BBS(HKU), FRCSEd, FCSHK, FHKAM(Surgery)

Manson is a medical doctor, entrepreneur and philanthropist. As Chairman, he is responsible for the strategic direction and general management of the Group.

Manson is the Chairman of Virtus Medical Group, one of the largest private surgical practices in Hong Kong. He also serves as Dean at the Faculty of Medicine and President of University Hospital, both at the Macau University of Science and Technology (MUST). His other positions include President of the Macau Healthcare Management and Promotion Association (MHMPA); Censor-in-Chief of the World Chinese Doctors’ Association; Honorary Fellow, Chinese College of Surgeons; and Committee member, The Council of Medical Affairs in Macau SAR.

Manson is the recipient of the 2014 Gusi Peace Prize in Humanitarianism, which was awarded for his contributions to medical education, healthcare delivery and cross-border biotechnology developments. Since 2015, he was appointed CEO of the same Peace Prize Foundation to continue promoting peace, cooperation and healthcare development in the Asia-Pacific regions.

Manson received his medical degree (MBBS) from the University of Hong Kong in 1982, where he was appointed faculty in the Surgical Unit upon graduation. He has published many original research papers in high-ranking international medical journals and chapters in various academic books focusing on minimally invasive treatment for esophageal surgery.

BSc (Hons) (HKU), MPhil (HKUST), PhD (Peking)

Terence has dedicated over 20 years in technology ventures in the development and commercialization of innovative biotechnological products in the area of genetic testing and molecular diagnostics. He started his career in a renowned Swiss-based multinational company, and was then involved in setting up biotechnology companies offering innovative products and services for clinical, food and veterinary applications in relevant industries. He directed the first laboratory in Asia to obtain ISO 17025 accreditation for quantitative genetically modified organism (GMO) analysis in the early 2000s and has developed over a hundred products that are available globally. He also led the development of molecular avian influenza virus (AIV) detection products (including subtype H5) which were the first molecular AIV test kits that received official government regulatory approval (Japan).

Before joining Avalon, Terence was the Interim Associate Vice President (Innovation and Technology Development) and the Director of Innovation and Technology Development of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU). He oversaw innovation and technology related strategic initiatives and at the same time, he supervised research projects and led the development of the novel in-vitro diagnostic technology in collaboration with Avalon. He is currently also an Adjunct Professor at PolyU and the Hong Kong Baptist University.

Terence actively contributes his knowledge and experience to various industry organizations and government departments. He is currently members of the Advisory Council for Food and Environmental Hygiene, Expert Committee on Antimicrobial Resistance and the Enterprise Support Scheme and was a member of the Small and Medium Enterprise Committee, the Working Group of IP Trade, the Small Enterprise Research Assistant Programme, the GMO (Control of Release) Expert Group of the HKSAR Government and many others. He was also Senior Advisor to the United Nations Office for Project Services. He is currently a committee member of the National Committee on Biometrology of China.

Terence has co-authored a number of peer-reviewed scientific articles and book chapters. He is the co-inventor of a number of patents and has also co-developed five Chinese National Standards. Terence received his research training at Indiana University (Bloomington) and Stanford University School of Medicine. He is the recipient of the Beijing Municipal Technology Award, Chinese Medical and Technological Award and International Leadership Award from the International Association for Food Protection. Dr Lau received his B.Sc.(Hons) in Animal and Plant Biotechnology from The University of Hong Kong, M.Phil. in Biology from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and a Ph.D. in Physiology from Peking University.

BEng, PhD (Newcastle, UK), MSc (HKUST), MIET

Dr. Tsang is Director of Engineering at Emerging Viral Diagnostics. He is an expertized project executive and engineer with extensive experience and knowledge in science, engineering and product commercialization.

As a scientific researcher, he has collaborated with international institutes on engineering projects in the fields of semiconductors, microfluidics, biochemistry and medical devices. He served as an engineer in Siemens Diagnostics (HK), providing front-line professional engineering services to hospitals, clinical laboratory, and healthcare centers both in governments and private sectors. He also has leadership experience in project management, particularly at the initiative phase of the R&D for DNA chips, molecular rapid diagnostic device and orthopaedic scanning. He has successfully lifted projects to the next phases and transformed research concepts into commercial products.

