Date: 17 October 2025
Location: Lecture Theatre, Sassoon Road, Hong Kong & Zoom Webinar

The Hong Kong Jockey Club Global Health Institute (HKJCGHI) hosted its inaugural Co-Directors Public Lecture, bringing together global health leaders to share insights on pandemic preparedness, vaccine innovation, and international collaboration.

The event opened with welcoming remarks from Professor C.S. Lau, Dean of Medicine at HKU, who emphasized the importance of public engagement and thanked the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust for its generous support in establishing HKJCGHI.

Featured Talks:

🔬 Professor Leo Poon - Safeguarding Our Community: The GHI Story
Prof. Poon highlighted HKU’s long-standing contributions to emerging infectious disease research, including work on H5N1, SARS, and COVID-19. He introduced GHI’s mission to develop broad-spectrum influenza vaccines and next-generation platforms that are accessible to low- and middle-income countries.

🌐 Professor Florian Marks - From Rapid Evidence to Pandemic Preparedness in Asia and Africa
Prof. Marks shared GHI’s global surveillance and response efforts, including field programs and capacity-building initiatives across Africa and Asia. He discussed the role of the International Vaccine Institute (IVI) in establishing disease surveillance systems, clinical trial sites, and collaborative networks to support vaccine development and public health infrastructure.

🧬 Professor Ravindra Gupta - Viral Immunology at GHI
Prof. Gupta presented Cambridge’s cutting-edge immunology research, including mucosal immunity, spatial transcriptomics, and experimental vaccine platforms. He emphasized the importance of understanding population-level immune responses and leveraging global partnerships to prevent future pandemics.
 

Key Themes:
•    Advancing global health through partnership science and innovation
•    Strengthening pandemic preparedness across continents
•    Promoting equitable access to vaccines and diagnostics
•    Training the next generation of public health leaders

The lecture concluded with a lively Q&A session and the opening ceremony of the new GHI Joint Laboratory, marking a milestone in HKJCGHI’s commitment to collaborative research and capacity building.

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