Research
WING, Yun Kwok

Name : WING, Yun Kwok 榮潤國
Title :

Professor
Home Department :  Psychiatry
Email : ykwing@cuhk.edu.hk
Phone Number : (852) 3919 7593
Fax Number : (852) 2647 5321
Address : Department of Psychiatry, 7/F, Shatin hospital, 33 A Kung Kok St, Ma On Shan, Shatin, N.T.
Website:  https://www.psychiatry.cuhk.edu.hk/tc/members/prof-yk-wing/


 

Biography:

Professor Wing graduated from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, China. He is currently the Chairman and Choh-Ming Li Professor of Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry of the Faculty of Medicine of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He is also the Director of the Li Chiu Kong Family Sleep Assessment Unit of The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Professor Wing has diverse research interest in sleep and circadian medicine, psychiatric disorders, neuropsychiatry, and transcultural psychopharmacology. He has active contribution to the scientific communities, including his leadership role in the Hong Kong Society of Sleep Medicine (ex-President, HKSSM) and Asian Sleep Society of Sleep Medicine (ASSM, Vice-president). He was also involved in the World Association of Sleep Medicine (Scientific Committee, 2011, 2013 and 2015), World Sleep 2017, 2019 and 2022 (Scientific Committee) and program committee member in 2023 and 2025. He has organised and chaired the Gordon Research conference on the “Cognitive Dysfunction in Brain diseases” in Hong Kong May 2019. He is currently serving at a few editorial boards including his role as Associate Editor in the journal ‘Behavioral Sleep Medicine’.

He and his research group has established the local epidemiological data of various sleep disorders including sleep deprivation, insomnia, narcolepsy, and parasomnia. In particular, the group has studied interaction of sleep and circadian propensity with psychiatric disorders. The group has also completed a novel prevention study of insomnia among at-risk adolescents. In addition, the group has extensive work on REM Sleep behavioral disorder, a sleep disorder with high specificity in predicting future alpha-synucelinopathy neurodegeneration. The recent familial RBD study suggested a strong familial aggregation and staging pathology of alpha-synucleinopathy. The group is working on the brain-gut hypothesis at which the microbiota may have a significant role in predisposing to future synucleinopathy as well as the close relationship among psychiatric disorders, RBD and alpha-synucleinopathy.

Professor Wing was awarded the distinguished national award for Sleep Medicine Scientific Technological Advance in China by the Chinese Medical Doctor Association at 2010 and distinguished contributions to the development of sleep medicine and sleep research by Chinese Sleep Research Society at 2016. He was also awarded the Teacher of the Year Awards, Faculty of Medicine, CUHK in 2012-13.

Specialised Research Area(s):

  • Sleep medicine
  • Biological and cultural psychiatry
  • Neuropsychiatry
  • Transcultural psychopharmacology
  • Digital mental health

Selected Publications:

1. Huang B, Chau SWH, Liu Y, Chan JWY, Wang J, Zhang J, Ma SL, Chan PKS, Yeoh, YK, Chen Z, Wong, SH, Mok VCT, To KF, Lai HM, Ng S, Trenkwalder C, Chan FKL, Wing YK#. Gut microbiome dysbiosis across early Parkinson’s disease, REM sleep behavior disorder and their first-degree relatives. Nat Commun. 2023 May 2;14(1):2501. 

2. Zhou L, Li SX, Chau SW, Huang B, Wang J, Tang S, Chan JW, Zhang J, Yu MW, Tsang JC, Hu MT, Mok VC, Wing YK#, Liu Y. Altered Impulsivity Across Drug-Naïve Parkinsonism, Isolated Rapid Eye Movement Sleep Behavior Disorder, and Their High-Risk Relatives. Ann Neurol. 2023 Nov 23.

3. Wang J, Lam SP, Huang B, Liu Y, Zhang J, Yu MWM, Tsang JCC, Zhou L, Chau SWH, Chan NY, Chan JWY, Schenck CH, Li SX, Mok VCT, Ma KKY, Chan AYY, Wing YK#. Familial α-synucleinopathy spectrum features in patients with psychiatric REM sleep behaviour disorder. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2023 Nov;94(11):893-903.

4. Li Z, Chen X, Vong JSL, Zhao L, Huang J, Yan LYC, Ip B, Wing YK, Lai HM, Mok VCT, Ko H. Systemic GLP-1R agonist treatment reverses mouse glial and neurovascular cell transcriptomic aging signatures in a genome-wide manner. Commun Biol. 2021 Jun 2;4(1):656.

5. Zhou L, Chau SWH, Liu Y, Wang J, Zhang J, Chan NY, Chan JWY, Huang B, Chen S, Li SX, Mok VCT, Wing YK#. Personality profile and its association with conversion to neurodegenerative disorders in idiopathic REM sleep behavior disorder. NPJ Parkinsons Dis. 2022 Jul 14;8(1):91.

6. Liu Y, Zhang J, Chau SWH, Yu MWM, Chan NY, Chan JWY, Li SX, Huang B, Wang J, Feng H, Zhou L, Mok VCT, Wing YK#. Evolution of Prodromal REM Sleep Behavior Disorder to Neurodegeneration: A Retrospective, Longitudinal Case-control Study. Neurology. Aug 9 2022;99(6):e627-e637. *

7. Feng H, Chen L, Liu Y, Chen X, Wang J, Yu MWM, Huang B, Li SY, Chau SWH, Chan JWY, Chen J, Mok VCT, Wing YK#, Zhang JH. Rest-Activity Pattern Alterations in Idiopathic REM Sleep Behavior Disorder. Annals of Neurology. 2020;88(4):817-29.

8. Liu Y, Zhang J, Lam SP, Zhou J, Yu MWM, Li SX, Chan JWY, Postuma RB, Mok VCT, Wing YK#. A case-control-family study of idiopathic rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder. Ann Neurol. 2019 Apr;85(4):582-592. doi: 10.1002/ana.25435. Epub 2019 Mar 19. PMID: 30761606.

9. Tang S, Wang Y, Liu Y, Chau SW, Chan JW, Chu WC, Abrigo JM, Mok VC, Wing YK#. Large-scale network dysfunction in α-Synucleinopathy: A meta-analysis of resting-state functional connectivity. EBioMedicine. 2022 Mar;77:103915.

10. Wing YK#, Lam SP, Zhang J, Leung E, Ho CL, Chen S, Cheung MK, Li SX, Chan JW, Mok V, Tsoh J, Chan A, Ho CK. Reduced striatal dopamine transmission in REM sleep behavior disorder comorbid with depression. Neurology. 2015 Feb 3;84(5):516-22.