Msm Ip

Professor Mary Ip's main research interest is sleep related breathing disorders, with a focus on vascular and metabolic consequences of obstructive sleep apnea. Her clinical and translational research embrace a spectrum from epidemiology to patient management. Her work in the late 1990s identified the prevalence of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome of 4% and 2% in middle-aged Chinese men and women in Hong Kong respectively, which was comparable to that reported in Caucasian populations at that time. Since then, research focussed on OSA and cardiometabolic disorders and the pathogenetic mechanisms, including the roles of obesity and craniofacial factors, adipokines, insulin resistance, endothelial function. In parallel, basic research deploying the intermittent hypoxia models in animal (rats and mice) and cell cultures (endothelial cells, adipocytes, and others) were used to investigate the potential cellular and molecular pathways in the regulation of metabolic or cardiovascular functions. Professor Ip has led the studies for establishing update lung function reference values for children and adults in Hong Kong. Her other clinical research include airways diseases, respiratory infections, and lung cancer.