HKUST School of Medicine (Part 2): Founding Dean, Medical Complex Groundbreaking, and Long-term Plan for Ngau Tam Mei

This article follows on from HKUST School of Medicine (Part 1): The Proposal Battle, Differentiated Positioning, and Curriculum Structure^※, and covers the credentials of founding dean Prof King Li, the groundbreaking and specifications of the Medical Education and Research Complex, the international clinical partnership hospital network, and the two-phase construction roadmap for the permanent campus at Ngau Tam Mei.

# 1. Founding Dean: Prof King Li

On 1 June 2026, Prof King Li formally took up the post of founding dean of the HKUST School of Medicine^※. According to the University's announcement, his background is as follows: born in Hong Kong; earned his Doctor of Medicine (with honours) from the University of Toronto and an MBA from San José State University; a Fellow of the US National Academy of Inventors, holding 20 patents across the United States, Australia and Europe; previously the founding dean (2016–2021) of the Carle Illinois College of Medicine at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) — one of the world’s first medical schools built on the integration of engineering and medicine, whose inaugural graduating class achieved a 100% pass rate on the licensing examination. He has also held positions at Stanford University, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States, and Weill Cornell Medicine.

Appointing a dean who previously founded an “engineering-medicine integrated” medical school — and whose first graduating cohort achieved a perfect licensing-exam pass rate — fits squarely with HKUST’s differentiated positioning as a “technology-driven medical school” (the full evolution of that positioning is covered in HKUST School of Medicine (Part 1)^※).

# 2. The Medical Education and Research Complex: Groundbreaking Ceremony and Building Specifications

# Why is the groundbreaking a milestone?

The laying of the foundation stone for the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology’s Medical Education and Research Complex marks the formal transition of the HKUST School of Medicine (SMED) from government approval into physical construction. On 28 April 2026, Chief Executive John Lee presided over the groundbreaking ceremony, joined by the Director of the Central Government Liaison Office in Hong Kong, Zheng Yanxiong; the Secretary for Health, Prof Lo Chung-mau; the Secretary for Education, Dr Christine Choi Yuk-lin; HKUST Council Chairman Prof Joseph Sung; and the University’s Vice-Chancellor and President, Prof Lionel Ni^※. The high-level attendance is rare for a university building groundbreaking in Hong Kong. Chronologically, the ceremony took place only about five months after the Executive Council formally approved HKUST’s proposal to establish the third medical school on 18 November 2025 — the first structural expansion of medical education in Hong Kong in 44 years.

# What are the building’s specifications and SOM’s design concept?

The Medical Education and Research Complex has been jointly designed by SOM (Skidmore, Owings & Merrill) and the local architecture firm Wong Tung & Partners Limited (WTPL). It will have a gross floor area of approximately 6,000 square metres across eight storeys, cost around HK$2 billion (approx. US$256 million), be fully self-financed by HKUST, and is expected to be completed by mid-2028^※. This represents the first physical investment within HKUST’s overall 25-year commitment of over HK$7 billion to the medical school.

SOM has conceived the building as a “jewel-like glass cube,” wrapped in a triple-glazed, low-emissivity glass curtain wall with operable panels, balancing energy efficiency for Hong Kong’s subtropical climate with interior transparency. The building is arranged vertically with a three-storey podium and a five-storey tower: the podium houses lecture theatres, a medical library, a canteen, and classrooms; the upper tower accommodates faculty offices, a clinical skills and simulation centre, and research laboratories. Open atria on the third and sixth floors serve as collaborative-learning hubs^※. A ground-floor lobby and a terraced green staircase descending towards Shaw Plaza integrate the building into the existing topography and sightlines of the Clear Water Bay campus.

# How did HKUST self-finance HK$2 billion? What is the overall financial commitment?

HKUST’s financial planning for the medical school operates on two levels: immediate physical construction and long-term operational commitment. The approximately HK$2 billion for the Clear Water Bay medical complex is entirely self-financed by the University, without relying on dedicated government capital grants^※ — a decisive demonstration of the financial capacity that secured HKUST’s bid over PolyU and HKBU. This HK$2 billion forms part of a total HKUST commitment of over HK$7 billion to the medical school over the next 25 years^※; the government will provide matching support at roughly a one-to-one ratio, also committing over HK$7 billion over 25 years, bringing the combined total to more than HK$14 billion (approx. US$1.8 billion). Vice-Chancellor and President Lionel Ni has stressed that funding will come from the University’s own reserves and donations, and that it is not relying on public deficit financing for the construction.

# Where did the seven professors hired come from? How does HKUST avoid “poaching” from existing medical schools?

As of April 2026, seven clinical professors had taken up their posts, recruited from the United States, Europe, Australia and elsewhere^※ — all scholars with international clinical and research backgrounds. More than 30 academics from the US, Europe, Australia, Singapore and beyond have expressed interest in joining^※, indicating that the appetite among international talent for the HKUST medical school far exceeds early expectations. Vice-Chancellor and President Ni has explicitly stated that HKUST will not poach teaching staff from the two existing medical schools at HKU and CUHK^※, and has proposed future collaboration among the three medical schools on cross-institution course enrolment — HKUST students could take courses at HKU or CUHK, and students at the two existing medical schools could take courses in artificial intelligence and related subjects at HKUST.

