Prof Hui-Ling Yen received her Ph.D. in Epidemiological Science from The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor followed by her postdoctoral training at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN. Her research interests focus on understanding the mechanisms of influenza transmission among and between different reservoirs, investigating potential virus-host interactions that affect viral pathogenicity and transmission, and examining the molecular determinants that confer antiviral resistance.

A major research focus in her lab has been on transmission mechanisms. The ongoing research projects apply interdisciplinary research tools to study the modes of transmission for influenza and other respiratory viruses under laboratory settings and in the field, including at the animal-human interfaces. Her lab also uses genetic analyses, molecular biology, and phenotypic measurements to study critical molecular determinants and their effect on protein functionality and viral fitness.

Prof Yen is a full member of the American Society of Virology and a committee member of ISIRV Antiviral Group. She serves at the Editorial Boards of Antiviral Research and Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses.

1. Belser JA, Lau EHY, Barclay W, Barr IG, Chen H, Fouchier RAM, Hatta M, Herfst S, Kawaoka Y, Lakdawala SS, Lee LYY, Neumann G, Peiris M, Perez DR, Russell C, Subbarao K, Sutton TC, Webby RJ, Yang H, Yen HL, Working group on the standardization of the ferret model for influenza risk assessment. Robustness of the ferret model for influenza risk assessment studies: a cross-laboratory exercise. mBio 2022 :e0117422.
2. Yen HL, Sit THC, Brackman CJ, Chuk SSY, Gu H, Tam KWS, Law PYT, Leung GM, Peiris M, Poon LLM; HKU-SPH study team. Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 delta variant (AY.127) from pet hamsters to humans, leading to onward human-to-human transmission: a case study. Lancet. 2022;12;399(10329): 1070-1078
3. Su W, Harfoot R, Su YCF, DeBeauchamp J, Joseph U, Jayakumar J, Crumpton JC, Jeevan T, Rubrum A, Franks J, Pascua PNQ, Kackos C, Zhang Y, Zhang M, Ji Y, Bui HT, Jones JC, Kercher L, Krauss S, Pleschka S, Chan MCW, Webster RG, Wu CY, Van Reeth K, Peiris M, Webby RJ, Smith GJD, Yen HL. Ancestral sequence reconstruction pinpoints adaptations that enable avian influenza virus transmission in pigs. Nat Microbiol. 2021;6(11):1455-1465.
4. Sia SF, Yan LM, Chin AWH, Fung K, Choy KT, Wong AYL, Kaewpreedee P, Perera RAPM, Poon LLM, Nicholls JM, Peiris M, Yen HL. Pathogenesis and transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in golden hamsters. Nature. 2020; 583(7818):834-838. 
5. Zou L, Ruan F, Huang M, Liang L, Huang H, Hong Z, Yu J, Kang M, Song Y, Xia J, Guo Q, Song T, He J, Yen HL, Peiris M, Wu J. SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load in Upper Respiratory Specimens of Infected Patients. N Engl J Med. 2020;382(12):1177-1179
6. Xie C, Lau EHY, Yoshida T, Yu H, Wang X, Wu H, Wei J, Cowling B, Peiris M, Li Y, Yen HL. Detection of influenza and other respiratory viruses in air sampled from a university campus: a longitudinal study. Clin Infect Dis. 2020;70(5):850-858.
7. Wu J, Ke C, Lau EHY, Song Y, Cheng KL, Zou L, Kang M, Song T, Peiris M, Yen HL. Influenza H5/H7 virus vaccination in poultry and reduction of zoonotic infections, Guangdong Province, China, 2017-18. Emerg Infect Dis. 2019;25(1):116-118.
8. Zhou J, Wei J, Choy KT, Sia SF, Rowlands DK, Yu D, Wu CY, Lindsley WG, Cowling BJ, McDevitt J, Peiris M, Li Y, Yen HL. Defining the sizes of airborne particles  that mediate influenza transmission in ferrets. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2018. pii: 201716771.
9. Cheung PP, Watson SJ, Choy KT, Fun Sia S, Wong DD, Poon LL, Kellam P, Guan Y, Peiris JSM, Yen HL. 2014. Generation and characterization of influenza A viruses with altered polymerase fidelity. Nat Commun. 2014;5:4794.
10. Yen HL, Liang CH, Wu CY, Forrest HL, Ferguson A, Choy KT, Jones J, Wong DD, Cheung PP, Hsu CH, Li OT, Yuen KM, Chan RW, Poon LL, Chan MC, Nicholls JM, Krauss S, Wong CH, Guan Y, Webster RG, Webby RJ, Peiris M. Hemagglutinin–neuraminidase balance confers respiratory-droplet transmissibility of the pandemic H1N1 influenza virus in ferrets. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2011;108:14264-14269.