Dr. Czarina Leung

" To the children who feel scared or lonely,

Our community's trusted adults are here for you.

Don't give up on reaching out for support.

You are priceless and limitless."

- Dr. Czarina Leung

Founder of Be Priceless

Credentials

Specialist in Critical Care Medicine

Master in Public Health (Johns Hopkins University)

Fellow of Hong Kong College of Physicians (Critical Care Medicine)

Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (CUHK)

Bachelor of Sciences (UBC)

Purpose in Action

To partner with at-risk communities, especially children, to strengthen long-term health, safety, equity and system-wide collaborations.

Experiences

Community health behavioral education

Public health,
Disaster risk reduction

Research

Humanitarian health care & education

Be Priceless, a trans-sectoral educational non-profit to strengthen the health, well-being and safety of vulnerable children and families through health behavioral education and community partnerships.

Formerly servced in the World Health Organization (WHO) on multiple disaster risk reduction projects, including during the COVID-19 pandemic and other health emergencies to support vulnerable populations and countries; and contributing to some of the UN office of disaster risk reduction’s project for climate and other emergencies.

Member of Scientific Committee and Advisor Board Member for HK Jockey Club Disaster Preparedness and Response Institute. Inducted into the Johns Hopkins University's Delta Omega Honorary Society

Provided free health education or services for low-resource at risk communities including in refugee camps, rural communities internationally, including Uganda (HIV-prevalent areas), rural Vietnam, Myanmar, informal settlement in Philippines; and for training health workers in Nepal, India, and more. Developed risk communication-education for youth on climate disaster and humanitarian impact for HK Red Cross.

EmpowerHer Network, founding member to collaborate and contribute to HK Red Cross' humanitarian efforts

Former Coordinating Editor of WHO’s Western Pacific Surveillance and Response journal

Former assistant professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong’s Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care; and formerly adjunct assistant professor at the Hong Kong Institute of Diabetes and Obesity.

Public health education

On humanitarianism, HK Humanity Award 2024
On promoting children's long-term health and safety, CUHK Distinguished Medical Alumni Award 2024
On protecting children' against violence, THE ONE ONE HK Award 2023: English News, Chinese NOW TV News, Other interview
On services to vulnerable communities: HK Medical Journal’s Interview with Dr Czarina Leung - an Intensivist at Queen Mary Hospital and an active volunteer in developing countries
On preventing violence against children, on RTHK broadcast of "It’s OKAY NOT TO BE OKAY - Home safe home"
On Uplifters “positive parenting to strengthen children's growth, well-being and safety, Uplifters
On Health Equity, Annual Conference on Disaster Preparedness and Response. “Reflect x Recharge: Towards a Resilient and Sustainable Community”. 2021 -2022. January 2022.
On Building a Resilience Network for Our Well-being (“2:05:00 onwards), Multicultural Assembly
On Hong Kong Youth-led Mental Health Conference 2023, Panelist

Publications

PUBLICATIONS: (28, including 24 peer-reviewed articles)

Qiuyu Jing, Chi Hung Czarina Leung (co-first author), Angela Ruohao Wu, Cell-Free DNA as Biomarker for Sepsis by Integration of Microbial and Host Information, Clinical Chemistry, Volume 68, Issue 9, September 2022, Pages 1184–1195, https://doi.org/10.1093/clinchem/hvac097
Leung CHC, Lee A, Arabi YM, et al. Mechanical Ventilation Discontinuation Practices in Asia: A Multinational Survey. Annals of the American Thoracic Society. 2020 Dec 7. doi: 10.1513/AnnalsATS.202008-968OC. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 33284738.
Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction: Health in all disaster risk management strategies – Concept Note. Geneva: UNISDR. 17 April, 2019.
Ho J, Chan H, …, Leung CCH, Wu WKK. Cathelicidin preserves intestinal barrier function in polymicrobial sepsis. Critical Care. 2020 Feb 10;24(1):47
Murray V, Gil CL, Hess J, Ismail R, Leung CCH, et al. Chapter 6. Heat and Extreme Events, Adaptation Gap Report, United Nations Environment Programme, 2018: 39-46.
Leung CCH, et al. Comparison of high-flow nasal cannula versus oxygen face mask for environmental bacterial contamination in critically ill pneumonia patients: a randomized controlled crossover trial. J of Hosp Inf. 2019:84-87
Leung CCH, et al. Exploring the scope of communication content of mechanically ventilated patients. J of Critical Care. 2018;44:136-141
Ho J, Liang S, Liu XD, Zhang L, Wu WKK, Chang MTV, Leung CCH (corresponding author). Inhibition of sphingosine kinase 1 for protection of gut barrier function in sepsis. Intensive Care Med (ICM) Experimental. 2018;6(suppl 1):32 (p34)
Loo JFC, Kwok HC, Leung CCH (co-first author), et al. Sample-to-answer on molecular diagnosis of bacterial infection using integrated lab-on-a-disc. Biosensors and Bioelectronics. 2017;93:212-219.
Hui CYT, Leung CHC, et al. Performance of a novel non-fit-tested HEPA filtering facemask. Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology. 2017;38(10):1260-1261.
Ho J, Zhang L, Liu X, Wong SH, Wang MH, Lau BW, Ngai SP, Chan H, Choi G, Leung CC, et al. Pathological role and diagnostic value of endogenous host defense peptides in adult and neonatal sepsis: a systematic review. Shock. 2017 Jun;47(6):673- 679.
Tang M, Loo JF, Wang Y, Zhang X, Kwok HC, Hui M, Leung CC, et al. Motor- assisted chip-in-a-tube (MACT): a new 2- and 3-dimensional centrifugal microfluidic platform for biomedical applications. Lab Chip. 2017 Jan 31;17(3):474-483
Ho J, Chan H, Wong H, Wang MHT, Yu J, Xiao Z, Liu XD, Choi G, Leung C, et al. The involvement of regulatory non-coding RNAs in sepsis: a systematic review. Crit Care. 2016.
Ho J, Yu J, Wong SH, Zhang L, Liu X, Wong WT, Leung CCH, et al. Autophagy in sepsis: Degradation into exhaustion? Autophagy. 2016: 1-10.
Wong MCS, Nelson EAS, Leung C, et al. Ad hoc influenza vaccination during years of significant antigenic drift in a tropical city with two seasonal peaks - a cross-sectional survey among health care practitioners. Medicine (Baltimore). 2016;95(19):e3359.
Leung CCH, et al. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome. ICM. July 2014:40(7):1015-101

Contributor of:

Actions for consideration in the care and protection of vulnerable population groups from COVID-19. Interim guidance. Manila: WHO Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO). 2020
Algorithm for COVID-19 triage and referral interim guidance. WPRO. 2020
WHO technical guidance notes on Sendai Framework reporting for Ministries of Health. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2020. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.
Glossary of Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management Terminology. Geneva: WHO; 2020.
Health Emergency and Disaster Risk Management Framework. Geneva: WHO; 2019. License: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.