e-Bulletin August 2025

Congratulating Professor Malik Peiris on Being Conferred as Emeritus Professor and Honorary Clinical Professor
A Tribute to Pioneering Work and Enduring Academic Legacy

We are delighted to announce that Professor Malik Peiris, one of our most distinguished and longest-serving scholars at the School of Public Health, has been conferred the titles of Emeritus Professor and Honorary Clinical Professor by HKU, effective from July 2025. This lifetime honour recognises his thirty years of outstanding contributions to the University, to science, and to global public health through his distinguished service.

Professor Peiris created an extraordinary academic legacy. He has published over 900 papers that have been cited more than 97,000 times, with an astronomical h-index of 144. His publications in Nature, Nature Medicine, and The Lancet, among others, present stunning breakthroughs in the biology of viruses.

Professor Peiris has demonstrated distinguished leadership in the global scientific community. He has served as Vice-Chair of the WHO Strategic and Technical Advisory Group on Infectious Disease Hazards (STAG-IH) and as a member of its Technical Advisory Group on Virus Evolution (TAG-VE). His involvement in the Lancet–PPATS Commission on Prevention of Viral Spill-over reflects his dedication to pandemic prevention. He has received numerous accolades, including Fellowship of the Royal Society of London, Foreign Membership of the US National Academy of Sciences, and the Future Science Prize.

At HKU, Professor Peiris served as Director of the HKU-Pasteur Research Pole (2007–2020) and as Director of the School of Public Health (2014–2017). As founding Co-Director of the Centre for Immunology and Infection (C2i), he has played a pivotal role in establishing HKU as a hub for cutting-edge research. Upon his retirement, he will continue to engage with both C2i and the Hong Kong Jockey Club Global Health Institute (HKJCGHI), passing on his research expertise and nurturing the next generation of scientists.

The School extends our heartfelt congratulations to Professor Malik Peiris on this well-deserved honour, and wishing him the best to his retirement.