People
Prof. Vincent CT MOK
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Master of S.H. Ho College
Endowed Mok Hing Yiu Professor of Medicine
Co-Director, Charles Kao CUHK BEAT AD Service
Director, Lau Tat-Chuen Research Centre of Brain Degenerative Diseases in Chinese
Director, Margaret K.L. Cheung Research Centre for Management of Parkinsonism
Director, Therese Pei Fong Chow Research Centre for Prevention of Dementia
Programme Director, MSc Programme in Stroke and Clinical Neurosciences (MCNS)
Member of Department Academic Personnel Committee (DAPC), Department of Medicine and Therapeutics
Head of Division of Neurology (Academic Affairs), Department of Medicine and Therapeutics (2016-2022)
Programme Director, Professional Certificate Programme in Promoting Well-being in Informal Caregivers of Dementia (GIFTCare) (2019-2023)
Prince of Wales Hospital
Specialist in Neurology
Honorary Consultant, Department of Medicine and Therapeutics
Academic and Professional Qualifications
MBBS (Syd), MD (CUHK), FRCP (London, Edin), FHKAM (Medicine), FHKCP, MRCP (UK)Biography
Prof. Vincent Mok is an academic neurologist who was ranked as “World’s Top 2% Scientists 2025” (Stanford University). In the sub-field of “Neurology and Neurosurgery”, he achieved a ranking of top 1%. His research aims to understand mechanisms of dementia and to investigate strategies that can prevent dementia. He is the first to report the association of cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) and dementia and the high prevalence of CSVD in Asia. Such findings have significantly increased the awareness that optimizing vascular risk factors (e.g., hypertension, hypercholesterolemia) can help to prevent dementia in this region, where burden of dementia is particularly huge. Prof. Mok is the first to utilize in-vivo amyloid PET in showing the importance of Alzheimer’s disease pathology in causing cognitive decline in stroke patients. Findings of this study emphasize the importance of mixed Alzheimer's and cerebrovascular disease in causing cognitive impairment and that effective treatments need to target both Alzheimer’s and cerebrovascular disease.
Prof. Mok, along with Dr Adrian Wong (Clinical Psychologist) validated the Hong Kong-Montreal Cognitive Assessment (HK-MoCA) and HK-MoCA 5-Min, and developed norms for HK-MoCA/HK-MoCA 5-min performance according to age and education. HK-MoCA/HK-MoCA 5-min is currently the commonest brief cognitive assessment used for the assessment of cognitive function and the detection of mild cognitive impairment in HK. Prof. Mok is the first in the region in developing and deploying AI-derived MRI, retinal imaging, and voice analytic in the assessment of risk of Alzheimer’s disease and cognitive. Moreover, he also specializes in Parkinson's disease and was one of the pioneers of developing Deep Brain Stimulation programme in Asia for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease.
He received the Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output Award (Science & Technology) in Natural Sciences (1st Class) by the Ministry of Education, People's Republic of China in 2011 for his research in cerebrovascular disease, the Outstanding Fellow Award by the Faculty of Medicine (CUHK) in 2016 for his exceptional leadership in research and education, the endowment as Mok Hing Yiu Professor of Medicine by CUHK in 2017, and the Excellent Research Award and the 10th Health and Medical Research Fund Anniversary Award by the Food and Health Bureau of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) in 2017 and 2021, respectively, for his research in dementia. He was conferred the Chief Executive’s Commendation for Community Service by the Government of the HKSAR in 2022 for his contribution in combating COVID-19 pandemic. He received 7 times Teacher of the Year Award (2005-2012) and the Master Teacher Award (2012) from the Faculty of Medicine. He was also one of the pioneers in developing the Global Physician Leadership Stream (GPS) programme, which is a flagship undergraduate programme of the Faculty in providing medical leadership training and exposures for medical students. The Faculty and University awarded him the prestigious Faculty Education Award (Collaborative Team) and University Education Award (Collaborative Team) in 2023, respectively. In recognizing his extraordinary achievements in Education and Health Science, he had received the Advance Global Australian Award in the Category of Education, Science, and Research in 2024. In 2025, along with Professor Carol Cheung and Professor Owen Ko, the team received the HK Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Awards on the "Best Use of AI Award" and "Smart People (Smart Aging)" Silver Award for the team's development of an AI-software (i-Cog Brain Health), which is world’s first AI-derived retinal imaging analysis for the screening of the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Prof. Mok has authored more than 400 publications in peer-reviewed international journals (with book chapters), with publications at Lancet, JAMA, Lancet Neurology, Nature Reviews Neurology, Lancet Digital Health, Alzheimer’s & Dementia, JAMA Neurology, JAMA Psychiatry, Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry (JNNP), Annals of Neurology, Neurology, International Journal of Stroke, and Stroke.
