The Review 2008

The Review 2008 Fighting Flu on the Frontline A multi-disciplinary investigation into influenza that aims to provide crucial information for dealing with a pandemic is being led by HKU researchers, capitalising on their international excellence in this field. The University’s scientists are at the forefront globally in their research into avian flu and their role in identifying the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus and its sources. They are now leading an eight-year project, ‘Control of Pandemic and Inter-pandemic Influenza’, that is funded through a $76 million Area of Excellence award under the University Grants Council – the largest ever – and $60 million from other sources. Also joining the team are leading scientists from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the Baptist University, as well as several government departments. Their aim is to enhance understanding of influenza and develop new options for diagnosis, vaccines and therapy. Project Director, Professor Malik Peiris, said they had no time to waste. “This is an urgent issue: pandemic influenza is inevitable and wi l l have immense health and socio-economic impacts on today’s globalised and interconnected world. Yet many of the key questions regarding the emergence, transmission and pathogenesis of pandemic and seasonal influenza remain unanswered,” he said. “If we look at the parallel with SARS, that was a virus in animals that kept jumping the species barrier and that was probably going on without being detected for some time until finally it made the switch to transmit efficiently in humans. I think we are in a similar situation with avian flu. But we also have to keep in mind that there are a number of avian viruses out there and H5N1 is not the only pandemic threat.” An impor tant feature of the project is ecological surveillance. The world class Influenza Research Centre will make a biobank of well-characterised avian influenza viruses available to the world community to help promote preparedness for a pandemic. Examples of our investigations into influenza, including that preceding the AoE project, are elaborated below and show the depth and rigour of our research effor ts in this important field. Research • The Review 2008 21 Research has the power to improve people’s lives and open new knowledge horizons. At the University of Hong Kong those horizons are multiplied through an emphasis on multi-discipli- nary research. Scholars from disciplines as diverse as medicine and engineer- ing, law and architecture, education and dentistry, and arts and neuroscience are crossing boundaries to produce new insights into age-old problems. Our research strategy was refined in 2007-08 to focus on five areas of strength that capitalise on our proven academic record and our position as a pre-eminent research institution based in Asia.These areas are frontier technology, the environment, China, biomedicine and community-based research, and they encompass not only each of our 10 faculties, but co-investigators from leading universities in North America, Europe and China, as well as other institutions in Hong Kong. Our reputation and continued research success has been built on a commitment to excellence at both the University level and among individual academics. Our academics consistently produce work of regional and global significance and in 2007-08 they published 5,768 papers in refereed publications. Their contributions have also resulted in numerous international honours and recognition. For example, 96 of our scientists are ranked among the top one per cent in their fields globally by the Institute for Scientific Information. Their success helps us to attract funding and fuel future research endeavours.The University received $138.3 million under the Competitive Earmarked Research Grants in 2007-08, the largest share of the eight tertiary institutions, and $46.8 million from the Innovation and Technology Fund. We are also attracting more private donations (see Connecting with the Wider Community on page 34) and, increasingly, support from overseas funding bodies. In 2007-08 we received a total of $41 million from such organisations as the US National Institutes of Health, the Sino- British Fellowship Trust, theWellcome Trust and theWorld Gold Council. Multi-disciplinary research opens new frontiers for study. Success, though, depends on having the right expertise and funding in place. Our acclaimed academic staff, fruitful fund-raising efforts and world- class standards provide exceptional possibilities for new discoveries on our campus. Previous page – Exploring the power of solar cell technology (see p30 for more) 20