MEL Seminar “Computing Genomic and Health Data in the “Clouds”?: ELSI Challenges”

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Message from Centre for Medical Ethics and Law

Prof. Bartha M. Knoppers,
Canada Research Chair in Law and Medicine,
Director, Centre of Genomics and Policy, McGill University

Date: 21 May 2014
Time: 12:30pm – 1:30pm
Venue:  Room A824, 8/F, Cheng Yu Tung Tower, Centennial Campus, The University of Hong Kong

Abstract

Big Data computation will increasingly use commercial cloud providers such as Google, Microsoft or Amazon as the locus of analysis due to the sheer size of datasets. Modern biomedical research is international and collaborative and combines many sources of data (e.g. medical; demographic; genetic; environmental etc). Recent scandals (e.g. Snowden) surrounding governmental surveillance have raised concern among national governments, to say nothing of research participants-patients, regarding the security and privacy of their data in the “clouds”. What precisely are the issues specific to global biomedical research and is there cause for concern? Are there solutions?

Biography of speaker

Bartha Maria Knoppers, PhD (Comparative Medical Law), holds the Canada Research Chair in Law and Medicine (Tier 1: 2001 – ). She is Director of the Centre of Genomics and Policy, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Human Genetics, McGill University. In 2007, she founded the international Population Project in Genomics and Society (P3G) and CARTaGENE Quebec’s population biobank (20,000 indiv.). Former holder of the Chair d’excellence Pierre Fermat (France: 2006 – 2008), she was named Distinguished Visiting Scientist (Netherlands Genomics Initiative) (2009 – 2012) and received the ACFAS prize for multidisciplinarity (2011). She is Chair of the Ethics Working Party of the International Stem Cell Forum (2005 – ); Co-Chair of the Sampling/ELSI Committee of the 1000 Genomes Project (2007 – 2013); Member of the Scientific Steering Committee of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) (2009- ); Chair, Regulatory and Ethics Working Group – Co-Founder and Member, Transitional Steering Committee (TSC) of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health. She holds four Doctorates Honoris Causa, is Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, of The Hastings Center (Bioethics) and of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS) and Officer of the Order of Canada and of Quebec. She also received an award “Prix Montreal In Vivo: Secteur des sciences de la vie et des technologies de la santé” in 2012 and in 2013 was named “Champion of Genetics” by the Canadian Gene Cure Foundation.

Please register online at

http://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_regform.aspx?ueid=30561 .

Main Library & Yu Chun Keung Medical Library Extended Opening Hours

Message from University Libraries

Main Library & Yu Chun Keung Medical Library Extended Opening Hours,

1-26 May 2014

The Main Library and Medical Library will extend the opening hours for the coming Revision Week & Assessment Period from 1-26 May 2014:

Main Library:
Daily: 8:30am – 6am of the following day
(except Special Collections, AV & Reserve Collection, and Level 3 Collaboration Zone)

Medical Library:
Monday – Friday: 8:15am – 6am of the following day
Saturday: 8:30am – 6am of the following day
Sundays & Public Holidays: 10am – 6am of the following day

All service counters will be closed outside the normal operating hours. In order to thoroughly clean the library, all users and their possessions must be cleared by 6 am each morning. Items not removed from each desk will be removed by staff on duty and can be collected at

Main Library:
After 9 am (10 am on Sundays & Public Holidays) at the Lending Services Division on the G/F;

Yu Chun Keung Medical Library:
After 10 am at the Circulation Counter.

During the extended opening hours, contract security guards will be stationed in these two libraries to provide basic security services. When the circulation counters are closed, users can check out/in books using the self-check stations (G/F and 4/F in Main Library, and one in Medical Library). While there is no counter service, all public computers, printers and copiers will be available but no refill of printing paper will be provided.

For enquiry, please call 2859-2203 or 2241-5945.

Best wishes
Peter Sidorko
University Librarian

Student Learning Experience Surveys Now Open

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The HKUSLEQ and TPgLEQ 2013-14 administration window has been closed already.

HKU conducts institutional surveys on students’ learning experiences regularly to yield information for analysis and renewal of curriculum and pedagogy. The findings help ensure and enhance the quality of learning experiences.

We now invite all first, second (under the new 4-year curriculum) and final year undergraduate students to complete the University of Hong Kong Student Learning Experience Questionnaire (HKUSLEQ); and all final year taught-postgraduate students are invited to fill out the Taught Postgraduate Experience Questionnaire (TPgLEQ). Both surveys are conducted on-line. All target students should have received an e-mail invitation with the link to the survey. They can also access the link through the “My e-learning” tab in HKU Portal, as well as this direct link.