Prof. Vincent CT MOK
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
Master of S.H. Ho College
Endowed Mok Hing Yiu Professor of Medicine
Co-Director, Charles Kao CUHK BEAT AD Service
Director, Lau Tat-Chuen Research Centre of Brain Degenerative Diseases in Chinese
Director, Margaret K.L. Cheung Research Centre for Management of Parkinsonism
Director, Therese Pei Fong Chow Research Centre for Prevention of Dementia
Programme Director, MSc Programme in Stroke and Clinical Neurosciences (MCNS)
Member of Department Academic Personnel Committee (DAPC), Department of Medicine and Therapeutics
Head of Division of Neurology (Academic Affairs), Department of Medicine and Therapeutics (2016-2022)
Programme Director, Professional Certificate Programme in Promoting Well-being in Informal Caregivers of Dementia (GIFTCare) (2019-2023)
Prince of Wales Hospital
Specialist in Neurology
Honorary Consultant, Department of Medicine and Therapeutics
Research Interests
- Mechanisms and therapeutics of common age related cognitive disorders, e.g., Alzheimer’s disease, Vascular Cognitive Impairment, Cerebral Small Vessel Disease, Mixed Dementia
- Artificial intelligence aided technology based on MRI and retinal imaging for diagnosis, prognostication, and monitoring of brain diseases
- Parkinson's disease - premotor stage, genetics, neuroimaging, and Deep Brain Stimulation
Honorary Appointments in Other Professional Activities
- Member of the Steering Committee for Dementia Research Centre, LKC School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 2024 - present
- Core Team Member of the Expert Group on Drug Registration of the Pharmacy and Poisons Board, Department of Health, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, 2024 - present
- Panel Member of The Human Organ Transplant Board, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, 2024 - present
- Panel Member of 23rd NEJM Frontiers in Medicine Monthly Meeting focusing on Alzheimer's and dementia, August 2023
- Expert Member (Hong Kong Region) of Eisai Alzheimer’s Disease Advisory Board on Lecanemab, 2023
- Chairman of the Specialty Board of Neurology, Hong Kong College of Physicians, 2023 - 2025
- Member of the Education and Accreditation Committee, Hong Kong College of Physicians, 2023 - 2025
- Member of Guardianship Board, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, 2022 - present
- Chairman of Wong Tai Sin District Health Centre Advisory Committee, 2022 - present
- Member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the Open Fund Large Collaborative Grant Programme, National Medical Research Council, Ministry of Health, Singapore, 2021 - 2026
- Advisory Council Member of Charles K. Kao Foundation for Alzheimer’s Disease, 2021 - present
- Member of the Expert Committee on Clinical Events Assessment Following COVID-19 Immunisation, The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, 2021 - present
- Chair of the Local Organizing Committee of the 9th International Meeting of the International Society of Vascular Behavioural and Cognitive Disorders, HKSAR, 2018
- Co-Chair of the Congress Scientific Program Committee of 2018 International Congress of the International Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorder Society, HKSAR, 2018
- Secretary of the Neurology Specialty Board, Hong Kong College of Physicians, 2018 – 2023
- Advisory Council Member of the Alzheimer's Association International Society to Advance Alzheimer's Research and Treatment (ISTAART), 2018 – 2020
- Vice-Chair and Hong Kong Representative of the China Greater Bay Guang Zhou-Hong Kong-Macau Neurology Alliance, 2018
- Hong Kong Representative of the World Federation of Neurology, 2012 – 2021