# Official remarks

In his speech at the groundbreaking ceremony, Chief Executive John Lee noted: “The National 15th Five-Year Plan supports Hong Kong in developing into an international hub for high-calibre talent, and the new medical school will help realise this vision.”^※ He added that the school would cultivate a new generation of doctors who combine “professionalism, technological command, a global outlook, and a patient-centred ethos.” Council Chairman Prof Joseph Sung said: “Today’s groundbreaking ceremony is a historic occasion — this building will be where our founding cohort of students begins its training in 2028.” Vice-Chancellor and President Lionel Ni stressed that HKUST’s medical school will focus on “the application of biotechnology, artificial intelligence, and robotics in healthcare,” producing “clinically excellent and technologically proficient doctors.”^※

# 3. Clinical Placement and Partnership Hospital Network

HKUST has already signed around 40 international medical collaboration agreements, constructing a diverse clinical training network.

# Private hospitals in Hong Kong (signed March 2025)

HKUST signed collaboration agreements with Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital and Hong Kong Adventist Hospital on 10 March 2025^※ to provide clinical training placements for its medical students. The Hong Kong Sanatorium & Hospital thus becomes the first private hospital in Hong Kong to offer clinical training to undergraduate medical students.

# Leading teaching hospitals in mainland China

HKUST signed strategic partnership agreements with Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, and Ruijin Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, on 25 November 2025^※, covering AI clinical applications, precision medicine, and talent exchange. On 27 January 2026, HKUST signed a memorandum of understanding with the First Affiliated Hospital, the Second Affiliated Hospital, and Sir Run Run Shaw Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine^※, focusing on medical education innovation, clinical training, and joint research.

# International medical school partnerships

HKUST has engaged Imperial College London in the UK, the University of California, San Diego in the US, and others for curriculum advisory and student exchange collaborations^※, and has also signed memoranda of understanding with Peking Union Medical College Hospital, the University of Edinburgh, and others.

# 4. Long-term Campus Plan: A Two-phase Roadmap

The blueprints for the HKUST School of Medicine divide its construction into two clearly demarcated phases, spanning nearly a decade.

Phase 1 (2026–2028): Construction phase. The roughly HK$2 billion Medical Education and Research Complex breaks ground on the existing Clear Water Bay campus, with completion expected by mid-2028. The eight-storey, approximately 6,000 m² building will provide teaching and research space and will serve as the interim base for the first intake of medical students. From the 2028/29 academic year, when an inaugural cohort of about 50 students is admitted, HKUST will operate its medical school from the Clear Water Bay campus for at least six to seven years.

Phase 2 (2034–35): Permanent relocation. The government has reserved land in the Ngau Tam Mei development area of the Northern Metropolis to build a permanent medical school campus and an integrated teaching hospital, targeted for completion in 2034–35^※. The medical school will then possess its own complete clinical training facilities and inpatient service capability. The Ngau Tam Mei integrated teaching hospital will combine medical education, research, and patient care, forming the core infrastructure of HKUST’s large-scale presence in the Northern Metropolis. Annual intake at that stage is projected to expand from the initial 50 to around 200 students.

Why was Clear Water Bay chosen instead of building in Ngau Tam Mei from the start? The two-phase approach arises from the gap between the construction timeline of infrastructure in the Ngau Tam Mei area and the inaugural admissions schedule of the school. The overall infrastructure for the development — roads, utilities, hospital buildings — will not be ready until around 2034, well after the 2028/29 intake. Rather than postponing admissions until the permanent campus is ready, HKUST chose to self-finance and construct a fully functional interim building in Clear Water Bay, ensuring that urgently needed doctors can be trained on schedule, while simultaneously laying the foundations for a long-term teaching hospital in the Northern Metropolis. This “interim first, permanent later” strategy also buys valuable time for curriculum accreditation, faculty recruitment, and integration of the clinical network.

# 5. Key Timeline

# 6. What Does This Building Mean for Hong Kong’s Healthcare Landscape?

The groundbreaking of the Medical Education and Research Complex carries meaning on both a symbolic and a physical level. Symbolically, it transforms the November 2025 policy approval into a tangible construction site, proving that the HKUST School of Medicine is not a paper vision. Physically, by 2028 it will deliver a purpose-built facility, designed by the internationally renowned architects SOM, that integrates clinical teaching, simulation training, and basic research under one roof, helping to address Hong Kong’s persistent shortage of public-sector medical manpower. In his groundbreaking speech, Chief Executive John Lee closed by saying: “This is the future we are building — for Hong Kong, and for every patient who will one day be healed by the doctors trained here.”^※ That remark underscores the government’s political priority attached to this project. When the medical school relocates from Clear Water Bay to the permanent Ngau Tam Mei campus in 2034–35, it will enter into powerful synergy with the wider Northern Metropolis plan — including the Greater Bay Area innovation-and-technology corridor built around the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone — and serve as one of HKUST’s core anchors in the Greater Bay Area.

Note: All building specifications, financial figures, numbers of agreements, and timelines presented in this article are based on the source documents at the time of their publication and are time-sensitive; these arrangements are subject to ongoing updates, and readers should consult the latest official announcements from HKUST before citing.