Dr. Tsang earned a B.Eng. followed by a Ph.D. in electrical and electronic engineering from Newcastle University, the latter with full scholarship by EPSRC. He also holds an MSc in biotechnology from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. His research and articles have been published by prestigious journals in IEEE. He is also a member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

BEng (CUHK), MPhil(CUHK), MIET

As Director of Engineering, Sunny leads the development of a new rapid diagnostic system at Emerging Viral Diagnostics (HK), a unit of Avalon.

Over his career, Sunny has amassed extensive experience in project management and new product development in biomedicine. He was involved in the development of various medical devices in institutes and private companies, including the medical school at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Applied Science and Technology Research Institute (ASTRI). He also has experience in the development of molecular diagnostics devices with various Hong Kong-based companies.

Sunny holds a BSc and a master’s degree in Electronic Engineering from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Dr. Qui-Lim Choo has led research at Nansha Biologics (Hong Kong) since 2013. The team’s goal is to achieve investigational new drug (IND) status for various therapeutic proteins and vaccines for their subsequent clinical trials in human, with a view of moving them from the lab bench to patient bedside.

A renowned virologist, Dr. Choo was an integral part of the research team that successfully identified the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the 1980s. The research’s findings, which led to ways to screen blood for the virus and drugs that cure many patients with the infection, brought the 2020 Nobel Prize in Medicine thirty years later.  While Dr. Choo was not among the recipients, his contribution to the discovery has been widely acknowledged, including recognition from the Li Ka Shing Foundation, among others.

Prior to joining Nashan, Dr Choo was Associated Director of Virology Research at Chiron Corporation, where he focused on diagnostics and vaccine development for viral diseases.

Dr. Choo obtained his BSc (Hon) in Biochemistry from Queen Elizabeth College London and his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from King’s College London. With a post-doctoral fellowship from the Muscular Dystrophy Association of America, he spent two years at the University of California, San Francisco before joining Chiron in 1982.

In the fields of hepatitis C and D, he has published many articles and has held numerous patents.

Professor Kwok-Yung YUEN, who graduated from the University of Hong Kong in 1981 and heads the Department of Microbiology, has the rare distinction of being a microbiologist, surgeon and physician. His success in these three areas is exemplified by his numerous Fellowships at distinguished institutions, including the Hong Kong Colleges of Pathologists, Surgeons and Physicians, the American College of Physicians, the Royal College of Pathologists of the UK, the Royal College of Surgery of Glasgow and the Royal Colleges of Physicians in Edinburgh, Ireland and London, and also the Academician, Chinese Academy of Engineering (Medicine and Health).

In 2000, he was appointed the Scientific Co-director of the HKU-Pasteur Research Centre to set up a joint research venture between the Institute Pasteur and The University of Hong Kong because of his expertise in the area of emerging infectious diseases. His research strategy starts at the bedside by targeting patients with an obscure disease syndrome. He then moves to the laboratory to identify the novel microbe in clinical specimens. The animal source of the new microbe is then identified in the field. With these research data, he can help the government to contain outbreaks by controlling the epidemic centre. His leadership and experience have enabled him to rapidly mobilize and coordinate the joint effort of clinicians, microbiologists and epidemiologists in trying situations.

Widely known among specialists in infectious diseases, Professor Yuen made his mark in 2003 when the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, gripped the globe. He played a key role in the discovery of the agent causing SARS, the SARS coronavirus, thus leading to measures that were crucial to containing the outbreak of this disease. He has also led his team in the discovery of other disease agents, including the novel Human Coronavirus HKU1, the bat SARS coronavirus, bat coronavirus HKU2 to 13, Laribacter hongkongensis and many other bacteria named after Hong Kong or China. He published the first clinical and laboratory diagnostic paper on Influenza A H5N1 in the Lancet which has been cited over 400 times since 1998 and in a review paper on this subject in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2005. The University of Hong Kong appointed to him the Henry Fok Professorship of Infectious Diseases in 2005. The Ministry of Science and Technology of China has given the honour of the State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases – the first State Key Laboratory outside the Mainland, to HKU in recognition of its exemplary contributions this area and Professor Yuen has been the first Director of this laboratory. The HKSAR government has also honoured his contributions with the award of a Silver Bauhinia Star.

He is one of the top 1% researchers in the world, as ranked by the Essential Science Indicator (ISI web), and has published more than 800 papers in peer reviewed journals including the Lancet, New England Journal of Medicine, Science, Journal of Virology and PNAS, with over 25,000 citations. His field of interest is novel microbes in emerging infectious diseases.

https://www.avalonbiomedical.com/