Medical alumnus awarded the Order of Australia

Professor Albert Lam has been awarded a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2017 Australia Day Honours list published in Sydney.

The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established in 1975 by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to recognise the service of Australian citizens to the nation or humanity.

Albert was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for his significant service to medicine, particularly to paediatric radiology, and to child health education. This award acknowledges Albert‘s pioneer work in innovative diagnostic sonographic techniques in Australia, which have attained worldwide recognition.

After graduating from HKU in 1971, Albert pursued his postgraduate training in Radiology in Auckland, New Zealand and at the Los Angeles Children Hospital in California, US.  In 1979, Albert was headhunted by the then Royal Alexandria Hospital for Children and the University of Sydney to establish a paediatric Ultrasound Unit in Sydney, the first of its kind in New South Wales.

Despite his many years living in Australia, Albert maintains very close ties with his alma mater, and his old hall, Ricci Hall. He is indebted to both for giving him a rich and solid knowledge, and value base, spurring him on in his chosen career.

Shortly after returning from the US, Albert, together with a group of enthusiastic HKU alumni, set up the HKU Alumni Association (New South Wales Chapter) in Sydney in 1982, the first of such groups in Australasia.  He was a founding member of its Executive Committee, and maintains his ties with HKU medical graduates and the teaching hospitals of HKU through his active role as Founding Committee Member and past Vice-President of the Asean Oceanic Society of Paediatric Radiology (AOSPR) of which Hong Kong is an active member.

On learning of his award, Albert said he was very happy and humbled as the award represents an appreciation of the contributions made by hardworking immigrants in Australia, and also of the contributions of radiologists and medical imaging specialists to medical service.

Albert is presently Head of Diagnostic Ultrasound at Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, and Clinical Professor of the Disciplines of Medical Imaging and Paediatric at Sydney Medical School, the University of Sydney.