HKUMed MFN v26i1

Guan’s achievements, but his patience cracks when he considers the cost to the world of ignoring scientists’ warnings about a coming pandemic. ‘The lesson we can draw from COVID-19 is, first and foremost, that the human hubris we seemed to have that we could cope with anything, was highly misplaced and overstated,’ he said. ‘The same train wreck is in danger of repeating itself with other threats, like climate change, ecological devastation and loss of biodiversity, which are more slow-burning than COVID but will have greater, more far-reaching consequences. We hope and pray that at least COVID may serve as an impetus to respond more aggressively to these other issues, which science has also clearly highlighted to us.’ Reflecting on their achievements, the two scholars, unsurprisingly, wear different lenses. Professor Guan relishes trailblazing in search of virus samples and the joy of new discoveries. ‘I treat science as an art. I have published a small number of papers, but each one has been pristine, a beautiful piece of work. For each paper, I know the date I submitted it, the date it was accepted and the date it was published,’ he said. ‘I have been so lucky to have all this training at HKU. I grew up at HKU.’ Professor Peiris reflects on not only his research successes but also missed family events, such as Christmas and birthday gatherings, due to the need to respond to new threats. He is matter-of- fact in narrating the story of his and Professor Professor Guan Yi 盘鯩來䱇 ‘If you don’t dream big, how can big things happen?’ չ㥶卓㣆䟝♶㣁㣐䙦腋⨞㣐✲ヤպ 12