As part of efforts to establish a collaboration with the Shenzhen International Graduate School of Tsinghua University and the NYU Shangai, a meeting was organized at the School of Biological Sciences, with the following participants: Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University Prof. Yuxing (Erica) Han Mingrui Cai Haoyu Wang New York University Shanghai Prof. Wen The University of Hong Kong Prof. Benoit Guénard, Faculty of Science Prof. Eric Deharo, HKU–Pasteu

We are delighted to congratulate Kimberly Edwards, Project Manager in Vijay Dhanasekaran's laboratory, on receiving the Best Poster Presentation Award at the 9th World One Health Congress in Lisbon, Portugal. The congress brought together more than 1,300 experts from 107 countries and featured nearly 600 scientific posters, highlighting the latest advances in One Health research. Kimberly received the award for her investigation into the resurgence of zoonotic avian influenz

We are delighted to welcome three new members to Sook-San Wong's laboratory at the HKU-Pasteur Research Pole. Coming from diverse academic and cultural backgrounds, they bring expertise in immunology, infectious diseases, virology, and biomedical research. We are pleased to introduce them and learn more about their scientific journeys, research interests, and aspirations. Zhongyi Dong Zhongyi obtained a Master of Surgery degree in 2024 before pursuing research training in i

Join us on Thursday, 8 October, for a lecture by Dr Anne Hahn, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, University of Melbourne. Dr Anne M Hahn Research Officer, Valkenburg Laboratory, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, University of Melbourne Date: Thursday, 8 October Time: 12:00-13:30 Location: SR1A G/F Jockey Club Building for IR, 5 Sassoon Road Registration: https://hkuems1.hku.hk/hkuems/ec_hdetail.asp

We are pleased to share that Dr You Che, Research Assistant Professor at the HKU-Pasteur Research Pole, has been appointed as an Associate Editor of Biocontaminant, a newly launched international, multidisciplinary open-access journal. Biocontaminant focuses on biological contaminants and their impacts on human health, ecosystems, and planetary health. The journal covers a broad range of topics, including microbial contaminants and antimicrobial resistance, environmental tran

New publication in npj Vaccines from HKU-PRP's Co-Director Professor Leo Poon's team describing an innovative approach to developing a live attenuated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate. The study demonstrates a novel approach to engineering a highly attenuated yet fully immunogenic SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate, showing: Near-sterile immunity in mice under stringent challenge conditions Broad protection against antigenically distinct variants and even SARS-CoV Complete block of onw

Join HKU-Pasteur's Co-Director Professor Leo Poon for this Pasteur Course that will be held in Paris in January 2027. SARS, pandemic flu A(H1N1), MERS, Ebola, Zika, pulmonary plague, COVID-19, mpox, ... during the last 25 years, we have witnessed an acceleration in the emergence of infectious diseases and pandemics. This course is designed for students willing to understand the origin of pandemics, factors associated with their spread, and innovative ways to control them. Obj

On July 4, Dr. Wuji Zhang met with Prof. Xiaoxiao Jia, Assistant Professor at the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) in Beijing, China, to exchange insights on immune responses to respiratory viruses and explore potential collaborative opportunities between HKU-PRP and the National Institute of Pathogen Biology, CAMS & PUMC. During the visit, Wuji Zhang also attended the 3rd Frontier Forum on Basic Research for Novel Vaccines, hosted by the National Institute of Patho

On July 21–22 the first preparatory meeting for the project “A One Health Strategy to Restore Child Health in Laos: Nutritional Interventions and Microbiome–Immune Interplay” took place in Vientiane, Laos. Participants were welcomed by Philippe Buchy at the Institut Pasteur du Laos (IPL), Phimpha Paboriboune at CILM, Sysay Palamy (Vice‑Dean) at the Faculty of Pharmacy, and Philippe Schmidt at the MSL facilities. After presenting their respective activities, attendees reviewed

As part of our collaboration with Professor Yuxing Han’s group at Tsinghua University Shenzhen International Graduate School, three students (Mingrui, Haoyu and Chloe) visited the HKU-PRP laboratory. We exchanged ideas on methods for extracting and analyzing data from scientific publications, laying the groundwork for promising future projects between HKU-PRP and Tsinghua SIGS.

