Our Team
Our team is composed of world leading scientists and experts in the field of respiratory viruses and emerging diseases. With our collective knowledge, we are committed to providing the highest quality services to help you tackle the challenges that come with these illnesses. We use cutting-edge research and technology to develop innovative solutions that can make a real difference in people’s lives. Our team is passionate about finding new ways to improve healthcare and making sure that everyone has access to the best care possible.
Professor Michael Chan
Chief Executive Officer
Professor Michael Chan received his PhD degree in Medical Science from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and did his post-doctoral fellowship in influenza virus and infectious diseases at the University of Hong Kong.
Professor Chan’s main research interests are virus-host interactions and pathogenesis of influenza virus and coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV) in ex vivo cultures and in vitro cells of the human respiratory tract. His current work encompasses multiple aspects of influenza virus and coronavirus, including human respiratory organoids development, risk assessment, lung injury mechanism upon infection, as well as therapeutic options for severe infection.
Having received doctoral training at the University of Oxford Sir William Dunn School of Pathology, Professor Leo Poon proceeded with his postdoctoral fellowship in the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He then joined the University of Hong Kong as a Research Assistant Professor and now serves as a Professor in the HKU School of Public Health.
Professor Poon’s expertise include influenza and coronavirus research, often taking the lead in outbreak investigations as in the H1N1, SARS and SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic. He identified the first reassortment of the H1N1/2009 virus in pigs and decoded the first 2003 SARS coronavirus sequence. Currently, he is actively involved in research on the molecular biology and vaccinology of influenza virus and studies related to MERS and SARS-CoV-2.
Professor Leo Poon
Chief Operation Officer
Professor Malik Peiris
Senior Advisor
Professor Malik Peiris, fellow of the Royal Society, Légion d’Honneur and Silver Bauhinia Star was born in Sri Lanka and studied medicine at the University of Ceylon. He later received his PhD from the University of Oxford William Dunn School of Pathology, where he made significant discoveries on the mechanism of dengue virus pathogenesis.
Professor Peiris has played a key role in pandemic research and control, having developed a multi-disciplinary research program in HKU with strong international collaboration that greatly enhanced understanding of the epidemiology and control of animal and human influenza and coronaviruses. Besides, he is the Co-Director of the WHO H5 influenza and SARS-coronavirus-2 reference laboratories at HKU. He was also awarded the 2021 Future Science Prize in Life Sciences for the discovery of SARS-CoV-1 as the causative agent for the global SARS outbreak and its zoonotic origin.
Professor Kenrie Hui received her Ph.D. from the Department of Microbiology in The University of Hong Kong, and her postdoctoral training at the Centre of Influenza Research, HKU School of Public Health.
Her research interests focus on understanding the pathogenesis of emerging respiratory viruses including highly pathogenic influenza A viruses, MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2, exploring cellular targets as novel therapeutic options for severe infections, and examining the tropism and immune responses of these viruses in ex vivo cultures and primary cell models derived from the human respiratory tract.
Professor Hui has earned countless achievements during and after her studies, including the Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds Travel Grant, Keystone Symposia Scholarship, as well as the 2019 Faculty Outstanding Research Output Award.
Professor Kenrie Hui
Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Rachel Ching
Chief Technical Officer
Dr Rachel Ching received her PhD from the Division of Food and Nutritional Sciences of the University of Hong Kong. Her research interests focus on developing novel experimental models of the human respiratory system (e.g. organoid models) for understanding pathogenesis, tropism and virus-host interaction of influenza virus and coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV).