Malik Peiris

Professor
Malik Peiris
SBS FRS FRCP FRCPath FFPH FAAM
මලික් පීරිස්
Born
Joseph Sriyal Malik Peiris[6]

(1949-11-10) 10 November 1949 (age 75)[5]
Kandy, Ceylon
NationalityBritish and Sri Lankan (dual national)
Permanent resident of Hong Kong, China
Other namesJoseph Sriyal Malik Peiris
Joseph Peiris
JSM Peiris[4]
Alma materUniversity of Ceylon (MBBS)
University of Oxford (DPhil)[7][8]
SpouseSharmini Arseculeratne
ChildrenShalini (d)
Shehan (s)
RelativesSarathnanda "Chubby" Arsecularatne (father-in-law)[9]
AwardsJohn Dirks Canada Gairdner Global Health Award
Silver Bauhinia Star
Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur[1][2]
Scientific career
FieldsVirology
InstitutionsUniversity of Hong Kong
Royal Victoria Infirmary
University of Peradeniya[3]
ThesisEnhancement by antiviral antibody of the replication of togaviridae in mononuclear phagocytes (1980)
Doctoral advisorJames S. Porterfield

Joseph Sriyal Malik Peiris (Sinhala: ජෝසප් ශ්‍රියාල් මලික් පීරිස්, born 10 November 1949) is a Hong Kong-based Sri Lankan virologist, most notable for being the first person to isolate the SARS virus.[2] He is the current Tam Wah-Ching Professor in Medical Science, and Chair Professor of Virology at the Division of Public Health Laboratory Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Hong Kong.[6] He was a member of the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts on Immunization of the World Health Organization from 2009 to 2010.[10]

Early life and education

Peiris was born on 10 November 1949[5] in Kandy, Sri Lanka. He attended school at St. Anthony's College, Kandy,[11] and entered the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya in 1967,[3][12] obtaining his MBBS in 1972.[7]

After a year with the National Health Department at the General Hospital in Matale,[3] Peiris joined the Department of Microbiology at his alma mater, where Sarathnanda "Chubby" Arseculeratne, Peiris's future father-in-law, worked at the time. Despite his interest in immunology, Peiris started working on virology at the urge of Arseculeratne.[13] He was awarded a Commonwealth Scholarship in 1977[14] and went to the University of Oxford for a DPhil at the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology,[3] graduating in 1981.[7] A major aspect of his DPhil study was the paradoxical role that antibodies may play in facilitating rather than blocking the entry of viruses, such as the West Nile virus and the dengue virus, into macrophages, a type of white blood cell.[15] He underwent his training in clinical pathology at the Public Health Laboratory at Birmingham and Newcastle University,[16] and completed his pathologist examination in 1982.[8]

Career and research

After his DPhil, Peiris returned to Sri Lanka as a senior lecturer and set up a virology department at the University of Peradeniya, which was created after the split-up of the University of Sri Lanka (formerly the University of Ceylon).[9]

In 1988, because of the Sri Lankan Civil War,[13] Peiris went back to Newcastle upon Tyne to become a consultant virologist at the Royal Victoria Infirmary.[8][16] He moved to Hong Kong in 1995, tasked with setting up a clinical virology unit at Queen Mary Hospital and the University of Hong Kong.[13]

Peiris's research interest is in emerging viral diseases, especially those passed from animals to humans, using a multidisciplinary approach termed "One-Health", which Peiris has defined as a "collaboration between the animal health, environmental health, human health, and laboratory sectors."[13]

Currently at HKU, Malik is the Tam Wah-Ching Professor in Medical Science and Chair Professor of Virology at the Division of Public health Laboratory Sciences, School of Public Health.[6] Since 2021, he has been working part time. He is also a co-director of the WHO H5 Reference Laboratory and the WHO SARS-CoV-2 reference laboratory,[6] the Director of Centre of Influenza Research[17] and the managing director of the centre for Immunology and Infection.[18] He retired from the position of co-director of the HKU-Pasteur Research Pole, jointly created in 2000 by HKU and the Pasteur Institute in France,[19] and became an Honorary Director.[17]

Peiris has been an editor of Current Opinion in Virology since 2011[4][20] and of mBio since 2016.[4][21]

Peiris has held a number of roles at the Hong Kong government, including a member of the Advisory panel on Emerging Infectious Diseases of the Hong Kong Centre for Health Protection (CHP)[22] and the Hong Kong Research Grants Council between 2007 and 2009.[23] He currently sits on the CHP Scientific Committee on Emerging and Zoonotic Diseases[24] and Scientific Committee on Vector-borne Diseases.[25]

Notable findings

Avian influenza

In 1997, after the first human outbreak of the avian influenza H5N1 virus in Hong Kong, Peiris turned his attention to the virus, which claimed the lives of a third of its victims. Research in his group showed that the virus induces a high level of cytokines when a type of white blood cell called macrophage is infected.[26] This so-called "cytokine storm" is now recognized as a major mechanism of avian influenza virus pathogenesis.[27][28]

