Prof Lam takes strong interest in clinical research in innovative surgical procedures and clinical trials. His main current research works include
(1) refractive surgeries and medical treatments for shortsightedness and presbyopia,
(2) new surgeries and treatments for glaucoma, corneal, lens and vitreo-retinal diseases,
(3) herbal medicine in treating eye diseases.

Prof. Lam has also initiated important basic research work on genetic eye diseases and large-scale epidemiology studies. Ongoing major activities include
(1) myopia: epidemiology, genetic analysis at the molecular level, experimental animal model, prevention and treatment.
(2) molecular genetics of myopia, retinitis pigmentosa, glaucoma, age-related macular degeneration, cataracts, and anterior segment dysgenesis,
(3) territory-wide epidemiology of eye disorders,
(4) virtual reality for teaching eye surgeries,
(5) production of cell lines, artificial tissues, and gene therapy.
He has received more than HK$ 10 million of research grants either as principal investigator or co-investigator. He has published more than 110 international peer-review journal articles.

Prof Lam is an active academic. He is a reviewer of several indexed journals including Ophthalmology, Eye and Journal of Cataract Refractive Surgery. He is visiting professor of 4 universities outside Hong Kong and holds offices in more than 10 local and international professional and academic organizations. His academic honors include scholarships from the Commonwealth Medical Student Bursary 1984, the Japan Mishima Fund 1985, and the Li Po Chun Charitable Trust Fund Foundation 1988.

Being the Chairman of the Department and the Honorary Chief-of-Service of the Hong Kong Eye Hospital, Prof Lam is heavily involved in the clinical service conducted by a team of more than 70 eye doctors. He is fully committed to eye care of the Chinese population and is the Honorary Director of the Joint International Eye Center of CUHK & Shantou University, Chairman of the Action for Vision Eye Foundation, Honorary Advisor of the SightFirst China Action and executive council member of the Lifeline Express.
Prof Lam has been honored with many awards including the "Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World 1995" and the "Hundred Global Leader of Tomorrow 2000". In early 2000, Prof Lam was appointed member of the Central Policy Unit of the Government of the HKSAR, member of the Hong Kong Medical Council and the Chinese Medical Council of Hong Kong .