Symposium 2026

The Carol Yu Symposium on Infectious Diseases & WEHI-China Health Research Network Joint Meeting

November 12-13, 2026

 

Venue: Boardroom, 1/F, Daniel & Mayce Yu Administration Wing

Faculty of Medicine Building, 21 Sassoon Road

 

November 12, 2026 (Thursday)

 

Time

Activity

Speaker

08:30-09:00

Reception

09:00-09:10

Dean’s introduction

Prof Chak-Sing Lau, HKU

Session 1

09:10-09:50 (40 mins)

Carol Yu Lecture: Human immune dysregulation, infection risk and genetics: are there answers in the gaps? (30 mins) + Discussion (10 mins)

Prof Ken Smith, WEHI

09:50-09:55

Presentation of plaque to Prof Ken Smith by Prof Richard Yu + Photo Taking

09:55-10:35 (40 mins)

Keynote 1: Sustained cART-free HIV-1 control by immunotherapy: a tale from mouse/monkey to human (30 mins) + Discussion (10 mins)

Prof Zhiwei Chen, HKU

10:35-10:50

Break

Session 2

10:50-11:10 (20 mins)

Talk 1: RNA scaffold of an inhalable protein vaccine functions as a novel mucosal vaccine adjuvant (15 mins) + Discussion (5 mins)

Prof Raven Kok, HKU

11:10-11:30 (20 mins)

Talk 2: Nerve-Epithelium-CD8+ TRM Crosstalk Governs Barrier Immunity (15 mins) + Discussion (5 mins)

Dr Ting Zhou, WU

11:30-11:50 (20 mins)

Talk 3: Germinal centers can persist for up to one year in the absence of new antigen and exhibit declining somatic hypermutation rates over time (15 mins) + Discussion (5 mins)

Dr Harry Sutton, La Jolla Institute for Immunology

11:50-12:10 (20 mins)

Talk 4: Viral Shedding as a Surrogate for Respiratory Pathogen Transmission Risk (15 mins) + Discussion (5 mins)

Dr Kaiyuan Sun, WU

12:10-12:30 (20 mins)

Talk 5: Targeting PTRAMP-CSS potently inhibits P. falciparum across blood, liver and mosquito stages (15 mins) + Discussion (5 mins)

Dr Stephen Scally, WEHI

12:30-14:00

Lunch

Session 3

14:00-14:20 (20 mins)

Talk 6: The Treatment Landscape of Hepatitis B (15 mins) + Discussion (5 mins)

Prof Man-Fung Yuen, HKU

14:20-14:40 (20 mins)

Talk 7: Human infections with a novel orthohantavirus in China (15 mins) + Discussion (5 mins)

Prof Jasper Chan, HKU

14:40-15:00 (20 mins)

Talk 8: Harnessing Immune Reponses to Develop Novel Tools for Malaria Elimination (15 mins) + Discussion (5 mins)

Dr Rhea Longley, WEHI

15:00-15:20 (20 mins)

Talk 9: Title TBC (15 mins) + Discussion (5 mins)

Prof Xiao-Nong Zhou or Dr Jinjun Ran, SJTU

15:20-15:35

Break

Session 4

15:35-16:15 (40 mins)

Keynote 2: Illuminating the Unknown: Clinical Metagenomics for Precision Infectious Disease Diagnosis and Pathogen Discovery (30 mins) + Discussion (10 mins)

Prof Charles Chiu, UCSF

16:15-16:35 (20 mins)

Talk 10: From molecules to surveillance: controlling infectious disease (15 mins) + Discussion (5 mins)

Prof Aaron Jex, WEHI

16:35-16:40 (5 mins)

Flash Talk 1 (5 mins) without discussion

HK

16:40-16:45 (5 mins)

Flash Talk 2 (5 mins) without discussion

HK

16:45-16:50 (5 mins)

Flash Talk 3 (5 mins) without discussion

HK

16:50-16:55 (5 mins)

