Sheung-tak Cheng PhD

Sheung-Tak Cheng is Chair Professor of Psychology and Gerontology. He joined the Hong Kong Institute of Education as the founding Head of the Department of Psychological Studies. Besides, he is also an Honorary Professor at the Gender Studies Program, Chinese University of Hong Kong, and an Honorary Chair at the Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia. In addition, he is an Emeritus Member and Issues Matter Specialist of the Global Council on Brain Health and was formerly an expert consultant to the United Nations Programme on Ageing. Locally, he was the founding Vice-President of the Chinese Dementia Research Association and a former member of the Working Group on Active Ageing, Elderly Commission, HKSAR Government.

His primary research foci are family gerontology and dementia care. He has published over 150 articles and has edited a book on successful aging. He has pioneered randomized controlled trials of cognitive leisure activities on delaying cognitive decline and interventions to promote positive aspects of dementia caregiving (i.e., the Benefit-Finding Intervention). His work in these areas had led to invited addresses to the World Health Organizations Global Forum on Innovation for Ageing Populations (December 2013), the International Congress of Psychology (July 2016), Alzheimer’s Association (Northern California & Northern Nevada Chapter) Annual Updates on Dementia Conference (May 2016), and the World Dementia Council Summit (Dec 2018), among others.

He is Associate Editor of Psychology and Aging (2017- ) and Applied Psychology: Health and Well-being (2001- ), and has been a long-standing editorial board member of several major journals in gerontology, including Aging & Mental Health, Research on Aging, and Journal of Applied Gerontology. He is elected a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA), the Association for Psychological Science, and the Gerontological Society of America. He was awarded the Outstanding International Psychologist Award and the Henry David Mentoring Award by APA’s Division 52 in 2007 and 2015 respectively and was honored in 2008 with the Certificate of Appreciation for Contributions as a Humanitarian Worker that was jointly presented by APA’s Division 48 and Psychologists for Social Responsibility.