Services at Dementia Singapore. He has extensive experience in eldercare, having served as Centre Manager of the dementia day centre and caregiver support services. A trained occupational therapist, he has worked across day care, home-based, and community support settings. Stephen has trained professionals and caregivers locally and internationally, and contributed to national policy through MOH and AIC workgroups. He holds a Master of Gerontology and a Bachelor of Health Science in Occupational Therapy. He also serves on various Ministry of Health-related panels and committees, related to quality, disabilities and eldercare.
Mr Zihan HE
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences,
The University of Sydney, Australia
Mr Zihan He is a final-stage PhD candidate in Translation Studies and Multicultural Health Communication at the University of Sydney. His doctoral research investigates the linguistic and cultural adaptation of the Chinese translation of public health information on dementia, combining translation theory, sociolinguistics, and health communication. He has developed the CALU translation model, which informs inclusive dementia language practices. He has successfully renamed dementia for Chinese Australians, which has been recognised by Dementia Australia and widely reported by Australian official media. His interdisciplinary work contributes to advancing cross-cultural health translation, public engagement, and the destigmatisation of mental and cognitive disorders through linguistically and culturally responsive communication.
Mr LEUNG Ka Hin
District Service Manager
(Tsuen Kwai Tsing District)
Baptist Oi Kwan Social Service
Mr. Leung Ka Hin has over 15 years of experience enhancing support services for older adults and caregivers. He specializes in primary health care and holistic support, training frontline workers in the social service sector to utilize evidence-based tools and systematic frameworks. Through his advocacy for elderly and caregiver policies, Mr. Leung and his project team at the Sau Po Centre on Ageing at The University of Hong Kong have developed a pioneering Carer and Dementia Friendly Community model. This initiative aims to raise community awareness and promote inclusivity. Their successful collaborations are exemplary models for empowering community partners and co-creating effective intervention strategies in Hong Kong.