The Fortieth Dean of Medicine (2013-), inaugural Helen and Francis Zimmern Professor in Population Health and Chair of Public Health Medicine at the University of Hong Kong (HKU)
Gabriel Leung is the fortieth Dean of Medicine (2013-), inaugural Helen and Francis Zimmern Professor in Population Health and holds the Chair of Public Health Medicine at the University of Hong Kong (HKU). He was the last Head of Community Medicine (2012-3) at the University as well as Hong Kong's first Under Secretary for Food and Health (2008-11) and fifth Director of the Chief Executive's Office (2011-2) in government.
He is an elected member of the US National Academy of Medicine and was awarded the Gold Bauhinia Star (second highest civilian honour) by the Hong Kong government for distinguished service in protecting and promoting population health.
A specialist in public health medicine, Leung's interdisciplinary work revolves around topics that have major population health impact locally, where Hong Kong is a reliable and unique epidemiologic sentinel for mainland China, or where the SAR is best placed to address the fundamental science at hand globally.
Leung is one of Asia's leading epidemiologists and global health exponents, having authored more than 450 scholarly papers with an h-index of 60 (Scopus). His research defined the epidemiology of two novel viral epidemics, namely SARS-CoV in 2003 and influenza A(H7N9) in 2013. He also led Hong Kong government's efforts against pandemic A(H1N1) in 2009. He was founding co-director of HKU's World Health Organization (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control (2014-8).
Leung regularly advises national and international agencies including the World Health Organisation, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Institut Pasteur, Japan Center for International Exchange and China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He is an Adjunct Professor of Peking Union Medical College and Adjunct Professorial Researcher of the China National Health Development Research Center.
He edited the Journal of Public Health (2007-14) and was co-editor/associate editor for Epidemics and Health Policy. He currently serves on the editorial boards of six journals, including the British Medical Journal.