Research Assistant Professor
PhD(CUHK), MMed(TMU), BMed(TMU)
Academic Appointments
- Research Assistant Professor, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, CUHK
Biography
Dr Zhang′s research interests include ocular imaging and community health in pediatric ocular diseases such as myopia, amblyopia and strabismus. She has led several epidemiological studies on ocular diseases and blindness prevention. She has good experience in studying the risk factors, prevalence, and burden of ocular disorders, visual impairments and in long term studies on the effectiveness of interventions on child ocular health and blindness prevention.
Dr Zhang has more than 20 publications. She is an Editor of the Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology. She led a s Special Issue titled “Prevalence and Progression of Myopia in Children and Adolescents” of the international journal of “Children”. She also serves as reviewer for international journals, including Ophthalmology. She has received 4 research grants from Health and Medical Research Fund (HMRF) Hong Kong, Start-up Grant and Direct Grant from CUHK as Principal Investigator and 5 research grants as Co-Investigator.
Dr Zhang is also committed in community service of children eye care programmes. She helps administer the Hong Kong Children Eye Study, which is a longitudinal epidemiological study of 5,000 children, CUHK Jockey Club Children’s Eye Care programme, which is a major community service programme, as well as an epidemiological study of over 30,000 children and their families.
Research Areas
- Pediatric ocular diseases: ocular imaging, etiology and risk factors epidemiology, prevention and ocular imaging
- Myopia: epidemiology, risk factors, intervention
- Children Eye Studies: territory-based epidemiology and prevention, intervention, and molecular genetics of children eye diseases.
- Blindness prevention: epidemiology and prevention
Research Programmes
Dr Zhang’s research interests include building upon her expertise in ophthalmic epidemiology with applications to myopia, ocular imaging, and blindness prevention studies. She has led five epidemiological studies on ocular diseases, involving a total of 10,000 subjects, in Hainan, Shannxi, and Chaonan of China for her PhD projects from 2010 to 2013. She is Co-Investigator on two important clinical trials of atropine therapy for myopia – the Low-concentration of Atropine for Myopia Progression (LAMP-1) and the Low-concentration of Atropine for Myopia Prevention (LAMP-2) studies, and she is also the Coordinator of the Hong Kong Children Eye Study.
Accomplishments
As Principal Investigator, Dr Zhang has obtained three external competitive grants, Health and Medical Research Fund (HMRF), one CUHK start-up grant and one CUHK direct grant, with funding of HK$6,115,580 from 2020 to 2023. She was the Co-Investigator of seven external competitive or CUHK Grants, including General Research Fund (GRF), Impact Cases – Funding, Innovative Technology Fund (ITF) and National Natural Science Foundation of China, from 2019 to 2023, with HK$9,891,393. She has more than 50 publications and published in top journals, including JAMA, Lancet Global Health, JAMA Network Open, Ophthalmology, and JAMA Ophthalmology. She serves on the editorial board of the Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology.
Dr Zhang is the co-inventor of intelligent glasses “My-O-Analyser” as an objective measure for lifestyle monitoring. It has obtained 4 international awards, including Silver Medal in Geneva International Exhibition of Inventions. She obtained the Global Fellowship Award, University of St Andrews, UK in 2023. She is one of team members awarded Hong Kong Volunteer Award in 2021. As Co-Investigator, she also obtained the CUHK Outstanding Research Impact Award 2022/23.
Representative Publications:
- Zhang XJ, Chen XN, Tang FY, Szeto S, Ling XT, Lin ZX, Tham CC, Pang CP, Chen LJ, Yam JC. Pathogenesis of myopic choroidal neovascularization: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Surv Ophthalmol. 2023 Nov-Dec;68(6):1011-1026.
- Zhang XJ, Zhang Y, Kam KW, Tang F, Li Y, Ng MPH, Young AL, Ip P, Tham CC, Chen LJ, Pang CP, Yam JC. Prevalence of Myopia in Children Before, During, and After COVID-19 Restrictions in Hong Kong, JAMA Netw Open. 2023 Mar 1;6(3):e234080.
