← All people
Medicine

Yuen Kwok-yung

Microbiologist who helped identify the SARS coronavirus

Born 1956

Yuen Kwok-yung led the HKU team that identified the coronavirus causing SARS in 2003, and his group has since discovered dozens of new microbes. He was among the first to warn publicly about human transmission at the start of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Key achievements

  • Led the team that identified the SARS coronavirus, 2003
  • Traced SARS-like coronaviruses to horseshoe bats
  • Published on more than sixty new microbial species

Universities

  • University of Hong KongProfessor1976–1981

    Hong Kong Island, Pok Fu Lam

    Chair professor of infectious diseases, and head of the team that identified the SARS coronavirus in 2003.

Facts

  • His laboratory traced SARS to horseshoe bats, establishing them as a reservoir of coronaviruses.
  • He trained as both a surgeon and a microbiologist before specialising in infectious disease.
  • He has published on more than sixty newly discovered microbial species.

Links and profiles