Hung Chak (Derrick) Ho is a population health scientist for School of Clinical Medicine and a thesis supervisor/lecturer for MSc Space Science at The University of Hong Kong. Derrick received his PhD from Simon Fraser University, and was trained as a research student (Section of Environmental Health Services) in the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) between 2015 and 2016. He co-developed the government-based Heat Exposure Integrated Deprivation Index (HEIDI) with BCCDC for public health surveillance.

Derrick is now serving as an Asociator Editor for Annals of Epidemiology (Publisher: Elsevier), an Associate Editor for International Health (Publisher: Oxford), an editorial board member for BMC Public Health (Publisher: Springer), and an early career editorial board member for Environmental Research (Publisher: Elsevier). He is also one of the founding committee members of the Jiangsu-Hong Kong-Macao University Alliance (Environment and Remote Sensing) and a founding committee member (invited expert) of Atmospheric Environmental Remote Sensing Society [Working Group-8: Air Quality, Climate and Health].

Derrick's expertise includes 1) spatial and environmental epidemiology, and 2) community health. His research focuses on urban resilience and environmental hazards, with particular interests in interactions between neighborhood deprivation, natural and built environment, healthy behaviors, and non-communicable diseases. Derrick also works on non-pharmacological community health interventions to enhance pain management, daily activities and physical/mental wellbeing among vulnerable subgroups. Additionally, Derrick has extensive experience in spatiotemporal analysis and remote sensing applications and machine learning modelling for population exposure and health assessment.

Derrick’s research has been widely cited and reported in local newspapers and global media, including Ming Pao (HK), South China Morning Post (HK), the Guardian (UK), CBC (Canada), and Forbes (USA). He was interviewed for professional comments with the media, including Ming Pao (HK), the Guardian (UK) and BBC (UK). He has also extensively conducted knowledge exchange activities with various Hong Kong’s civic sectors and NGOs (e.g. Hong Kong Housing Society, Hong Kong Jockey Club Disaster Preparedness and Response Institute, Kwai Tsing Safe Community and Healthy City Association).

Derrick is now expanding his research to support the vulnerable and marginalized population in Asian high-density cities. This includes to develop protocols for the development of “resilient and healthy cities” across East Asia. The aim of this research is to apply a mixed-methods approach for the investigation of social and environmental health problems among the marginalized people, with the hope to support this population through non-pharmacological community health interventions and health education in the coming future.