- Yam JC, Zhang XJ, Zhang Y, Yip BHK, Tang F, Wong ES, Bui CHT, Kam KW, Ng MPH, Ko ST, Yip WWK, Young AL, Tham CC, Chen LJ, Pang CP. Effect of Low-concentration Atropine Eyedrops vs Placebo on Myopia Incidence in Children: The LAMP 2 Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2023 Feb 14;329(6):472-481.
- Zhang X, Cheung SSL, Chan HN, Zhang Y, Wang YM, Yip BH, Kam KW, Yu M, Cheng CY, Young AL, Kwan MYW, Ip P, Chong KK, Tham CC, Chen LJ, Pang CP, Yam JCS. Myopia Incidence and Lifestyle Changes Among School Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Population-based Prospective Study. British Journal of Ophthalmology. 2022 Dec;106(12):1772-1778.
- Bourne RRA, Cicinelli MV, Sedighi T, Tapply IH, McCormick I, Jonas JB, Congdon NG, Ramke J, Naidoo KS, Fricke TR, Burton MJ, Müller A, Bikbov MM, Furtado JM, Kyari F, He M, Wang YX, Vijaya L, Nangia V, Brian G, Emamian MH, Fotouhi A, Hashemi H, Khandekar RB, Marmamula S, Salomão S, George R, Kazakbaeva G, Braithwaite T, Casson RJ, Iwase A, Gupta N, Abdianwall MH, Varma R, Wong TY, Wang N, Taylor HR, Flaxman SR, Keel S, Resnikoff S; Vision Loss Expert Group of the Global Burden of Disease Study; Zhang XJ (RAAB International Co-Author Group). Effective refractive error coverage in adults aged 50 years and older: estimates from population-based surveys in 61 countries. Lancet Glob Health. 2022 Dec;10(12):e1754-e1763.
- McCormick I, Butcher R, Evans JR, Mactaggart IZ, Limburg H, Jolley E, Sapkota YD, Oye JE, Mishra SK, Bastawrous A, Furtado JM, Joshi A, Xiao B, Ravilla TD, Bourne RRA, Cieza A, Keel S, Burton MJ, Ramke J; Zhang XJ (RAAB International Co-Author Group). Effective cataract surgical coverage in adults aged 50 years and older: estimates from population-based surveys in 55 countries. Lancet Glob Health. 2022 Dec;10(12):e1744-e1753.
- Yam JC, Zhang XJ, Zhang Y, Wang YM, Tang SM, Li FF, Kam KW, Ko ST, Yip BHK, Young AL, Tham CC, Chen LJ, Pang CP. Three-Year Clinical Trial of Low-concentration Atropine for Myopia Progression (LAMP) Study: Continued Versus Washout Phase 3 Report. Ophthalmology. 2022 Mar;129(3):308-321.
- Yam JC, Li FF, Zhang X, Tang SM, Yip BHK, Kam KW, Ko ST, Young AL, Tham CC, Chen LJ, Pang CP. Two-Year Clinical Trial of the Low-concentration Atropine for Myopia Progression (LAMP) Study: Phase 2 report. Ophthalmology. 2020 Jul;127(7):910-919.
- Zhang XJ, Leung CKS, Li EY, Musch DC, Zheng CR, He MG, Chang DF, Lam DSC. Diagnostic Accuracy of Rapid Assessment of Avoidable Blindness: A Population-based Assessment. Am J Ophthalmol. 2020 May;213:235-243.
- Zhang XJ, Liang YB, Liu YP, Jhanji V, Musch DC, Peng Y, Zheng CR, Zhang HX, Chen P, Tang X, Lam DS. Implementation of a free cataract surgery program in rural China: a community-based randomized interventional study. Ophthalmology. 2013 Feb;120(2):260-5.
