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Dr Lui, Sai Yu Simon 呂世裕

MBBS, PhD, FRCPsych (UK), FHKCPsych, FHKAM (Psychiatry)

Clinical Associate Professor

Honorary Consultant, Queen Mary Hospital

Director of Internal Affairs

Department Representative at Committee on Telepresence project, Medical Campus Development

 

Committee Member of the Schizophrenia Interventional Research Society (SIRS) Education Committee

Councilor, Asian College of Schizophrenia Research

Member of Research Committee, Hong Kong College of Psychiatrists


The HKU Scholars Hub Page
http://hub.hku.hk/cris/rp/rp02747

Connecting Research and Researchers ORCID
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9360-6244

Email: lsy570@hku.hk

Prospective MPhil and PhD students are welcome to contact Dr Simon Lui in email.  

Short Biography:

Dr. Simon Lui joined the Department of Psychiatry in Oct 2020 as Clinical Associate Professor. He graduated from HKUMed in 2000, and completed his specialist training at Castle Peak Hospital (CPH). Before joining the department, he worked as Associate Consultant (2011-2020), and accumulated rich and broad clinical and managerial experiences. He obtained a doctoral degree in cognitive neurosciences from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2013. Since joining the HKUMed, Dr. Lui continued research in psychosis, and closely collaborated with local clinical leaders, national and international researchers. As a clinician-scientist, he conducted studies on patients with psychosis, autism, schizotypy and clinical high-risk populations, and has published around 180 articles (as of Dec 2023). He has been ranked as HKU Scholar in the Top 1% (by Clarivate Analytics in the top 1% worldwide by citations in psychiatry) in 2022 and 2023. His research interests include psychopathology, cognitive markers, endophenotypes, clinical and functional outcomes, and biological basis of psychosis and related disorders. He has been awarded competitive grants, and welcomes cross-discipline research collaborations.

Research Interests:

  • Clinical research in psychosis

  • Cognitive markers and endophenotype research

  • Prospection

  • High-risk populations for developing psychosis

  • Neurobiological basis of psychosis and related disorders

Research Areas:

1.

Clinical research in psychosis

Psychopathology, insight and medication adherence are important in clinical managements for people with schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders. Schizophrenia is highly heterogeneous, and different patients have different courses and trajectories of the illness. We aim to identify useful prognostic factors and intervention targets for improving schizophrenia patients’ clinical and functional outcome. Various methods we used include naturalistic follow-up design, novel statistical methods, and the ‘state-of-the-art’ symptom scales.

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  1. Hu HX, Lau WYS, Ma EPY, Hung KSY, Chen SY, Cheng KS, Cheng EFC, Lui SSY*, Chan RCK (2022). The important role of motivation and pleasure deficits on social functioning in patients with schizophrenia: A network analysis. Schizophrenia Bulletin doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbac017. (Corresponding author)

  2. Chan RCK, Wang LL, Lui SSY (2022). Theories and models of negative symptoms in schizophrenia and clinical implications. Nature Reviews Psychology doi.org/10.1038/s44159-022-00065-9 (Last author)

  3. Wang LL, Tam MHW, Ho, KKY, Hung KSY, Wong JOY, Lui SSY*, Chan RCK (2022). Bridge centrality network structure of negative symptoms in people with schizophrenia. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience 10.1007/s00406-022-01474-w. (Co-corresponding author)

  4. Tam MWH, Wang LL, Cheng KH, Wong JOY, Cheung EFC, Lui SSY*, Chan RCK (2021). Latent structure of self-report negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia: A preliminary study. Asian Journal of Psychiatry doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2021.102680. (Co-corresponding author)

  5. Lui SSY, Lam JPY, Lam JWS, Chui WWH, Mui JHC, Siu BWM, Cheng KM, Cheung EFC, Chan RCK. (2021). Cognitive insight is correlated with cognitive impairments and contributes to medication adherence in schizophrenia patients. Asian Journal of Psychiatry. doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2021.102644 (Co-first and corresponding author)

2.

