Honorary University Fellows
Professor Yuen Kwok Yung is the Chair in the Department of Microbiology and Henry Fok Professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of Hong Kong, and the co-director of the State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases since 2005. He is a physician and microbiologist, and holds an MBBS and MD from the University of Hong Kong.
Professor Yuen has discovered over 100 novel species of virus, bacteria, fungi and parasites from patients and animals. Several of these novel animal viruses or their close relatives cause emerging infectious diseases by jumping from animals to human. In 2003, he led his team in the discovery of human SARS coronavirus, then the bat SARS related coronavirus which is also ancestrally related to the 2003 SARS-CoV-1 and subsequently emerged SARS-CoV-2 causing the COVID-19 pandemic. Professor Yuen has published extensively in the areas of coronaviruses, influenza and other emerging virus infections, and was named by Clarivate, in its list of Highly Cited Researchers, among the top 1% of scholars worldwide, for three consecutive years from 2020 to 2022.
During the COVID-19 outbreak, Professor Yuen was the first in the world to provide evidence that SARS-CoV-2 could be easily transmitted from person-to-person in a family cluster presenting to the hospital, and that patients could be re-infected with the virus. His discoveries and expertise have been referenced by governments and healthcare policy makers internationally as they responded to the spread of the global pandemic.
Professor Yuen is a qualified specialist in clinical microbiology, internal medicine and surgery in the Hong Kong SAR and the United Kingdom. He is also academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (Basic Medicine) and the American Academy of Microbiology. He was awarded the Future Science Prize in 2021. The HKSAR government has awarded him a Silver and Gold Bauhinia Star for his work on microbial hunting and emerging infections.
Citation delivered by Professor Chak-sing Lau, Dean of Medicine
Professor Yuen Kwok Yung is a Chair Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Henry Fok Professor of Infectious Diseases at the University of Hong Kong. He is a rare breed of clinician, being a qualified specialist in clinical microbiology, as well as an expert in internal medicine and general surgery in Hong Kong SAR and the United Kingdom.
KY graduated with an MBBS from the University of Hong Kong in 1981 and my first encounter with him took place one evening in 1992 when, as a very green lecturer in medicine, I was worried about a young man who had developed a swollen knee and a high fever. I drew fluid out of his knee and took it to the Microbiology Laboratory for further examination. It was after hours and regular staff could not be found but for KY who was working alone in the corner of the laboratory. He offered an urgent smear examination of the fluid; confirmed the diagnosis of gonorrhoeal infection; and advised me on the appropriate antibiotic treatment. This was how dedicated KY was as a microbiologist.
His dedication to serving patients has never faded. According to KY, he achieved his first major milestone in 1997, when he was the first to report the unusual severity of the H5N1 influenza. In 2000, he was appointed the Scientific Co-director of the HKU-Pasteur Research Centre.
By seeing the first cluster of SARS patients in 2003, KY led his team in the discovery of human SARS coronavirus, and later the bat SARS related coronavirus – which turned out to be ancestrally related to the 2003 human SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV) and the 2019 human SARS coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that caused the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2005, he was selected to lead as co-director of the first State Key Laboratory outside the Mainland; the State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases at HKU.
KY was the first in the world to provide evidence that SARS-CoV-2 could be easily transmitted from person-to-person in a family cluster presenting to the hospital; and that patients could be re-infected with the virus. He was appointed an expert advisor on COVID-19 to the Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Government, and his discoveries and expertise have been referenced by governments and healthcare policy makers internationally as they responded to the spread of the global pandemic.
As a physician and microbiologist, Professor Yuen has discovered over 100 novel species of viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites from patients and animals. Several of these novel animal viruses or their close relatives cause emerging infectious diseases by jumping from animals to humans. He was named by Clarivate, in its list of Highly Cited Researchers, among the top 1% of scholars worldwide for three consecutive years from 2020 to 2022.
KY is an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (Basic Medicine) and the American Academy of Microbiology. He was awarded the Future Science Prize in 2021. The HKSAR Government awarded him both Silver and Gold Bauhinia Stars for his work on microbial hunting and emerging infections.
Although during the COVID-19 pandemic he became a regular and reassuring presence on Hong Kong’s news broadcasts, those close to him know that he has never been driven by fame or the public spotlight. In his own words, I quote “I am a shy and boring person who does not know how to chat with strangers.”
He does, however, have clear ideas about leadership. After 35 years of his professorial career at HKU he has learned a lot about leadership from his teachers, peers, students and patients.
I wish to quote him now here:
“True leaders develop the vision which is an idea, picture or a need of the future. They develop the roadmap to make this vision a reality. They build a team and work together towards this goal.
Leaders set personal examples that inspire others, by practising the core values of fairness, compassion, humility and excellence.
Leaders are global in thinking and action, and unwavering in adversity; they give hope to others, and most importantly, they are generous in raising the next generation of leaders.”
End quote.
Those of us who know KY can testify that while there may be many leadership qualities that he greatly admires in others, he is the one who possesses them all.
Therefore, Mr Pro-Chancellor, it is my great pleasure to present Professor Yuen Kwok-Yung for the Honorary University Fellowship, in recognition of his contributions to Hong Kong and academia.