Skeletal dysplasia (SD) refers to a group of skeletal disorders at which the bone development becomes abnormal as a result of genetic mutations. There are over 770 types of skeletal dysplasia, with over 550 causative genes identified. The prevalence varies from <1/10,000 to about 2/10,000 live births, with the most common ones being osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), achondroplasia, and hypophosphatemic rickets. It is estimated that more than one million patients suffering from skeletal dysplasias in China. Patients usually have short stature and deformities in the limbs and spine leading to different types of functional disabilities affecting their activities of daily living. Some of the skeletal dysplasias may be associated with other co-morbidities e.g. psychiatric illnesses and diseases involving other organs. Most of SD patients possess normal intellect and can contribute to the society if appropriate medical treatments are given. Despite the advancements in medical technology over the past decades, the treatment of these conditions remains suboptimal. There is a high demand of such expertise who can help to make proper diagnosis and formulate treatments. 

To promote doctors’ knowledge on diagnosis and treatment of skeletal dysplasias, foster domestic and international clinical and research cooperation, and improve the quality of life of patients around the world, LKS Faculty of Medicine – the University of Hong Kong and the University of Hong Kong – Shenzhen Hospital (HKU–SZH) plan to initiate the “SRDC Skeletal Dysplasia International Fellowship“, funded by The Society for the Relief of DisabledChildren (SRDC), jointly with the Duchess of Kent Children‘s Hospital (DKCH)/Hong Kong Children‘s Hospital (HKCH), Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center, Guangzhou Medical University (GWCMC), Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH),all of which are well-known for their work in SD. The fellowship provides professional training and scientific research opportunities to clinicians who are interested in the diagnosis and treatment of skeletal dysplasias. 

Upon fellowship completion, fellows should be able to independently start their own work on skeletal dysplasia, take up training responsibilities for clinicians interested in this area, and facilitate research through promoting their parent institutes to join the international skeletal dysplasia network.

The long-term goal of this fellowship is to help patients secure accurate diagnosis and holistic treatment as soon as possible, promote comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms, develop better treatment strategies, which will support millions of patients around the world to live a better life with quality and dignity.

1. Provide full clinical duties including routine inpatient care, emergency on-calls, attending out-patient clinics, ward rounds, clinical case discussions and participating in surgical operations.
2. Other duties as assigned by the division chief or his/her designate.
3. Participate in clinical or basic science research projects.

• Appendix 1 – Application form of the SRDC-Skeletal Dysplasia International Fellowship Program.docx
• Appendix 2 – HKU-SZH application form for professional training.docx
• Appendix 3 – HKU-SZH visiting studying application form.docx
• Appendix 4 – Visiting studying applicant CV template.docx
• Appendix 5 – Recommendation letter information and template v1.docx
• Appendix 6 – Body health certificate.docx

1. Application Date

   From now on, written applications are accepted.

   Deadline for Applications:

   • Phase I: May 31, 2025
   • Phase II: September 30, 2025

   Notes: The application deadline depends on the actual situation. After the deadline, the interview will be arranged to determine the final selected fellows and the arrangement of the training centers.

2. Fellowship Date
   • Phase I: July 1, 2025 – December 31, 2025
   • Phase II: January 1, 2026 – June 30, 2026

Applications and enquiries can be made by

E-mail: paediortho@hku-szh.org

Wechat: +86-18925232812

Address: Pediatric Orthopaedic Ward, 4F, Block B, The University of Hong Kong – Shenzhen Hospital, No.1, Haiyuan 1st Road, Futian District, Shenzhen, Guangdong, P.R.C. (Postal Code: 518053)

Since July 1, 2012, the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital has shouldered the important mission of China’s public health care reform. As a Hong Kong and Shenzhen medical reform cooperation pilot, the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital provides a fair, transparent, and efficient environment with the aim of “green medical care” by leveraging the experience and advantages of Hong Kong and mainland medical sectors. The hospital is building a unique medical service platform for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. Missions of the hospital involve building a “domestic first-class, world-renowned” hospital, becoming a world-class teaching hospital with comprehensive training and excellent facilities, and becoming a cradle for training medical talents in Shenzhen and the whole of China. The Orthopedics Center is one of the hospital’s six areas of excellence, of which the Paediatric Orthopaedics Department (PO Dept.) is affiliated. Skeletal dysplasia has been one of the key directions of the PO Dept. since its inception, having introduced treatment experience, a scientific research team, and multi-disciplinary (MDT) care model from Hong Kong to Shenzhen. Cooperation with rare bone disease patient organizations is one of the key works in the PO Dept. The PO Dept. has established itself as a diagnosis, treatment, and scientific research center for skeletal dysplasia in Southern China, having carried out more than 30 national, provincial, and municipal scientific research projects with publication of more than 60 clinical and scientific research papers. The PO Dept. has participated in the compilation of several professional guidelines, with the team being invited for experience sharing worldwide. The team was awarded the Shenzhen Key Discipline-Key Specialized Disease in 2020 for its outstanding performance in treating patients with osteogenesis imperfecta, and is the first key discipline for rare diseases in the country. In 2024, the Sanming Project successfully introduced the “Multidisciplinary Diagnostic and Therapeutic Team for Rare Diseases led by Professor Zhang Shuyang from Peking Union Medical College Hospital”. The hospital also successfully applied for the “Shenzhen Clinical Medical Research Center for Rare Diseases” with the full support of all staff, and was concurrently awarded the status of a “Research-Oriented Hospital in Shenzhen”. Additionally, it is a member unit of the National Rare Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Collaboration Network. In addition to domestic contributions, the team also works closely with foreign medical and scientific researchers, having participated in the standardization of measurement and indicators of osteogenesis imperfecta as the only medical representative from China in 2021. In 2022, Professor TO successfully secured the hosting rights for the 15th International Conference on Osteogenesis Imperfecta 2025 (Hong Kong). The conference is scheduled to take place from October 29 to 31, 2025, which will be the first time the conference has been hosted in Asia.

More information:
http://www.hku-szh.org

The hospital was founded in 1956 by the Society for the Relief of Disabled Children. It provides specialist services in paediatric orthopedics, spinal surgery, pediatric neurology, developmental Paediatrics and Paediatric dental surgery while also providing treatment, and rehabilitative services. Its reputation was built first in the 1950s and 1960s, when it became known as the clinical research center that developed the “Hong Kong Operation”, a breakthrough anterior approach to treat spinal tuberculosis. Apart from complex spinal deformities, the paediatric orthopaedic services provided outstanding contribution in the area of skeletal dysplasia and neuromuscular diseases.  The “Modified Sofield Millar Operation” is currently the gold standard operation for patients with osteogenesis imperfecta.  Fellowship programs for doctors interested in spinal and paediatric orthopaedic surgeries have been running for decades, attracting international doctors across the globe to Hong Kong for training. The fellowship program was funded by the Society for the Relief of Disabled Children. The hospital is an important teaching hospital for the University of Hong Kong to provide medical education for medical students, and also a training centre for orthopaedic specialist training.

More information:
https://www.ha.org.hk/visitor/ha_visitor_index.asp?Parent_ID=10036&Content_ID=100137&Lang=ENG

The Hong Kong Government decided in 2007 to study the establishment of a Centre of Excellence in Paediatrics to further enhance the quality of paediatric services in Hong Kong by concentrating expertise, research and training with multipartite involvement. The centre was then officially named as the “Hong Kong Children’s Hospital” (HKCH) in 2014. Upon service commissioning of HKCH, the Hospital Authority’s paediatric services operate under a hub-and-spoke model. HKCH serves as the tertiary referral centre for complex, serious and uncommon paediatric cases requiring multidisciplinary management, providing diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation services for patients in need from birth to 18 years of age territory-wide. The paediatric departments in other public hospitals continue to provide secondary, acute, emergency and community paediatric care. Under this hub-and-spoke model, HKCH and regional hospitals work together as a coordinated and coherent paediatric service network. HKCH strives to enhance clinical service quality, promote research, strengthen teaching and training, and provide children-centred and family-friendly services to create a better patient experience.

