Renowned infectious disease expert Zhang Wenhong received an honorary professorship from Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) while delivering a lecture tracing humanity's battle against pathogens across millennia.
During his keynote address, The Evolution of Infectious Diseases and Humanity's Technological Countermeasures, "Human existence occupies merely the last second of Earth's 4.6-billion-year timeline – yet urban aggregation created ideal conditions for pandemics." He chronicled pivotal outbreaks from Hong Kong's 1894 plague to COVID-19, underscoring how pathogen mutations persistently challenge medical preparedness.
Key Insights:
- Future pandemic responses require not only vaccines but also AI-enhanced surveillance and resilient public health systems
- Despite underutilization in recent crises, AI holds transformative potential for outbreak prediction and drug discovery
- "Proactively embracing technology is our only choice," Zhang declared regarding accelerating innovations
Prof. Wing-tak Wong, PolyU Deputy President and Provost, conferred a certificate of appointment as an Honorary Professor in the Department of Health Technology and Informatics on Prof. Zhang Wenhong, Director of the National Medical Centre for Infectious Diseases and Head of the Institute of Infection and Health at Fudan University. The lecture highlighted Hong Kong's frontline role in combating historical pandemics while mapping interdisciplinary strategies against emerging biological threats.
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