The Hospital was recognized as an innovation practice base for postdoctoral research in Shenzhen in 2018, and there were 22 postdoctoral fellows in the Hospital in 2021. HKU-SZH has established several key research platforms with unique features. It has set up two municipal key laboratories and two municipal engineering laboratories, and has been approved to establish a provincial engineering technology research center in Guangdong. In 2018, HKU-SZH was included in Shenzhen's municipal clinical pharmaceutical trial platform. In 2020, the Hospital's oncology was approved as a key specialty and pediatric osteogenesis imperfecta as a key specialty disease in Shenzhen, and its orthopedics, reproductive medicine, cardiology and family medicine were approved as key medical disciplines in Shenzhen. The Hospital also introduced 11 teams of high-level talents at home and abroad under the Sanming Project of Medicine.

The 1,000 m² Clinical-Fundamental-Conversion Lab retrofitted in 2020 has been put into use, equipped with basic research facilities; the construction of the Research Building Phase II is scheduled to be completed by 2025 to build a research building of approximately 20,000 m² . Located in the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone, the Translational Medicine Research Center of the Hospital is under construction. The Center will focus on key areas such as tumor, reproductive health, organ transplantation, 3D printing, neurological diseases, vaccine R&D, and surgical transformation to carry out translational medicine research and build a five-in-one international clinical trial platform.