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)

In 2003, Hong Kong suffered another viral disease outbreak, this time an unknown respiratory disease, termed severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS.[29] Peiris became known worldwide when his group became the first to isolate the virus that causes this disease,[30] a novel coronavirus now known as SARS-CoV-1.[31][32] By June 2003, Peiris, together with his long-time collaborators Leo Poon and Guan Yi, has developed a rapid diagnostic test for SARS-CoV-1 using real-time polymerase chain reaction.[33]

COVID-19

In February 2020, Peiris published an article in Nature Medicine, presaging the outbreak of a new coronavirus.[34] Peiris reported the next month that a Pomeranian dog was infected with COVID-19.[35] This was later substantiated by other COVID-19 animal infection cases across the world, including a tiger at the Bronx Zoo[36] and a pug dog in North Carolina.[37]

He and collaborators also developed a diagnostic test for 2019-nCoV (later renamed to SARS-CoV-2), again using real-time polymerase chain reaction,[38] and found that SARS-CoV-2 survives well on smooth surfaces and is susceptible to disinfectants such as household bleach, ethanol and benzalkonium chloride.[39]

Honours and awards

Personal life

Peiris is married to Sharmini Arseculeratne and they have a daughter, Shalini and a son, Shehan.

Sarathnanda "Chubby" Arseculeratne, an Emeritus Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya,[51] is Peiris's father-in-law and his early mentor.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Joseph Sriyal Malik Peiris 裴偉士教授". Croucher Foundation. Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 8 March 2022.
  2. ^ a b c "Joseph Sriyal Malik Peiris". Gairdner Foundation. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d "Peiris, JSM". ORCID. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  4. ^ a b c "Professor Peiris, Joseph Sriyal Malik". University of Hong Kong. Archived from the original on 6 March 2022. Retrieved 6 March 2022.
  5. ^ a b c "PROFESSOR JOSEPH SRIYAL MALIK PEIRIS". Mahathir Science Award Foundation. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  6. ^ a b c d "Peiris, Joseph Sriyal Malik". School of Public Health, University of Hong Kong. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  7. ^ a b c d e f "Prof Joseph Sriyal Malik PEIRIS". Hong Kong Academy of Sciences. December 2021. Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  8. ^ a b c Das, Pam (2003). "Joseph Malik Peiris - on the trail of pneumonia in Hong Kong interviewed by Pam Das". The Lancet Infectious Diseases. 3 (5): 309–311. doi:10.1016/S1473-3099(03)00618-2. PMC 7129140. PMID 12726983.
  9. ^ a b c Mandavilli, Apoorva (2004). "Profile: Malik Peiris". Nature Medicine. 10 (9): 886. doi:10.1038/nm0904-886. PMC 7095930. PMID 15340403.
  10. ^ "FORMER SAGE MEMBER" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  11. ^ "World-renowned University of Hong Kong Professor to speak at "Meeting of Minds" Lecture in Colombo" (Press release). Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong. 6 January 2011. Archived from the original on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  12. ^ "Prof. Malik Peiris" (PDF). University of Peradeniya. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  13. ^ a b c d Peiris, Joseph Sriyal Malik (2021). "One world, one health". Cell. 184 (8): 1956–1959. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2021.03.021. PMC 9010072. PMID 33831373.
  14. ^ Chan, Jeremy (28 August 2018). "Asia's Scientific Trailblazers: Malik Peiris". Asian Scientist. Singapore. Archived from the original on 7 March 2022. Retrieved 7 March 2022.
  15. ^ Peiris, J.S.M.; Porterfield, J.S. (1979). "Antibody-mediated enhancement of Flavivirus replication in macrophage-like cell lines". Nature. 282 (5738): 509–511. Bibcode:1979Natur.282..509P. doi:10.1038/282509a0. PMID 503230. S2CID 4336809.
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  21. ^ "mBio Board of Editors". mBio. Archived from the original on 14 March 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
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  23. ^ "Appendix H: RGC Membership 2008/2009". Annual Report 2008 (PDF). Hong Kong: Research Grants Council. 22 July 2009. p. 55. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 March 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