It takes about 10 minutes to complete the questionnaire. All answers will remain anonymous. Personal information will be kept strictly confidential. Please contact the Survey Team at surveytl@hku.hk or 3917- 4787 for technical assistance.

We appreciate and value our students’ response.

Super Pass Event at HKU Visitor Centre

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Message from Academic Liaison Section of the Registry

Cheer for your exam! Join Super Pass event!

The University of Hong Kong Visitor Centre has arranged a series of activities to help cheering for your exam. From Apr 14 to May 3, join us at the Visitor Centre for:

– Traditional Chinese Calligraphy Writing Workshops for preparing “Super Pass Fai Chun” (一揮勁過工作坊)

– Make wishes under the “Super Pass Wish Making Tree” (平安勁過許願樹)

– Super Pass Lucky Bag (開運勁過福袋)

You are also invited to join the traditional wish-making event, roasted pig cutting, (無敵勁過開運禮) at 12:30 p.m. on Apr 14 at the Visitor Center, G/F, Centennial Campus, HKU.

Come for fun and make a wish! See you all there!
Enquiries: 3917 7853 / visitorcentre@hku.hk

Moodle & Panopto Training Courses for Teachers

Message from Information Technology Services

Dear Teachers,

We are pleased to announce that four new Moodle user guides of the recently installed plugins (Scheduler, Attendance, OU wiki & OU blog) have been prepared for you to familiar with these new Moodle features. They are available at: http://moodle-support.hku.hk/cms/?q=teachers/userguides

Besides, the following hands-on training courses on Panopto and Moodle are now open for registration. You are welcome to attend. Please register the courses by clicking the “Register” hyperlinks below.

Moodle Training Courses

Course Code Moodle Course Title Date Time Venue Registration
MOD-003 Grades 10 Apr, 2014 (Thu) 10:00am – 11:00am KB-110 Register
MOD-005 Turnitin and GradeMark 10 Apr, 2014 (Thu) 11:30am – 12:30pm KB-110 Register

Panopto Training Courses

Course Code Panopto Course Title Date Time Venue Registration
PAN-001 Introduction of Panopto Lecture Video Capturing Solution 23 Apr, 2014 (Wed) 10:00am – 11:00am CPD-LG20 Register
PAN-002 Edit, Share and Output Panopto Video Recording 23 Apr, 2014 (Wed) 11:30am – 12:30pm CPD-LG20 Register

The number of seats is limited. After successful registration, if you cannot attend, please cancel the registration to release the reserved seat for other colleague.

The course details can be found at http://moodle-support.hku.hk/cms/?q=training/cc and http://moodle-support.hku.hk/cms/?q=training/panopto

Note:
(1) KB-110 = Room 110, Knowles Building
CPD-LG20 = Room CPD-LG20, Central Podium (CPD), Centennial Campus

(2) If you have taken a Moodle hands-on course offered by the ITS, we recommend you follow up with an e-learning Pedagogical Support Unit (EPSU) workshop and/or a Faculty of Education/ Centre for Information Technology in Education (CITE) seminar.

The EPSU of the Centre for the Enhancement of Teaching and Learning (CETL) offers pedagogically focused e-learning workshops, which leverage the central Moodle platform to enable good teaching practices. These workshops focus on teaching approaches and good teaching practices, complement the Moodle courses offered by the ITS and the Moodle seminars offered by the Faculty of Education/CITE, which tend to focus on innovative teaching practice using the new features available in Moodle.

e-learning workshops by EPSU/CETL
http://www.cetl.hku.hk/professional-learning/

e-learning seminars by the Faculty of Education/CITE
http://www.cite.hku.hk/news.php?category=upcoming

For more information and inquiry on Moodle and Panopto training and support, feel free to email: e-learningTeam@hku.hk

Best Regards,

Kenneth Siu
e-learning Team
Information Technology Services

2014 Summer Service and Learning Program in Rural China

Message from CEDARS – Learning Plus

This program is initiated and organized by Tsinghua University, Beijing, China from 2006. A total of 1,741 students and 250 faculty members from Tsinghua University and 545 students and faculty members from other regions and countries’ universities, have been dispatched in teams, to rural counties in the past eight years.

