HKU Bulletin October 2015 (Vol. 17 No.1)

Great Minds at HKU’s Entrepreneurship Series Vision and Passion Shared by DreamCatchers Back row from left: Mr Edward Chan King-sang, Dr Aron Harilela, Dr Donald Li Kwok-tung, Ms Pansy Ho Chiu-king, Dr Jimmy Tang Kui-ming, Mr Tse Sik-yan. Front row from left: President Peter Mathieson, Pro-Chancellor Dr David Li Kwok-po, Council Chairman Dr Leong Che-hung. A Ceremony of Gratitude HKU Presents Honorary University Fellowships to Six Distinguished Individuals Six distinguished individuals were presented with Honorary University Fellowships at a ceremony held in the Rayson Huang Theatre on September 15, in recognition of their contributions to the University and the community. HKU’s Pro-Chancellor, Dr the Honourable Sir David Li Kwok-po, presided at the Ceremony, which was attended by 300 guests who came to congratulate the recipients. The six recipients were respected barrister Mr Edward Chan King-sang, SC, prominent hotelier Dr Aron Harilela, celebrated business leader Ms Pansy Ho Chiu-king, acclaimed specialist in Family Medicine in private practice Dr Donald Li Kwok-tung, successful entrepreneur Dr Jimmy Tang Kui-ming and eminent Hong Kong educator Mr Tse Sik-yan. President Peter Mathieson said in his welcome address: “It is great to see this lecture theatre so full. I think that pays tribute to the importance of the occasion and also to the significance of individuals that we are here to honour. It’s a very auspicious day in the University Calendar. This is the day on which we say thank you to some of our most loyal and faithful and affective supporters. The other reason that we treasure the Honorary University Fellowships is it’s a good example of the interaction between the University and the city and the community – the town and gown. It’s a great opportunity for the University of Hong Kong to recognise some of the citizens of this city which have become associated to the University in various ways.” Established in 1995, the Honorary University Fellowships were created to recognise and honour those who are held in the highest regard by the University and to establish closer relationships with the community. For more about Honorary University Fellowships, please go to http://www4.hku.hk/honfellows Ties between Academia and the Community TwoWorld Health Organization Units Established at HKU To mark the collaboration between HKU and the World Health Organization (WHO), two plaque unveiling ceremonies were held at HKU on August 13, 2015 – one ceremony for the WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control and the other for a WHO H5 Reference Laboratory officiated by Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization. HKU’s School of Public Health has been designated as a WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control for four years with effect from December 10, 2014. A WHO Collaborating Centre (WHO CC) is an institution designated by the Director- General of WHO to form part of an HKU has recently launched an initiative named ‘DreamCatchers’ to inspire and nurture innovation and entrepreneurship. A forum was held in the Grand Hall on May 31, which brought together students, alumni and people from across sectors and generations to take part in an array of entrepreneurship forums, training and events. The forum was a great success, with over 1,200 delegates participating and 67 speakers sharing their precious experience on start-ups. President Peter Mathieson kicked off the forum by welcoming the participants, reminding them: “Entrepreneurship means having the vision, the strength of purpose, and the courage to take your dreams and see them through to the reality. It is okay to dream. We want you to dream. It is also okay to fail, as long as from failure, you learn lessons and you come back stronger, so you are less likely to fail next time. So the aim of today is to encourage you to follow your dreams, to see your dreams through to success, to learn from others around you.” This was followed by the plenary session ‘If I were 28…’ with panel speakers including Mr Leong Cheung, Executive Director, Charities and Community, The Hong Kong Jockey Club; Mr Jason Chiu, CEO, The Cherrypicks; and Mr Antony Leung, CEO, Nan Fung Group. Mr Pony Ma, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Tencent also delivered the keynote covering the internet versus traditional industries, Chinese companies versus international companies. The forum was ended with a session called ‘What Next?’, providing the audience with resources available in town to get business started. The then Vice-President (Research) Professor Paul Tam also revealed some of HKU’s upcoming plans: “We will be launching our Innovation Commons. We need you to keep up the entrepreneurial culture and spirit.” For more about DreamCatchers, please go to http://www.alumni.hku.hk/dreamcatchers From left: Professor Malik Peiris, Dr Leung Siu-fai, Dr Margaret Chan, Dr Constance Chan, Professor Guan Yi and Professor Gabriel Leung. Panel speakers of the opening plenary: (from left) Mr Antony Leung, Mr Leong Cheung, Mr Jason Chiu and moderator Professor Bernadette Tsui. Gift presented by President Peter Mathieson at the luncheon hosted in honour of Dr Margaret Chan on August 13, 2015. international collaborative network set up by WHO in support of its programme at the country, intercountry, regional, interregional and global levels. There are a total of 59 and six WHO CCs in Mainland China and Hong Kong respectively. Dean of Medicine Professor Gabriel Leung said: “After the SARS epidemic in 2003, the Government has provided strong support for the development of infectious disease epidemiology research at the University and this signal award of Collaborating Centre status by the WHO is the culmination of this important partnership between HKU and the Food and Health Bureau for the protection of the public’s health in Hong Kong and across the region.” The Centre of Influenza Research under the School of Public Health is one of 13 laboratories worldwide designated as a WHO H5 Reference Laboratory. The HKU H5 Reference Laboratory takes part in the biannual WHO influenza vaccine strain selection meetings. “With our established strengths in the surveillance and characterisation of animal influenza viruses with potential to cause human infections, our School is keen to continue assisting the WHO in addressing zoonotic and pandemic public health threats and in promoting the One Health framework to population health,” said Professor Malik Peiris, Co-Director of the WHO H5 Reference Laboratory at HKU, Tam Wah-Ching Professor in Medical Science, and Director of the School of Public Health. 03 The University of Hong Kong Bulletin | October 2015 02 | News in Brief