Prof. Chung Tong Vincent MOK

Research Area

1. Alzheimer’s disease
2. Cerebral Small Vessel Disease
3. Parkinsonism

Professional Profile

Prof. Vincent Mok’s research aims to understand mechanisms of dementia and to investigate strategies that may help to prevent dementia. He is the first in Asia to report the association between cerebral small vessel disease (CSVD) and cognitive impairment, and the first to report the prevalence of CSVD in the Chinese community. These findings have significantly raised awareness that managing CSVD, such as via blood pressure control, may reduce dementia risk in the region.

Prof. Mok conducted one of the largest single-centre studies on post-stroke cognitive decline and identified that amyloid plaques and CSVD are important factors associated with early and delayed cognitive decline after stroke, respectively. These insights inform targeted strategies for preventing vascular cognitive impairment.
In collaboration with Dr. Adrian Wong, Prof. Mok validated the Hong Kong-Montreal Cognitive Assessment (HK-MoCA) and developed norms for HK-MoCA performance according to age and education. HK-MoCA is now the most commonly used brief cognitive assessment tool in Hong Kong.

Prof. Mok also contributed to the validation of an AI-derived MRI-based index and retinal imaging tool for early detection of Alzheimer’s disease. He played a pioneering role in developing the Deep Brain Stimulation programme for Parkinson’s disease in Asia.

His accolades include the Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output Award (Science & Technology) in Natural Sciences (First Class) from the Ministry of Education (2011), the Outstanding Fellow Award from the Faculty of Medicine, CUHK (2016), his endowment as the Mok Hing Yiu Professor of Medicine (2017), as well as the Excellent Research Award (2017) and the 10th Anniversary Award of the Health and Medical Research Fund (2021) from the Food and Health Bureau of the HKSAR.

Prof. Mok has authored over 400 publications in peer-reviewed international journals and book chapters, with works published in The Lancet, JAMA, and The Lancet Neurology.