Biography

Prof Jason Yam is Professor & Undergraduate Division Head at Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences of CUHK, Dean of General Education at Chung Chi College, CUHK, Head of Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus service at Hong Kong Eye Hospital, and Head of Ophthalmology Service at Hong Kong Children′s Hospital. He is also Director of CUHK Jockey Club Myopia Prevention Programme. Prof Jason Yam graduated as Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Hong Kong in 2005, and received his Doctor of Medicine with Merit from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2023. He received overseas training on Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus in Great Ormond Street Hospital (2011); with Dr David Guyton of Johns Hopkins Hospital (2011); and with Dr Kenneth Wright in Los Angeles (2012); ocular genetics with Dr Janey Wiggs of Harvard Medical School (2016); with Dr Alex Levin of Wills Eye Hospital (2017); and Baylor College of Medicine at Texas Children Hospital (2017); ocular oncology and retinoblastoma with Dr Jerry Shields and Dr Carol Shields of Wills Eye Hospital (2017).

He serves as the Secretary-General of Asia-Pacific Strabismus and Paediatric Ophthalmology Society (APSPOS), Training and Education Committee Chair of International Paediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus Council (IPOSC), Council Member of Asia-Pacific Myopia Society (APMS), Society Relations & Leadership Development Committee of International Council of Ophthalmology (ICO), Public Education Standing Committee Secretary, and Ophthalmic Education Standing Committee and Research Standing Committee of Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology (APAO), International Programme Committee of American Association for Paediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus (AAPOS), and many other international academic positions. Nationally, he serves as the Council Member of Ophthalmology Group of Chinese Paediatric Society. Locally, he serves as Vice President of Hong Kong Ophthalmological Society (HKOS), Editor-in-Chief of the College of Ophthalmologists of Hong Kong (COHK), and Treasurer of the Hong Kong Paediatric Society (HKPS). He served as the Congress President of the Inaugural Asia-Pacific Strabismus and Paediatric Ophthalmology Society Congress 2017. In 2021, he initiated the IPOSC Joint Webinar Programme, which organize a monthly joint webinar with a national member societies including countries from Egypt, Lebanon, Israel, Turkey, Russia, United Kingdom, Italy, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina India, Philippines, Japan, South Korea, and China, etc. He is elected Congress President in the Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology Congress 2026.

He had more than 170 articles in the SCI-indexed journals. He is the principal investigator of 30 research grants and external funding of 100 million HKD, including 1 CRF(Co-PI), 3 GRFs, 1 NSFC, 5 HMRFs, 1 HCPF, 1 ITF, and 2 HK Jockey Club Charities Trust Grants. He is PI of Low-concentration Atropine for Myopia Progression (LAMP-1) and Low-concentration Atropine for Myopia Prevention (LAMP-2) study, which are the first placebo-controlled RCTs to provide evidence for 0.05% atropine to reduce myopia progression and to delay myopia onset respectively. This confers clinical relevance to millions of children worldwide. He is also PI of Hong Kong Children Eye Study, an epidemiological cohort of 40,000 children and their parents for detailed phenotypic and genotypic characterization. Studies led by him has been published at JAMA, Lancet Global Health, JAMA Network Open, Ophthalmology etc. He has chaired 30 symposia, and has delivered 3 award lecture, 10 keynote lectures, 100 invited lectures, 60 conference papers. He also serves as an editor in 8 international journals, including Guest Editor of Progress in Retinal and Eye Research.

In 2024, he received the Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology De Ocampo Lecture Award, which is the highest award for excellent academic achievements in the whole Asia-Pacific region in clinical and/or basic eye research. In 2019, he received the Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology Nakajima Award for being the most outstanding young ophthalmologist under aged 40 in Asia-Pacific. He was named One of the Ten Outstanding Young Persons in Hong Kong in 2019, and was bestowed Hong Kong Humanity Award 2021, and International Myopia Conference Josh Wallman Memorial Lecture 2022, and American Academy of Ophthalmology Secretariat Award 2023. He was listed among World′s Top 2% Scientists in the field of Ophthalmology since 2022, and among Top 100 Ophthalmologists in Asia-Pacific Region in 2023. His other awards include Distinguished Young Fellow in Hong Kong Academy of Medicine (2013), Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology Leadership Development Program Award (2015), Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology Distinguished Service Award (2016), Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology Achievement Award (2016), and Hospital Authority Corporate Scholarship (2016), inaugural Asia-Pacific Strabismus and Paediatric Ophthalmology Society Young Investigator Award (2017), Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology Outstanding Service in Prevention of Blindness (2019), Gold Medal for Best Original Research by Young Fellows in Hong Kong Academy of Medicine (2019), and Hospital Authority Kowloon Central Cluster Outstanding Team Award (as team leader) (2020), Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology Senior Achievement Award (2021), Hong Kong Youth Dream-maker Award 2021, Hong Kong Volunteer Award 2021 (Group Award as team leader), and Silver Medal of Geneva Inventions Salon International (2022), CUHK Outstanding Research Impact Award (2023), CUHK Research Excellence Award (2023).