On January 30th, the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency on the spread of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) that originated in Wuhan, China. Healthcare experts have warned that Covid-19 could rapidly spread if not properly contained and many governments around the world have begun to take precautionary measures to ensure public health safety. Amid the international concern and heightened fears about the disease, what is fact and what is fiction? Asia Society Hong Kong Center brings you regular updates on the coronavirus story in Hong Kong that has reverberations elsewhere in the world. We are pleased to present on-the-ground public health experts and internationally renowned specialists with the latest facts and evidence-based findings regarding this serious epidemic outbreak. We hope that through this series, greater public awareness will forge a clearer pathway ahead.

Hear it live on Facebook from Professor Benjamin Cowling, Head of the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Hong Kong's School of Public Health! S. Alice Mong, Executive Director of Asia Society Hong Kong Center will moderate the discussion.

Got Questions? Submit any questions in advance or during the program.

Professor Benjamin Cowling is the current Head of the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Hong Kong's School of Public Health (HKU SPH), since 2013. He joined HKU SPH in 2004. Prior to moving to Hong Kong, Professor Cowling graduated with a PhD in medical statistics at the University of Warwick in 2003, and spent a year as a postdoc at Imperial College London. He is responsible for teaching the introductory module in epidemiology on the MPH curriculum, and is the chairman of the Departmental Research Postgraduate Committee. Professor Cowling is also co-director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control at HKU SPH.

Professor Cowling’s primary research focus is in infectious disease epidemiology. In recent years, he has designed and implemented large field studies of influenza transmission in the community and the effectiveness and impact of control measures, including large vaccine trials. Professor Cowling's research aims to integrate information on transmission dynamics at the individual level with disease burden, severity and dynamics at the population level. His latest research has focused on the modes of respiratory virus transmission, influenza vaccination effectiveness, and the link between individual immunity and population immunity to infections. He has strong links with China CDC, and the NIGMS-funded Harvard Center for Communicable Disease Dynamics.

Professor Cowling is a fellow of the Royal Statistical Society and a Fellow of the UK Faculty of Public Health. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses, an Associate Editor of Emerging Infectious Diseases, a Section Editor of PLOS ONE, and a founding editor of PLOS Currents: Outbreaks.

He has 375 publications listed in Scopus, including 45 articles with 45+ citations (H-index of 45). Professor Cowling has received numerous awards including a Croucher Senior Research Fellowship (2015), HKU Outstanding Researcher Award (2017), HKU Outstanding Young Researcher Award (2011), and American Journal of Epidemiology (AJE) Article of the Year 2014.