CESAME successfully hosted the "Smart Sport, Smart Life: Innovation, Wellness and Integrity" Public Lecture for children, parents, students, athletes and the wider community.

_{Saturday, 5 Sep 2026}

What an extraordinary afternoon at HKBU and CESAME on Saturday, 5 September 2026, as the Centre for Exercise Science and Medicine (CESAME) hosted Smart Sport, Smart Life: Innovation, Wellness and Integrity for children, parents, students, athletes and the wider community.

We began by opening the doors of CESAME to the community. Visitors explored our laboratories, experienced some of the technologies we use to understand human performance and health, and — most importantly — had fun moving, experimenting and asking questions. The Centre Visit Tour introduced participants to CESAME’s facilities, including the Biomechanics Lab, Advanced Body Composition Suite, Genomics & Molecular Laboratories and Environmental Chamber, while interactive activities challenged physical power, coordination and reaction time.

The afternoon continued with the public lecture “Born to Move – Why Exercise Is the Best Medicine”, delivered by Professor Yannis Pitsiladis, Director of CESAME. The lecture explored a question at the heart of one of the great health challenges of our time: what happens when bodies shaped by millions of years of evolution meet a world engineered to remove the need to move?

Humans evolved extraordinary capacities for movement, but in a world of cars, lifts, desks, screens, food abundance and increasingly automated lives, our natural tendency to conserve energy can contribute to major public-health challenges. We are designed to move — yet when movement is unnecessary, staying active often requires continuous willpower.

This led perfectly into an engaging panel discussion with Professor Patrick Lau, Professor Jiao Jiao and Mr Will Wong, exploring why, despite decades of evidence, guidelines and campaigns, societies are still struggling to get populations moving. The discussion highlighted the importance of implementation and sustainability, and the need to create environments, technologies, communities and policies in which movement becomes the easy, enjoyable and normal choice.

The event was also a powerful reminder of why CESAME was built. Science should not remain behind laboratory doors — it should reach children, families, athletes and the wider community.

Thank you to everyone who visited, participated, asked questions, challenged us and made the day a success, especially our wonderful speakers, panel members and the entire CESAME/HKBU team.

Our ancestors had to move to survive. Our challenge may be to rediscover movement in order to thrive.