Prof. Keith Dip Kei LUK(Hong Kong)

Professor Luk graduated from the University of Hong Kong in 1977 and received his orthopaedic training in Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. He subsequently obtained his Fellowship of the Royal College of Surgeons in 1981, Master of Surgery in Orthopedics from the University of Liverpool in 1984, Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 1985 and is a founding fellow of the Hong Kong College of Orthopaedic Surgeons. At present he holds the Tam Sai Kit Chair in Spine Surgery and is Professor and Head of the Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology, the University of Hong Kong. He was the founding Director of the Center for Spinal Disorders at the Duchess of Kent Children’s Hospital in 1999 and he established a Joint Center for Spinal Disorders with the Peking Union Medical College in 1999. In 1995 together with the Department of Health of Hong Kong, he started a Screening Program for Scoliosis for all school children. It has now become a standard item in the annual student health assessment program in Hong Kong and is one of the most successful programs in the world.

Professor Luk was the Honorary Hospital Chief Executive of the Duchess of Kent Children’s Hospital from 1992 until 2002. He has served the Hong Kong Orthopaedic Association for 12 years with two of which as the President. He was President of the Hong Kong College of Orthopaedic Surgeons in 1999/2000, He was Chairman of the AOSpine Asia Pacific Region in 2004-2007 and Vice President of the Societe Internationale de Chirurgie Orthopedique et de Traumatologie (SICOT) from 2002 to 2008. He was the Congress President of the SICOT 2008 in Hong Kong with over 2000 participants. At present he is the Honorary Treasurer of the Asia Pacific Orthopaedic Association.

Professor Luk’s main clinical and research interest is in spinal pathologies. He has published widely in the fields of spinal deformities, biomechanics, degenerative diseases. He has written over 255 refereed articles, 22 book chapters and holds 12 patents. In March 2007, he and his collaborators in China published in the Lancet the first successful series of intervertebral disc transplantation in the human. This innovative technique was considered a major breakthrough in the management of back and neck pain that should benefit numerous patients worldwide.

Professor Luk is also member of editorial or advisory boards to many international journals including the Spine, the European Spine Journal, Journal of Orthopedic Science and the Journal of Spinal Disorders.