From the bustling streets of Tai Kok Tsui, one of the poorest areas in Hong Kong, to the prestigious role of Regius Professor at Aston University. Professor Ian Wong’s journey is proof that leadership isn’t about where you start but how you navigate the road ahead, his story is a testament to the transformative power of leadership and a vision for making a positive impact on society. Aston University is just one of 12 schools to be awarded a prestigious Regius Professorship by HM The Queen to mark her 90th birthday in 2016, and only fourteen have been created since the reign of Queen Victoria of which Aston is the only university to hold a Regius Professorship in pharmacy. Professor Wong’s inaugural lecture was not only a reflection of his remarkable career but also an inspiring narrative of how leadership in research can shape the future for individuals, communities, and global healthcare.
The story of Professor Ian Wong is a reminder that great leadership isn’t about titles or accolades—it’s about understanding the problems of people and society and daring to find solutions. It’s about mentorship, resilience, and, above all, optimism. The power to change the future is already in our hands. From a young boy in Tai Kok Tsui to a global leader in pharmacy and public health, his journey inspires us to see challenges not as barriers, but as stepping stones to a better future.
Professor Wong’s beginnings were far from the traditional trajectory of academic success. He attended the Fresh Fish Trader School – a name that he jokes left him with a distaste for fish. However, beyond the humour lay the true reality: this was not a school known for churning out future professors. Deemed an underachiever, he failed his Hong Kong Certificate of Education Examination (equivalent to GCSEs in the UK) and, for a time, found himself working in the kitchen of the famous fast-food Chinese restaurant, Coral Cafe. Turning to Christianity, he found a renewed sense of purpose and the drive for self-improvement. He retook his exams, passed his A-levels, and secured a place at Sunderland University to study Pharmacy. Under the impression that Sunderland would be sunny, he joked that while the skies may not have been bright, the university certainly did brighten his future.
His early career was shaped by a mix of fear and determination. During his pre-registration year in Sherman Chemist in East London, thick Cockney accents made patient consultations or answering enquires a fearful ordeal. But with the guidance of Mrs Adele Fidlan, his supervisor and mentor, who pushed him to answer every phone call, he quickly learned that leadership isn’t just about knowledge—it’s about facing discomfort head-on and growing through challenges. Perhaps this is what began his journey into mentoring and leadership.
After qualifying as a pharmacist, he embarked on a PhD in epilepsy, a period he describes as a relentless slog through 2,500 case notes deciphering illegible doctor’s handwriting, only to discover that gabapentin was less effective in patients with severe epilepsy than lamotrigine and vigabatrin. It was a lesson in persistence, scientific rigor, and the reality that even fruitless findings contribute to the bigger picture.
He then stepped into the world of clinical practice at Northwick Park Hospital—an experience that, by his own admission, didn’t go as planned. But while others might have seen failure, he saw a redirection. Determined to improve medicines management in the elderly, he secured a £1 million Medical Research Council grant to conduct the RESPECT (Randomised Evaluation of Shared Prescribing for Elderly people in the Community over Time) trial —an unprecedented achievement at that stage in his career as a pharmacist. It was a defining moment, proving that, with the right vision and support, barriers could be broken. That project is currently being replicated in Hong Kong with over £40 million of funding from The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. It will prove the cost-effectiveness of community pharmacies providing government-funded treatments, a service we take for granted in the west and a testament to the long-lasting impact of Professor Wong’s work.
His tenure at the Centre for Paediatric Pharmacy Research (a joint research centre between UCL Institute of Child Health, Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital and UCL School of Pharmacy was full of groundbreaking developments. It saw him lead one of the most impactful collaborations between a pharmacy school, a child health school and the NHS. This collaboration led to the spinout of a company which developed Buccolam, a rescue treatment for the cessation of acute seizures in children. Now widely used across the EU in children with severe epilepsy, it showcases his accidental yet profound role as an entrepreneur in healthcare innovation.
Professor Wong has an uncanny ability to identify clinical problems that resonate far beyond academia. His research into ADHD treatment highlighted not just the impact on young people, but also the cascading benefits for families, from reducing accidents and violence to fostering healthier relationships. Long before ‘integrated care’ became a buzzword, he was advocating for a more holistic approach to medicine, where the true measure of success isn’t just a prescription but the lives improved along the way.
Becoming the first Professor of Pharmacy at the University of Hong Kong, he led the accreditation of the BPharm programme by the Pharmacy and Poisons Board of Hong Kong. His distinctive teaching style—direct, challenging, but deeply invested, earned him immense respect —evident in the large number of current and former students who travelled from Hong Kong to celebrate his inaugural lecture at Aston. For Professor Wong, leadership isn’t about hierarchy; it’s about investing in people. His philosophy is simple: “We’re not spending; we are investing.” His unwavering belief in the potential of his PhD students and young colleagues, seeing them as the next generation of leaders, nurturing their potential and watching them deliver exponential returns to science and society ensures his legacy will outlast his own career—though there’s no sign of him slowing down just yet.
As he takes on his latest challenge as Regius Professor of Pharmacy—yet another first in a career full of them—his influence and impact on global research and leadership will only continue to grow. But perhaps his greatest legacy isn’t in the millions secured in research grants, the ground-breaking studies, or even the policies shaped by his findings. It is in the leaders he has inspired, the mindset he has cultivated, and the belief that with the right support, the right vision, and an unwavering optimism for the future, we all have the power to create change.
If nothing else, Professor Wong’s story has shown me – and I hope you too – that anything is possible with determination and hard work, that the realms of possibility are limitless and that with the right mentorship you can push the boundaries of your profession further than you ever imagined. I hope you, like I, have been inspired at the prospect of how research can transform healthcare and drive meaningful improvements in patient care. More importantly, I hope it encourages you to take action through research. I know I will.
Author
Sinéad Peare
Sinéad is the lead Hepatology Pharmacist at Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Trust, with a passion for advancing health equity, global healthcare access, and medicines policy. With a rich background in international health and equity policy, she recently served as the Chief Pharmaceutical Officer’s Clinical Fellow at NICE, where she led the development of strategic principles for rare diseases to improve equity of prioritisation for rare disease topics.
Sinéad’s career has taken her across the globe, in Myanmar she established the country’s first Medicines Information service and led a reform of the pharmacy curriculum, and then in Hong Kong she implemented the largest COVID vaccination centre and published literature to improve equity in childhood vaccination.
Driven by her passion for health equity and her hunger for equal access to medicines globally Sinéad aspires to continue her work internationally, advancing access to essential medicines and supporting the elimination of Hepatitis and HIV worldwide.
Declaration of interests
I have read and understood the BMJ Group policy on declaration of interests and declare the following interests: none.