During his studies in the HKU-KCL Joint PhD program, Hogan conducted multidisciplinary and cross-cultural research at the HKU-Pasteur Research Pole (HKU-PRP) and the King’s College London Centre for Host-Microbiome Interactions (KCL CHMI). His PhD was focused on deciphering the role of different Staphylococcus strains in atopic dermatitis (AD): "It is well-known that the skin microbiome of AD patients is different from that of healthy individuals. There is a difference in the

In July we held several meetings — both virtual and in person — to launch new collaborations. We welcomed the IRD representative in Bolivia and met with Laurent Chatel-Chaix (Centre Armand Frappier Santé Biotechnologie, Canada), who recently joined the Pasteur Network, to discuss using the zebrafish model to address exposomics questions. We also connected with Nadia Riera and Matías Giménez, at Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Uruguay, to explore soil microbiota research. In S

Our recent paper in Nature Health has gained significant visibility, with an Altmetric score now exceeding 590. It has also attracted considerable attention in the mainstream media, not all of which has accurately reflected the nuances of the spatial exposomic approach. In this context, we published a correspondence to clarify certain points and ensure the work was interpreted as intended, while situating it within the emerging exposomic framework: Bertani, S., Pineau, P., De

On July 1, a video-meeting was held to discuss a project in Laos to combat child malnutrition in the frame of the One Health concept. Participants Philippe Schmidt (CEO, MSL), Jacques Berger (Nutritionist, IRD), Eric Deharo (HKU-PRP), and Adrien Bouguen (Assistant Professor, Santa Clara University; affiliated with J-PAL founded by Nobel laureate Esther Duflo) shared their respective expertise. The meeting confirmed strong mutual interest in collaborating to develop impactful

HKU-Pasteur's Wuji Zhang was awarded a new grant from the Guangdong Natural Science Fund General Programme. The grant was awarded for a promising project that will look at B cell activation by influenza-specific T follicular helper cells, and will be conducted in collaboration with Dr. Ming Yue from the team of Professor Zhiwei Chen at the AIDS Institute.

🇫🇷🇭🇰 Yesterday morning in Paris, representatives of the HKU-Pasteur Research Pole took part in a high-level meeting at the Institut Pasteur to further strengthen the long-standing partnership between Institut Pasteur and The University of Hong Kong. The HKU delegation was led by Prof. Xiaobo Yin, Associate Vice-President of HKU, accompanied by Ms Winnie Lai, Director of the Academic Liaison Office at HKU, and Dr. Eric Deharo, Co-director of the HKU-Pasteur Research Pole.

Congratulations to HKU-Pasteur's You Che on the publication of a new review article in Cell Host & Microbe, in collaboration with Dr. Heidi Kong from NIAMS, NIH. This important study highlights the skin virome as a key component of the skin ecosystem, with significant roles in microbial ecology, immune homeostasis, and skin health. It explores how the virome evolves across the human lifespan, its involvement in various skin disorders, and emerging therapeutic opportunities. T

Led by the Centre for Immunology & Infection with Professor Malik Peiris, Professor Roberto Bruzzone, and in collaboration with the Institut Pasteur, researchers from Milieu Intérieur (Institut Pasteur), the Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine and the School of Public Health at HKU, this study has identified a key innate immune pathway that predicts individual responses to mRNA vaccines. In a study published in Science Advances, the research team demonstrates th

Professor Chitin Hon, accompanied by Ms. Jingjing Tian and Mr. Kerui Cen, visited the HKU-Pasteur Research Pole to plan the seminar “New Public Health Challenges: The Role of Infectious Disease, AI, and Exposomics” scheduled to take place at the Macau University of Science and Technology on September 22, 2026. During the visit, a Memorandum of Understanding was drafted, and potential collaborative research projects were explored with You Che, Wuji Zhang, and Sook-San Wong. Ni

MEDIA RELEASE HKU-Pasteur Research Pole, Hong Kong, April 2026 Hong Kong, 27/04/26 A new study in Nature Health (published on 01 April 2026) links environmental exposure to agricultural pesticides with increased cancer risk. Combining environmental modeling, a nationwide cancer registry and molecular analyses, researchers from theIRD (National Research Institute for Sustainable Development, France), the Pasteur Network (HKU-Pasteur Research Pole and the Institut Pasteur in Pa