Congratulations to Prof. Leo Poon Lit-man (1994 graduate) is awarded 8th Distinguished Alumni Award
Professor Leo Poon Lit-man
Professor Leo Poon graduated from the Department of Biology at HKBU in 1994, and he subsequently obtained a master’s degree from The Chinese University of Hong Kong. He received his doctoral education in the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. He currently serves as a Professor in the University of Hong Kong’s School of Public Health, and he is Division Head of the Division of Public Health Laboratory Sciences. He is also a Co-Director of the HKU-Pasteur Research Pole of the University.
Professor Poon is dedicated to studying emerging viruses and related topics, focusing primarily on influenza viruses and coronaviruses. Over the years, he has published more than 270 peer-reviewed articles and has been named as a top 1% most-cited scientist. Having made a significant impact in the field, he has repeatedly been named a Highly Cited Researcher since 2015. In recognition of his outstanding achievements, he was awarded a Senior Research Fellowship by the Croucher Foundation in 2017 and a Distinguished Science Alumni Award for Lifetime Achievement by the Faculty of Science at HKBU in 2022.
In 2003, Professor Poon was involved in the discovery of a novel coronavirus that caused Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), an epidemic that hit Hong Kong hard. He helped decode the genetic sequence of the SARS coronavirus for the first time in the world. During the recent COVID-19 pandemic, his research led to several key discoveries about SARS-CoV-2. His findings assisted the development of evidence-based measures to control the pandemic. An Outstanding Project Team on COVID-19 Research Award was presented to him and his team by the Food and Health Bureau of the HKSAR Government in 2021 in recognition of their tremendous contributions to combating COVID-19.
Source: https://www.hkbu.edu.hk/en/whats-new/press-release/2022/hkbu-to-present-distinguished-alumni-award-to-chan-wing-kwong--c.html