Every summer, 180 Tsinghua volunteers and 120 volunteers from other regions and countries, who show a sincere commitment to charity work were recruited to join the Program. Successful applicants will be dispatched in 30 teams and perform their service in 30 counties throughout various locations in rural China. Each team will consist of one Tsinghua teacher, five Tsinghua students, four non-Tsinghua volunteers. Volunteers can provide diversified services to the local students in those rural counties, including English teaching, social survey conducting, lectures and intercultural communication exercises.

For 2014 SSLP, the Program will run from July 9th to July 29th, 2014. Students who are interested in joining the program should read through the information (in Chinese) at: http://wp.cedars.hku.hk/fileupload/files/sd/Tsinghua14.pdf and submit your application with all necessary materials to Ms. JIAO Yiju (Daisy) by email jiaoyiju@mail.tsinghua.edu.cn on or before 10 April, 2014.

Volunteers need to arrive in Beijing on July 9th and leave from Beijing on July 29th. Volunteers are responsible for payment of a non-refundable US $490 program registration fee, the round-trip air travel to and from Beijing. Tsinghua University will provide the accommodation, the subsidy for food, the transportation to the rural locations, the accidental insurance for all the volunteers during the program in China.

Videos about this program:

http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTgzNzg2OTEy.html
http://www.wangfoundation.net/video.htm
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNjMyNDM4NTcy.html
Thank you.

Best Regards,
Center of Development and Resources for Students

University Information Security Awareness Seminars 25,26 March & Exhibition 24-28 March

Message from Information Technology Services

University Information Security Awareness Week 2013/14

Dear Students and Colleagues,

Information Technology Services (ITS) will organize the “University Information Security Awareness Week” during the week of March 24 – 28, 2014 to raise the awareness among students and staff members of the University in respect of information security awareness and protection. Please visit our Information Security Awareness Exhibition Counter and attend the lunch-time seminars on Information Security during the week.

Information Security Awareness Exhibition Counter

Date: March 24 – 28, 2014
Time: 12:00 noon – 3:00 pm
Venue: Chi Wah Learning Commons G/F foyer

Students and staff members are welcome to take the quiz and win the gifts.

Information Security Lunch Time Seminars (in English & Cantonese)

Seminar I
Date: March 25, 2014
Time: 12:50 pm – 2:00 pm
Venue: Main Building Room 217
Topic: How to Enhance Information Security in University Environment
Speaker: Consultants from Ernst & Young Advisory Services Ltd
Target Audience: HKU Staff

Seminar II
Date: March 26, 2014
Time: 12:50 pm – 2:00 pm
Venue: Main Building Room G07
Topic: Basic Information Security You Should Know
Speaker: Consultants from Ernst & Young Advisory Services Ltd
Target Audience: HKU Students

The Information Security Awareness seminars offer information for HKU staff members to raise their awareness on protection of their data and computer resources from the cyber-attacks. Security consultants will introduce the security best practices as well as sharing of their experience on how to protect the information systems from cyber-attacks.

To enroll on the seminars, please register through the HKU Event Management System:

Seminar I (For Staff) –  https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?&UEID=29022

Seminar II (For Students) – https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.aspx?&UEID=29025

For enquiries, please contact Mr. Ken Ng (Tel : 3917 5186; email: chikaing@hku.hk ).

We look forward to your participation.

Best Regards,
John Lam
Information Security Team
Information Technology Services

Award Presentation Ceremony for Excellence in Teaching, Research and Knowledge Exchange 2013

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Message from The Vice-Chancellor

Dear Colleagues, Students, Alumni and Friends,

You are cordially invited to attend the Award Presentation Ceremony for Excellence in Teaching, Research and Knowledge Exchange 2013, which will be held on Wednesday, March 26, 2014 in Loke Yew Hall at 5:00 p.m.  We are privileged to have Dr the Honourable Sir David Li Kwok Po, our Pro-Chancellor, to be our Guest of Honour on the happy occasion again this year.

The Ceremony is one of the most important annual events on the University calendar, since it is an opportunity to recognise the exceptional contributions our colleagues have made to the University’s teaching, research and knowledge exchange endeavours. Just as importantly, it gives us a chance to celebrate the dedication and hard work that have gone into our colleagues’ accomplishments, and to encourage their peers at HKU to strive for ever greater achievements.

During the ceremony, the Outstanding Teaching Award under the Teaching Excellence Award Scheme, Faculty Teaching Award, Outstanding Research Student Supervisor Award, Outstanding Researcher Award, Outstanding Young Researcher Award, Research Output Prize, and Knowledge Exchange Award will be presented.

These honours to outstanding teachers and researchers are only bestowed sparingly, and are a tribute to the high standards of excellence that the University of Hong Kong stands for.