Flash Talk 4 (5 mins) without discussion

HK

16:55-17:00 (5 mins)

Flash Talk 5 (5 mins) without discussion

Hanqing Zhao, WEHI – SJTU

17:00-17:05 (5 mins)

Flash Talk 6 (5 mins) without discussion

HK

17:05-17:10 (5 mins)

Flash Talk 7 (5 mins) without discussion

HK

17:10-17:15 (5 mins)

Flash Talk 8 (5 mins) without discussion

HK

17:15-17:20 (5 mins)

Flash Talk 9 (5 mins) without discussion

HK

18:00-20:00

Dinner (Casual)

 

November 13, 2026 (Friday)

 

Time

Activity

Speaker

08:30-09:00

Reception

Session 5

09:00-09:40 (40 mins)

Keynote 3: Expanding the Chemical Tractability of Human Proteome (30 mins) + Discussion (10 mins)

Prof Christopher Parker, The Scripps Research Institute

09:40-10:00 (20 mins)

Talk 11: Mouse models for therapeutic discovery at the host pathogen interface (15 mins) + Discussion (5 mins)

Dr Marcel Doerflinger, WEHI

10:00-10:20 (20 mins)

Talk 12: Update on antiviral and immunomodulatory treatments for respiratory viral infections (15 mins) + Discussion (5 mins)

Prof Ivan Hung, HKU

10:20-10:40 (20 mins)

Talk 13: Latent DNA damage caused by RNA polymerase stalling underlies the bactericidal potential of ribosomal antibiotics (15 mins) + Discussion (5 mins)

Prof Jintao Liu, THU

10:40-11:00 (20 mins)

Talk 14: A new platform to undertake experimental medicine (15 mins) + Discussion (5 mins)

Prof James McCarthy, WEHI

11:00-11:15

Break

Session 6

11:15-11:35 (20 mins)

Talk 15: Molecular interactions between bacterial capsules and host receptors (15 mins) + Discussion (5 mins)

Prof Jing-Ren Zhang, THU

11:35-11:55 (20 mins)

Talk 16: Unraveling the Immune Signatures of Liver Fluke Infection: The Pivotal Role of CD8+ Tissue-Resident Memory T Cells in Clonorchiasis Pathogenesis (15 mins) + Discussion (5 mins)

Prof Zhaojun Wang, SJTU

11:55-12:15 (20 mins)

Talk 17: Rat Hepatitis E: what next? (15 mins) + Discussion (5 mins)

Prof Siddharth Sridhar, HKU

12:15-12:35 (20 mins)

Talk 18: Identification of Ultrapotent Neutralizing Epitopes for Vector-Borne Bunyaviruses (15 mins) + Discussion (5 mins)

Dr Dapeng Li, WU

12:35-14:00

Lunch

Session 7

14:00-14:20 (20 mins)

Talk 19: Antivirulence Therapy: A Way Forward Against Antimicrobial Resistance? Disarming Staphylococcus aureus—from Invasive Infection to Atopic Dermatitis (15 mins) + Discussion (5 mins)

Prof Richard Kao, HKU

14:20-14:40 (20 mins)

Talk 20: The Integrated and Intelligence Biosecurity Early-Warning Platforms Based on One Health Concept (15 mins) + Discussion (5 mins)

Prof Kun Yin, SJTU

14:40-15:00 (20 mins)

Talk 21: Redefine The Role of Autophagy In Infectious Disease (15 mins) + Discussion (5 mins)

Prof Yating Wang, THU

15:00-15:30

Panel discussions (30 mins)

Prof Ken Smith, WEHI

Prof Ivan Hung, HKU

Prof Kelvin To, HKU

Prof Ren Sun, WU

Prof Zihe Rao, THU (to be confirmed)

Prof Xiao-Nong Zhou, SJTU

15:30-15:40

Closing remarks (10 mins)

 

 

 

October 26, 2026