Cognitive markers and endophenotype research

Recent advance in cognitive neuroscience has provided useful frameworks and models to bridge the phenotypic heterogeneity and genetic complexity of schizophrenia and related disorders. The transdiagnostic approach (such as the NIMH Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) and the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP) are important to cognitive marker and endophenotype research. We utilize novel experimental paradigms, cross-diagnosis samples and follow-up study design to investigate hot and cool cognitions in psychiatric populations.

​

  1. Wang LL, Lui SSY, So JWL, Hu HX, Chu MY, Cheng KM, Li SB, Le BL, Lv QY, Yi ZH, Chan RCK (2023). Range adaptive value representations in schizophrenia and major depression. Asian Journal of Psychiatry doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2023.103880 (Co-first author)

  2. . Lui SSY*, Wang LL, Lau WYS, Shing E, Yeung HKH, Tsang KCM, Zhan EN, Cheung ESL, Ho KKY, Hung KSY, Cheung EFC, Chan RCK (2023). Emotion-behaviour decoupling and experiential pleasure deficits predict negative symptoms and functional outcome in first-episode schizophrenia patients. Asian Journal of Psychiatry doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2023.103467. (First and co-corresponding author)

  3. Lui SSY*, Yip SSL, Wang Y, Hung KSY, Ho KKY, Tsang KCM, Yeung HKH, Cheung EFC, Chan RCK (2021). Different trajectories of neurological soft signs progression between treatment-responsive and treatment-resistant schizophrenia patients. Journal of Psychiatric Research doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.05.018. (Co-first and co-corresponding author)

  4. Lui SSY, Yang TX, Ng CLY, Wong PTY, Wong JOY, Ettinger U, Cheung EFC, Chan RCK (2017). Following instructions in patients with schizophrenia: The benefit of actions at encoding and recall. Schizophrenia Bulletin 44: 137–146. (Co-first author)

  5. Tin LNW, Lui SSY*, Ho KKY, Hung KSY, Wang Y, Yeung HKH, Wong TY, Lam SM, Chan RCK, Cheung EFC (2017). High-functioning autism patients share similar but more severe impairments in verbal theory of mind than schizophrenia patients. Psychological Medicine 48(8), 1264-1273. (Corresponding author)

  6. Xie D, Lui SSY, Geng FL, Yang ZY, Zou YM, Li Y, Yeung HKH, Cheung EFC, Heerey EA, Chan RCK (2017). Dissociation between affective experience and motivated behaviour in schizophrenia patients and their unaffected first-degree relatives and schizotypal individuals. Psychological Medicine 48(9), 1474-1483. (Co-first author)

  7. Lui SSY, Liu ACY, Chui WWH, Li Z, Geng FL, Wang Y, Heerey EA, Cheung EFC, Chan RCK (2015). The nature of anhedonia and avolition in patients with first-episode schizophrenia. Psychological Medicine 46(2), 437-447. (First author)

3.

Prospection

Prospection is the ability to mentally simulate and “pre-experience” the future. This novel cognitive construct encompasses prospective memory, affective forecasting and mental time travelling, and is believed to be related to anticipatory pleasure, motivation and medication management in people with psychosis. Over the years, we have established a solid groundwork on prospective memory (i.e., the ability to remember to perform future intentions), and are now extending our work to affective forecasting as well as relating prospection deficits with functional outcome.

​

  1. Fung ACO#, Zhang RT#, Yip SSL, Poon GKS, Cheng CW, Yang TX, Lui SSY*, Chan RCK* (2023). Prospection deficits in patients with first-episode schizophrenia: A cross-sectional comparative study. Schizophrenia 10.1038/s41537-023-00365-w (co-corresponding author).