More information:
https://www31.ha.org.hk/hkch

The Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center (affiliated with Guangzhou Medical University) is formed by the integration of the former Guangzhou Children’s Hospital, Guangzhou Maternity and Infant Hospital, Guangzhou Maternal and Child Health Hospital, and Guangzhou Population and Family Planning Technical Service Guidance Institute. It is the largest women’s and children’s hospital in the central and southern regions. It has been ranked among the top 100 hospitals for nine consecutive years in the Fudan University Hospital Ranking. The pediatric surgery ranked second in the country, pediatric internal medicine ranked eighth in the country, and the pediatric specialty ranked first in South China. In September 2020, with the approval of the National Health Commission, it became the National Children’s Regional Medical Center (Central South). City Women and Children is the pilot unit of the national modern hospital management system, the second batch of high-level hospitals in Guangdong Province, the second batch of key construction hospitals, and the leading unit of Guangdong Province of the National Rare Disease Diagnosis and Treatment Network. The team specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric rare diseases, hematopoietic cell transplant, early prenatal diagnosis of rare genetic diseases and fetal medicine. It has a huge biological sample bank of international standards, operates a mature and unique entity pediatric research institute, and has established the Guangdong Provincial Early Childhood Development Applied Engineering Technology Research Center, the Guangdong Provincial Children’s Health and Disease Clinical Research Center, the Guangdong Provincial Structural Research Center, and The Key Laboratory of Birth Defects Research (the 2nd Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Health and Health Cooperation Project) are one of the largest maternal and child cohort research platforms in the world, engaged in birth cohort, pediatric disease cohort, biobank construction, integration and utilization of medical and health big data, and the research on prevention and control strategies related to major diseases in children have always been at the international first-class and national leading level. They have rich experience in the diagnosis and treatment of skeletal dysplasia such as hypophosphatemic rickets and metabolic diseases, and has carried out relevant multidisciplinary training work for medical institutions in the province. The Pediatric Orthopedics Department of HKU Shenzhen Hospital cooperates with the Guangzhou Women and Pediatrics Department, Pediatric Orthopedics Department, and Rehabilitation Department teams in skeletal dysplasia.

More information:
https://www.gzfezx.com

Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) is a Class A tertiary comprehensive hospital committed to delivering state-of-the-art clinical care, innovative scientific research and rigorous medical education. It is designated by the National Health Commission as one of the national guiding centers offering diagnostic and therapeutic care of complex and severe disorders, national demonstration centers for higher medical education and standardized residency training, core national base for clinical research and technological innovation, as well as one of the earliest Chinese hospitals offering medical care to senior leaders and foreign patients. PUMCH enjoys high reputation for its full range of disciplines, cutting-edge technologies and outstanding specialties. PUMCH ranks No. 1 in the National Tertiary Public Hospital Performance Evaluation. Currently, It has 3 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, 59 clinical and medical technology departments, 29 national key clinical specialties, 6 national scientific research platforms, 5 national “double first-class” construction disciplines, 12 national key disciplines, and 9 disciplines authorized to offer doctoral degree programs, 6 national medical continuing education centers, 21 national standardized residency training centers,  and 8 national standardized specialist training centers. Meanwhile, PUMCH also shoulders its social responsibility to offer medical services and support for underdeveloped and remote areas, emergencies and major national events. The National Health Commission established in 2019 – including 324 general hospitals across the country – has Peking Union Medical College Hospital as the national leading unit. It is experienced in genetic research, multidisciplinary diagnosis and treatment, and clinical research of various rare diseases including skeletal dysplasia. The Pediatric Orthopedics Department of Hong Kong University Shenzhen Hospital have cooperated with the Spine Surgery Department, Endocrinology Department, and Genetic Laboratory teams from the Union Medical College in skeletal dysplasia.

More information:
https://www.pumch.cn/en.html

We are grateful to SRDC for their sponsorship of the SRDC skeletal dysplasia international fellowship.

The Society for the Relief of Disabled Children (SRDC)“the Society“ was established in 1953, with the mission to support medical, surgical, rehabilitation and educational services to differently-abled children in Hong Kong. The Society, using funds generated by the generosity of the community, established a convalescent home in Sandy Bay in 1956 for children stricken with skeletal tuberculosis. The home initially had only 50 beds but was subsequently expanded in stages to become the Duchess of Kent Children’s Hospital at Sandy Bay “the Hospital” in 1968 and was in the frontline fighting against tuberculosis, poliomyelitis and spinal deformities. The Hospital subsequently became internationally recognized for this work and remains a training center for surgeons and health workers from around the world.

The Society was responsible for the running cost of the Home and Hospital and ran the institutions on a day-to-day basis until 1991 when the Hong Kong Hospital Authority took over management of all public hospitals in Hong Kong. Despite the change in management, the Society still has a significant influence in the running of the Hospital and has continued to support the Hospital with specific needs or in emerging areas of child health that are not readily available in the public health care system. They have also expanded into other areas of medical social concerns that fulfill the mission of the Society.