名譽大學院士

袁國勇教授是卓越的微生物學家和內科醫生，他於香港大學修畢內外全科醫學士與醫學博士學位，現擔任港大微生物學系傳染病學講座教授及霍英東基金教授（傳染病學），自2005年起出任新發傳染性疾病國家重點實驗室之共同主任。

袁教授致力病原研究工作，多年來從病患和動物身上識別出逾百種新病毒、細菌、真菌和寄生蟲，當中數種動物攜帶病毒或其近親可傳播至人類，繼而導致新興傳染病。2003年，袁教授帶領團隊識別出嚴重急性呼吸系統綜合症（沙士）的人類冠狀病毒，其後亦成功於蝙蝠身上發現相關冠狀病毒，證實乃沙士病毒SARS-CoV-1，以至後來新冠疫情致病原SARS-CoV-2的前身。袁教授就冠狀病毒、流感和其他新興病毒感染所發表之論文數量可觀，在學術界中極具影響力，2020至2022連續三年入選科睿唯安「最廣獲徵引研究人員」名單，位列全球首1%研究人員。

在新冠一疫，袁教授乃全球首位證實新型冠狀病毒SARS-CoV-2可人傳人且在家庭群組中具高傳播率，以及患者可受二次感染的專家，其相關發現和專業灼見廣為世界各地政府和衞生政策制定者參考，以應對全球大流行的傳播。

袁教授的臨床微生物學、內科和外科專業廣獲香港和英國多家醫學機構認可並授予院士銜。他亦是中國工程院醫藥衞生學部和美國微生物科學院院士。袁教授因其出色的病原追溯和新興傳染病相關工作獲香港特區政府頒授銀紫荊星章和金紫荊星章，並於2021年榮獲未來科學大獎。

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.