  2. Lui SSY*, Zhang RT, Lau WYS, Liu ACY, Chui WWH, Wang Y, Tsang KCM, Yeung HKH, Cheung EFC, Chan RCK (2021). Prospective memory influences social functioning in people with first-episode schizophrenia: A network analysis and longitudinal study. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry doi.org/10.4088/JCP.21m14114 (Co-first and co-corresponding author)

  3. Lui SSY, Leung SSW, Yang TX, Ho KKY, Man CMY, Leung KHL, Wong JOY, Wang Y, Cheung EFC, Chan RCK (2021). The benefits of emotionally salient cues on event-based prospective memory in bipolar patients and schizophrenia patients. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience doi.org/10.1007/s00406-021-01235-1 (First author)

  4. Lui SSY, Wang Y, Yang TX, Liu ACY, Chui WWH, Yeung HKH, Li Z, Neumann DL, Shum DHK, Cheung EFC, Chan RCK (2015). Problems in remembering to carry out future actions in first-episode schizophrenia: primary or secondary impairment? Journal of Psychiatric Research 61, 141-149. (First author)

  5. Chan RCK, Lui SSY, Wang Y, Liu ACY, Chui WWH, Shum DHK, Cheung EFC (2012). Patients with bipolar disorders share similar but attenuated prospective memory impairments with patients with schizophrenia. Psychological Medicine 43(8):1639-49.

  6. Lui SSY, Wang Y, Liu ACY, Chui WWH, Gong QY, Shum DHK, Cheung EFC, Chan RCK (2011). Prospective memory in patients with first-onset schizophrenia and their non-psychotic siblings. Neuropsychologia 49(8):2217-24. (First author).

4.

High-risk populations for developing psychosis

Subclinical populations at risk of developing psychosis provide a promising paradigm to study the interplay between protective and aggravating factors for the diathesis–stress model of schizophrenias. Schizotypy is a latent personality organization that putatively harbors the liability for schizophrenia and can result in various schizophrenia-related phenotypic outcomes. The schizotypy framework also illustrates the complex personality-psychopathology connections, unaffected by medications and social adversities associated with schizophrenia. Our research involve both genetic and behavioral high-risk populations.

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  1. Lui SSY, Hung KSY, Wang Y, Ho KKY, Yeung HKH, Wang Y, Huang H, Gooding DC, Cheung EFC, Chan RCK (2018). Clustering of schizotypy features in unaffected first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients. Schizophrenia Bulletin 44, S536-S546. (Co-first author)

  2. Lui SSY, Shi YF, Au ACW, L Z, Tsui CF, Chan CKY, Leung MMW, Wong PTY, Wang Y, Yan C, Heerey EA, Cheung EFC, Chan RCK (2016). Affective experience and motivated behaviour in schizophrenia spectrum disorders: Evidence from clinical and non-clinical samples. Neuropsychology 30(6): 673-684. (First author)

5.

Neurobiological basis of psychosis and related disorders

The current diagnostic classification in psychiatry mainly relies on ‘phenomenology’ (symptoms and signs). The aetiology and neural mechanisms for many psychiatric disorders remain unclear. We utilize multimodal investigations to study this important area.

​

  1. Zhou HY, Lai IYS, Hung KSY, Chan MKM, Ho ZTY, Lam JPH, Lui SSY*, Chan RCK (2022). Audiovisual temporal processing in adult patients with first-episode schizophrenia and high-functioning autism. Schizophrenia 10.1038/s41537-022-00284-2. (Co-corresponding author)

  2. Deng Y, Hung KSY, Lui SSY, Chui WWH, Lee JCW, Wang Yi, Li Z, Mak HKF, Sham PC, Chan RCK, Cheung EFC (2018). Tractography-based classification in distinguishing patients with first-episode schizophrenia from healthy individuals. Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry 88: 66–73.

  3. Chiu PW, Lui SSY, Hung KSY, Chan RCK, Chan Q, Sham PC, Cheung EFC, Mak HKF (2017). In vivo gamma-aminobutyric acid and glutamate levels in people with first-episode schizophrenia: a proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy study. Schizophrenia Research 193, 295-303.

Competitive Research Grants

  1. General Research Fund (GRF) 2021/2022 (Project code: 17119021) - Network structure and cognitive trajectories of schizotypy in an epidemiological youth sample.

  2. . General Research Fund (GRF) 2022/2023 (Project code: 17120622) - The influence of emotion-behaviour decoupling on clinical and functional outcomes in patients with schizophrenia: Evidence from two independent longitudinal cohorts.

  3. General Research Fund (GRF) 2023/2024 (Project code: 17119423) - Characterizing clinical and functional outcomes of neurological soft-signs in first-episode schizophrenia: A 10-year follow-up study.

Selected publications

  1. Leung PBM, Liu Z, Zhong Y, Tubbs JD, Di Forti M, Murray RM, So HC*, Sham PC*, Lui SSY* (2024). Bidirectional two-sample Mendelian randomization study of differential white blood cell counts and schizophrenia. Brain Behavior and Immunity (accepted). (Co-corresponding and last author)

  2. Lui SSY*, Wang LL, Lau WYS, Shing E, Yeung HKH, Tsang KCM, Zhan EN, Cheung ESL, Ho KKY, Hung KSY, Cheung EFC, Chan RCK (2023). Emotion-behaviour decoupling and experiential pleasure deficits predict negative symptoms and functional outcome in first-episode schizophrenia patients. Asian Journal of Psychiatry doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2023.103467. (First and co-corresponding author)

  3. Poon JYK, Hu HX, Lam M, Lui SSY*, Chan RCK (2022). The interplay between addictive behaviour and psychopathology and personality in substance use disorder: A network analysis in treatment-seeking patients with alcohol and drug use. International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction doi.org/10.1007/s11469-022-00976-x (Co-corresponding author).

  4. Hu HX, Lau WYS, Ma EPY, Hung KSY, Chen SY, Cheng KS, Cheng EFC, Lui SSY*, Chan RCK (2022). The important role of motivation and pleasure deficits on social functioning in patients with schizophrenia: A network analysis. Schizophrenia Bulletin doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbac017. (Corresponding author)

  5. Lui SSY*, Zhang RT, Lau WYS, Liu ACY, Chui WWH, Wang Y, Tsang KCM, Yeung HKH, Cheung EFC, Chan RCK (2021). Prospective memory influences social functioning in people with first-episode schizophrenia: A network analysis and longitudinal study. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry doi.org/10.4088/JCP.21m14114. (Co-first and co-corresponding author)

  6. Lui SSY*, Yip SSL, Wang Y, Hung KSY, Ho KKY, Tsang KCM, Yeung HKH, Cheung EFC, Chan RCK (2021). Different trajectories of neurological soft signs progression between treatment-responsive and treatment-resistant schizophrenia patients. Journal of Psychiatric Research doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2021.05.018. (Co-first and co-corresponding author)

  7. Lui SSY, Hung KSY, Wang Y, Ho KKY, Yeung HKH, Wang Y, Huang H, Gooding DC, Cheung EFC, Chan RCK (2018). Clustering of schizotypy features in unaffected first-degree relatives of schizophrenia patients. Schizophrenia Bulletin 44, S536-S546. (Co-first author)

  8. Xie DJ, Lui SSY, Geng FL, Yang ZY, Zou YM, Li Y, Yeung HKH, Cheung EFC, Heerey EA, Chan RCK (2017). Dissociation between affective experience and motivated behaviour in schizophrenia patients and their unaffected first-degree relatives and schizotypal individuals. Psychological Medicine 48(9), 1474-1483. (Co-first author)

  9. Tin LNW, Lui SSY*, Ho KKY, Hung KSY, Wang Y, Yeung HKH, Wong TY, Lam SM, Chan RCK, Cheung EFC (2017). High-functioning autism patients share similar but more severe impairments in verbal theory of mind than schizophrenia patients. Psychological Medicine 48(8), 1264-1273. (Corresponding author)

  10. Lui SSY, Yang TX, Ng CLY, Wong PTY, Wong JOY, Ettinger U, Cheung EFC, Chan RCK (2017). Following instructions in patients with schizophrenia: The benefit of actions at encoding and recall. Schizophrenia Bulletin 44: 137–146. (Co-first author)

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