Biography:

Ronald Ma is Professor at the Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Chinese University of  Hong Kong and Honorary Consultant Physician, Prince of Wales Hospital, and Head of Division of Endocrinology and Diabetes (Academic affairs). 

Dr Ma completed his medical training at the University of Cambridge, UK and trained in Internal Medicine in London. He subsequently returned to Hong Kong, where he completed his endocrinology fellowship training. Through support from a Croucher Foundation Fellowship, he furthered his research interest in the area of diabetic complications at the Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA, under the mentorship of Dr George King. 

Dr Ma’s research focuses on the epidemiology and genetics of diabetes and its complications, gestational diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome, and endocrine disorders. He is currently leading a multi-disciplinary project team to leverage on the large Hong Kong Diabetes Register and accompanying biobank to identify novel molecular markers for diabetic complications, and is the principal investigator of the Hong Kong Diabetes Biobank. His laboratory is also undertaking multi-omics studies in GDM. He has published over 300 research articles in international peer-reviewed journals including Nature, Nature Genetics, Lancet, JAMA, Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, Diabetes and Kidney International, and authored 13 book chapters. Dr Ma is a recipient of several awards, including the Young Investigator Award from the International Diabetes Epidemiology Group (IDEG), Ten Outstanding Young Persons Award, Hong Kong (2009), the Albert Renold Fellowship from the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (2010), the Research Excellence Award (2011) and the Outstanding Fellowship of Faculty of Medicine from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (2014), and the Sir David Todd Lectureship from the Hong Kong College of Physicians (2015), Croucher Senior Medical Research Fellowship (2019).

Dr Ma is a Past President of the International Diabetes Epidemiology Group (IDEG), a Past President of Diabetes Hongkong and the Hong Kong Society of Endocrinology, Metabolism and Reproduction (HKSEMR), a member of the Executive Board, the Asian Association for the Study of Diabetes (AASD) and Council Member of the International Society for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD). He has served on the World Health Organization Working Group on Science and Evidence to End Childhood Obesity (ECHO), and is a member of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) Pregnancy and NCD Committee. He is a past editor of Diabetic Medicine, editorial board member of PLoS Medicine, Obesity Reviews, Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Diseases, and Journal of Diabetes Investigation.
 

Specialised Research Area(s):

Diabetes, gestational diabetes, diabetes epidemiology, genetics, genetic epidemiology, polygenic risk score, genomics, biomarker discovery, precision medicine, translational research, omics research, big data analysis, developmental origins of health and disease (DOHAD).

• Epidemiology of diabetes
  • Identification of novel risk factors for diabetes and diabetes-related co-morbidities, characteristics of diabetes in Asians, epidemiology of diabetes in Asia, role of early development on risk of diabetes and obesity

• Genetics of diabetes and diabetic complications
  • Identification of novel genetic variants associated with diabetes and diabetic complications, risk prediction, application of clinical and genetic predictors for precision medicine in diabetes, epigenetics in diabetes

• Gestational diabetes and intra-uterine programming, epigenetics
  
  • Elucidation of the impact of gestational diabetes and maternal environment on risk of diabetes and obesity in the offspring, role of gestational diabetes in relation to the epidemic of non-communicable diseases, mechanism of transgenerational diabetes

• Polycystic ovary syndrome
  
  • Epidemiology of polycystic ovary syndrome and related complications, relationship to young-onset type 2 diabetes, epigenetic factors, role of insulin resistance and treatment

1. Spracklen C, Horikoshi M, Kim YK, Lin K, Bragg F, Moon S, Suzuki K, Tam CH, Tabara Y, Kwak S-H, Takeuchi F, Long J ,Lim VJY, Chai J-F, Chen C-H, Nakatochi M, Yao J , Choi HS, Iyengar AK ,Perrin HJ, Brotman SM, van de unt M, Gloyn AL, Below JE, Boehnke M, Bowden DW, Chambers JC, Mahajan A, McCarthy MI, Ng MCY, Petty LE, Zhang W, Morris AP, Adair LS, Akiyama M, Bian Z, Chan JC, Chang L-C, Chee M-L, Chen Y-D ,Chen Y-T, Chen Z, Chuang L-M, Du S, Gordon-Larsen P, Gross M, Guo X, Hwu Y, Ichihara S, Isono M, Jang H-M, Jiang G, Jonas JB, Kamatani Y, Katsuya T, Kawaguchi T, Khor C-C, Kohara K, Lee M-S, Lee NR Li L, Liu J, Luk AO, Lv J, Okada Y, Pereira MA, Sabanayagam C, Shi J, Shin DM, So WY. Takahashi A, Tomlinson B,Tsai F-J, van Dam RM, Xiang Y-B, Yamamoto K, Yamauchi T, Yoon K, Yu C, Yuan J-M, Zhang L, Zheng W, Igase M, Cho YS, Rotter JI, Wang Y-X, Sheu WH, Yokota M, Wu J-Y, Cheng C-Y, Wong T-Y, Shu X-O, Kato N, Park K-S, Tai E-S, Matsuda F, Koh W-P, Ma RC, Maeda S, Milwood IY, Lee J, Kadowaki T ,Walters RG, Kim B-J, Mohlke K, Sim X. Identification of type 2 diabetes loci in 433,430 East Asian individuals. Nature 2020, in press

2. Diabetes-related complications and mortality in patients with young-onset latent autoimmune diabetes: A 14-year analysis of the prospective. Hong Kong Diabetes Register, Luk AOY, Lau ESH, Lim C, Kong APS, Chow E, Ma RCW, Chan JCN. Diabetes Care 2019; 42(6): 1042-50.

3. Progression of diabetic kidney disease and renal function decline in Chinese with type 2 diabetes. Jiang G, Luk AO, Tam CH, Xie F, Carstensen B, Lau ES, Lim CK, Lee HM, Ng AC, Ng MC, Ozaki R, Kong AP, Chow CC, Yang X, Hong Kong Diabetes Register TRS Study Group, Lan HY, Tsui SK, Fan X, Szeto CC, So WY, Chan JC, Ma RC. Kidney Int 2018; Nov 2.

4. Progression of glucose intolerance and cardiometabolic risk factors over a decade in Chinese women with polycystic ovary syndrome: A case-control study.
Ng NY, Jiang G, Cheung LP, Zhang Y, Tam CH, Luk AO, Quan J, Lau ES, Yau TT, Chan HM, Ho CS, Lim CK, Ozaki R, Huang J, Liu KH, Tam WH, Sahota DS, Chu WC, Goggins W, Woo J, Li TC, Chow CC, Chan JC, Ma RC. PLoS Med 2019; 16(10): e1002953.

5. The impact of maternal gestational weight gain on cardiometabolic risk factors in children. Tam CH, Ma RC, Yuen LY, Ozaki R, Li AM, Hou Y, Chan MHM, Ho CS, Yang X, Chan JC, Tam WH, Diabetologia 2018, Sept 17.