- Executive Committee Member of the International Society of Vascular Behavioral and Cognitive Disorders, 2011 –Present
- Honorary Treasurer of the Asian Society Against Dementia, 2011 – Present
- Chair of the Scientific Program Committee of the 2017 Asia Pacific Stroke Conference, Nanjing China, 2017
- President of the Chinese Dementia Research Association, 2015 – 2016
- Member of Working Group of European Union-Joint Programme Neurodegenerative Disease (EU-JPND) Research in Longitudinal Cohorts, 2015
- Member of the Stroke Progress Review Group in Vascular Cognitive Member of the Stroke Progress Review Group in Vascular Cognitive Impairment of the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke of United States of America, 2012
- President of the Hong Kong Movement Disorder Society, 2011 – 2013
Awards
- 2025 Hong Kong ICT Awards: Best Use of AI Award and Smart People (Smart Aging) Silver Award for the AI-powered retinal imaging analysis for risk of Alzheimer’s Disease (i-Cog Brain Health)
- 2024 Advance Global Australian Award (Education, Science, and Research category)
- University Education Award (Collaborative Teams) 2022-23
- Faculty Education Award (Collaborative Teams) 2022-23
- Faculty Outstanding Research Output Award, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong (2022)
- Chief Executive’s Commendation for Community Service 2022, HKSAR (2022)
- 10th Health and Medical Research Fund Anniversary Award, HKSAR (2021)
- Excellent Research Award, Food & Health Bureau, HKSAR (2017)
- Outstanding Fellow of Faculty of Medicine, CUHK (2016)
- Ministry of Education Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output Award - First-class Award in Natural Sciences (2011 )
- Master Teacher Award, CUHK (2012)
- Teacher of the Year Award for 7 times, CUHK (2005-2012)
Selected Publications
- Huang J, Kwok AJ, Li JCY, Chiu CLH, Ip BY, Tung LY, Chan RCH, Chan DCW, Wang Z, Zheng X, Chow HT, Lo MPS, Li Z, Lin N, Wang M, Yan LYC, Wu WKK, Chow KH, Lin WJ, Tang Y, Zhang Y, Song W, Ng BW, Wong SH, Leung TW, Mok VCT, Ko H. Body-wide multi-omic counteraction of aging with GLP-1R agonism. Cell Metab. 2025 Dec 2;37(12):2362-2380.e8. doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2025.10.014.
- Mok VCT, Cai Y, Markus HS. Vascular cognitive impairment and dementia: Mechanisms, treatment, and future directions. Int J Stroke. 2024 Oct;19(8):838-856. doi: 10.1177/17474930241279888.
- Ip BYM, Ko H, Lam BYK, Au LWC, Lau AYL, Huang J, Kwok AJ, Leng X, Cai Y, Leung TWH, Mok VCT. Current and Future Treatments of Vascular Cognitive Impairment. Stroke. 2024 Apr;55(4):822-839. doi: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.123.044174.
- 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. doi: 10.1038/s42003-021-02208-9.
- Zhao L, Li Z, Vong JSL, Chen X, Lai HM, Yan LYC, Huang J, Sy SKH, Tian X, Huang Y, Chan HYE, So HC, Ng WL, Tang Y, Lin WJ, Mok VCT, Ko H. Pharmacologically reversible zonation-dependent endothelial cell transcriptomic changes with neurodegenerative disease associations in the aged brain. Nat Commun. 2020 Sep 4;11(1):4413. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-18249-3.
- Cheung CY, Ran AR, Wang S, Chan VTT, Sham K, Hilal S, Venketasubramanian N, Cheng CY, Sabanayagam C, Tham YC, Schmetterer L, McKay GJ, Williams MA, Wong A, Au LWC, Lu Z, Yam JC, Tham CC, Chen JJ, Dumitrascu OM, Heng PA, Kwok TCY, Mok VCT, Milea D, Chen CL, Wong TY. A deep learning model for detection of Alzheimer's disease based on retinal photographs: a retrospective, multicentre case-control study. Lancet Digital Health. 2022 Nov;4(11):e806-e815. doi: 10.1016/S2589-7500(22)00169-8.