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  26. ^ Cheung, CY; Poon, LLM; Lau, AS; Luk, W; Lau, YL; Shortridge, KF; Gordon, S; Guan, Y; Peiris, JSM (2002). "Induction of proinflammatory cytokines in human macrophages by influenza A (H5N1) viruses: a mechanism for the unusual severity of human disease?". The Lancet. 360 (9348): 1831–1837. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(02)11772-7. PMID 12480361. S2CID 43488229. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  27. ^ de Jong, Menno D; Simmons, Cameron P; Thanh, Tran Tan; Hien, Vo Minh; Smith, Gavin JD; Chau, Tran Nguyen Bich; Hoang, Dang Minh; Chau, Nguyen Van Vinh; Khanh, Truong Huu; Dong, Vo Cong; Qui, Phan Tu; Cam, Bach Van; Ha, Do Quang; Guan, Yi; Peiris, JS Malik; Chinh, Nguyen Tran; Hien, Tran Tinh; Farrar, Jeremy (2006). "Fatal outcome of human influenza A (H5N1) is associated with high viral load and hypercytokinemia". Nature Medicine. 12 (10): 1203–1207. doi:10.1038/nm1477. PMC 4333202. PMID 16964257.
  28. ^ Tscherne, Donna M.; García-Sastre, Adolfo (2011). "Virulence determinants of pandemic influenza viruses". Journal of Clinical Investigation. 121 (1): 6–13. doi:10.1172/JCI44947. PMC 3007163. PMID 21206092. Archived from the original on 14 March 2022. Retrieved 14 March 2022.
  29. ^ Sampathkumar, Priya; Temesgen, Zelalem; Smith, Thomas F.; Thompson, Rodney L. (2003). "SARS: epidemiology, clinical presentation, management, and infection control measures". Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 78 (7): 882–890. doi:10.4065/78.7.882. PMC 7094524. PMID 12839084.
  30. ^ Peiris, JSM; Lai, ST; Poon, LLM; Guan, Y; Yam, LYC; Lim, W; Nicholls, J; Yee, WKS; Yan, WW; Cheung, MT; Cheng, VCC; Chan, KH; Tsang, DNC; Yung, RWH; Ng, TK; Yuen, KY; SARS study group (2003). "Coronavirus as a possible cause of severe acute respiratory syndrome". The Lancet. 361 (9366): 1319–1325. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(03)13077-2. PMC 7112372. PMID 12711465.
  31. ^ Lau, Yu Lung; Peiris, JS Malik (2005). "Pathogenesis of severe acute respiratory syndrome". Current Opinion in Immunology. 17 (4): 404–410. doi:10.1016/j.coi.2005.05.009. PMC 7127490. PMID 15950449.
  32. ^ Normile, Dennis (2003). "Up Close and Personal With SARS". Science. 300 (5621): 886–887. doi:10.1126/science.300.5621.886. PMID 12738826. S2CID 58433622.
  33. ^ Poon, Leo LM; Wong, On Kei; Luk, Winsie; Yuen, Kwok Yung; Peiris, Joseph SM; Guan, Yi (2003). "Rapid Diagnosis of a Coronavirus Associated with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)". Clinical Chemistry. 49 (6): 953–955. doi:10.1373/49.6.953. PMC 7108127. PMID 12765993.
  34. ^ Poon, Leo L.M.; Peiris, Malik (2020). "Emergence of a novel human coronavirus threatening human health". Nature Medicine. 26 (3): 317–319. doi:10.1038/s41591-020-0796-5. PMC 7095779. PMID 32108160.
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  37. ^ Hauser, Christine; Gross, Jenny (28 April 2020). "Pug in North Carolina Tests Positive for the Coronavirus, Researchers Say". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 23 May 2020. Retrieved 25 May 2020.
  38. ^ Chu, Daniel KW; Pan, Yang; Cheng, Samuel MS; Hui, Kenrie PY; Krishnan, Pavithra; Liu, Yingzhi; Ng, Daisy YM; Wan, Carrie KC; Yang, Peng; Wang, Quanyi; Peiris, Malik; Poon, Leo LM (2020). "Molecular Diagnosis of a Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) Causing an Outbreak of Pneumonia". Clinical Chemistry. 66 (4): 549–555. doi:10.1093/clinchem/hvaa029. PMC 7108203. PMID 32031583. Archived from the original on 11 March 2022. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  39. ^ Chin, Alex WH; Chu, Julie TS; Perera, Mahen RA; Hui, Kenrie PY; Yen, Hui-Ling; Chan, Michael CW; Peiris, Malik; Poon, Leo LM (2020). "Stability of SARS-CoV-2 in different environmental conditions". The Lancet Microbe. 1 (1): e10. doi:10.1016/S2666-5247(20)30003-3. PMC 7214863. PMID 32835322.
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  42. ^ Greenfeld, Karl Taro (13 November 2006). "Guan Yi & Malik Peiris". Time. Archived from the original on 13 March 2022. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
  43. ^ "Professor Malik Peiris receives the title "Officier de l'Ordre national de la Légion d'Honneur"". Consulat général de France à Hong Kong et Macao. Archived from the original on 13 March 2022.
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Quotations related to Malik Peiris at Wikiquote

  • "Features", Daily News (online), June 2006, webpage: DailyNews-fea01: contains "Following the discovery of the cause of SARS, Professor Peiris was invited...".
  • "HKU ResearcherPage: Peiris, JSM", The HKU Scholars Hub (online database), webpage: HKU Scholars Hub: Researcher Page