I do hope you will be able to join us at the ceremony, both to salute our deserving colleagues and to share the pride of being a member of the University family that includes such distinguished scholars.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Lap-Chee Tsui
Vice-Chancellor

Note:
The list of award recipients can be found at: http://www4.hku.hk/award/ceremony/award-recipients
For enquiries, please contact Ms Shirley Yeung (Tel: 2241-5258, Email: shirley_yeung@hku.hk).

MEL Seminar “Data Sharing in Health and Science: Something to Fear or Embrace?”

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Message from Centre for Medical Ethics and Law

Professor Eric M. Meslin
Director of Center for Bioethics
Associate Dean for Bioethics and Professor of Medicine
Indiana University

Date: Tuesday, 8 April 2014
Time: 12:30pm – 1:30pm
Venue:  Room A824, 8/F, Cheng Yu Tung Tower, Centennial Campus, The University of Hong Kong

Abstract

In 1969 Canadian communications theorist Marshall McLuhan said: “The more the data banks record about each one of us, the less we exist.” McLuhan’s words may have been prescient coming decades before the sequenced human genome and the surge in use of ‘big data’ analytics raised profound ethical issues for science and society. But it would be a mistake to conclude that collecting and sharing data is always dangerous and dehumanizing.  This talk will first review some of the current data on data sharing from why researchers resist sharing data, to what patients say they want shared ¬ and then discuss some promising approaches for getting the balance right between protecting personal privacy and promoting public health.

Biography of speaker

Professor Eric M.  Meslin is founding Director of the Indiana University Center for Bioethics. He is also Associate Dean for Bioethics in the Indiana University School of Medicine, and is Professor of Medicine; of Medical & Molecular Genetics; of Public Health; and of Philosophy. In 2012 he was appointed as Indiana University’s first Professor of Bioethics, and co-directs the Indiana University Center for Law, Ethics and Applied Research in Health Information (CLEAR).

Dr. Meslin has more than 150 published articles and book chapters on various topics in bioethics and science, is a co-editor of the Cambridge University Press Bioethics and Law Series, and the Indiana University Press Bioethics and Humanities Series. He has been a member of several boards and committees in the U.S. and Canada including the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on Ethical and Scientific Issues in Studying the Safety of Approved Drugs; the Ethics Subcommittee, Advisory Committee to the Director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta; and the Board of Directors of Canada’s Stem Cell Network Centre of Excellence. Canada.  He is a current member of Science and Industry Advisory Committee of Genome Canada. In 2007 he was appointed a Chevalier de L’Order Nationale du Mérite (Knight of the National Order of Merit) by the French Ambassador to the United States for contributions to French bioethics policy.

Please register online at

http://www.cmel.hku.hk/events/upcoming-events or email Ms. Polly Yiu at cmel@hku.hk  to reserve a place.

Should you have any enquiries, please feel free to contact Ms. Polly Yiu by email at cmel@hku.hk  or by phone at 3917 1845

Gift from the Vice-Chancellor: Water Bottles for Full Time First Year Students

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Dear First Year Undergraduate Students,

Celebrate your entrance to HKU with a brand new “Greening HKU” water bottle! A limited supply of durable stainless steel water bottles is available for full-time first year undergraduate students.

The initiative, funded by the Vice-Chancellor’s Office, is part of the University’s effort to promote the development of a sustainable campus. We also hope the water bottle will help you start a sustainable living style early in your undergraduate days.

During your time at HKU, carry your HKU water bottle and refill your bottles at the free, filtered water dispensers around campus (http://www.sustainability.hku.hk/sustainable-hku/water)! Each one litre of water you refill will save up to 250ml of crude oil and three litres of water used to produce the same amount of bottled water.

Simply present your Student ID Card to get your water bottle during the following redemption periods (while supply lasts):

Date: March 17 to 18, 2014 (Monday and Tuesday)
Time: 12noon – 6pm
Venue: Shaw Podium (near the old Bookstore)

Date: March 19 to 31, 2014
Time: Monday to Friday: 9am – 7pm;
Saturday: 9am – 1pm
Venue: Room 1A06, 1A/F Swire Building

Want to do more? Visit www.sustainability.hku.hk and find out what you can do! Have an idea already and looking for support? Write to us at sustainability@hku.hk or cedars@hku.hk.

May we also wish you a successful and rewarding undergraduate education ahead.

Best regards,
Centre of Development and Resources for Students (CEDARS) Sustainability Office