- Lam BYK, Cai Y, Akinyemi R, Biessels GJ, van den Brink H, Chen C, Cheung CW, Chow KN, Chung HKH, Duering M, Fu ST, Gustafson D, Hilal S, Hui VMH, Kalaria R, Kim S, Lam MLM, de Leeuw FE, Li ASM, Markus HS, Marseglia A, Zheng H, O'Brien J, Pantoni L, Sachdev PS, Smith EE, Wardlaw J, Mok VCT. The global burden of cerebral small vessel disease in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Stroke. 2023 Jan;18(1):15-27. doi: 10.1177/17474930221137019.
- Fan FSY, Yip TCF, Yiu B, Lam B, Au L, Lau AYL, Ip B, Soo Y, Leung TWH, Li T, Lui G, Wong GLH, Mok VCT. Neurological diseases and risk of mortality in patients with COVID-19 and SARS: a territory-wide study in Hong Kong. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2021 Apr 27;jnnp-2021-326286.
- Mok VCT, Pendlebury S, Wong A, Alladi S, Au L, Bath P, GJ, Chen C, Cordonnier C, Dichgans M, Dominguez J, Gorelick PB, Kim SY, Kwok T, Greenberg SM, Jia J, Kalaria R, Kivipelto M, Naegandran K, Lam LCW, Lam BYK, Lee ATC, Markus HS, O’Brien J, Pai MC, Pantoni L, Sachdev P, Skoog I, Smith EE, Srikanth V, Suh GH, Wardlaw J, Ko H, Black SE, Scheltens P. Tackling challenges in care of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias amid the COVID-19 pandemic, now and in the future. Alzheimer's & Dementia. 2020 Aug 12; doi:10.1002/alz.12143.
- Zhao L, Luo Y, Lew D, Liu W, Au L, Mok V, Shi L; Alzheimer Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Risk estimation before progression to mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease: an AD resemblance atrophy index. Aging (Albany NY). 2019 Aug 29;11(16):6217-6236. doi: 10.18632/aging.102184.
- Au LWC, Chan AYY, Mok VCT. Teaching NeuroImages: X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy: Spinocerebellar variant. Neurology. 2019 Aug 13;93(7):e731-e732. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000007958.
- Yu JT, Li JQ, Suckling J, Feng L, Pan A, Wang YJ, Song B, Zhu SL, Li DH, Wang HF, Tan CC, Dong Q, Tan L, Mok V, Aisen PS, Weiner MM; Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Frequency and longitudinal clinical outcomes of Alzheimer's AT(N) biomarker profiles: A longitudinal study. Alzheimers Dement. 2019 Sep;15(9):1208-1217. doi: 10.1016/j.jalz.2019.05.006.
- Shi L, Lou W, Wong A, Zhang F, Abrigo J, Chu WC, Kwok TC, Wong KK, Abbott D, Wang D, Mok VC. Neural evidence for long-term marriage shaping the functional brain network organization between couples. Neuroimage. 2019 Oct 1;199:87-92. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.05.058.
- Kwok JYY, Kwan JCY, Auyeung M, Mok VCT, Lau CKY, Choi KC, Chan HYL. Effects of Mindfulness Yoga vs Stretching and Resistance Training Exercises on Anxiety and Depression for People With Parkinson Disease: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Neurol. 2019 Jul 1;76(7):755-763. doi: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2019.0534.
- Abrigo J, Shi L, Luo Y, Chen Q, Chu WCW, Mok VCT; Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Standardization of hippocampus volumetry using automated brain structure volumetry tool for an initial Alzheimer's disease imaging biomarker. Acta Radiol. 2019 Jun;60(6):769-776. doi: 10.1177/0284185118795327.
- Shi L, Zhao L, Yeung FK, Wong SY, Chan RKT, Tse MF, Chan SC, Kwong YC, Li KC, Liu K, Abrigo JM, Lau AYL, Wong A, Lam BYK, Leung TWH, Fu J, Chu WCW, Mok VCT. Mapping the contribution and strategic distribution patterns of neuroimaging features of small vessel disease in poststroke cognitive impairment. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry. 2018 Sep;89(9):918-926. doi: 10.1136/jnnp-2017-317817.