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Professor Benjamin Cowling
Chair Professor of Epidemiology
School of Public Health
bcowling@hku.hk (852) 3917 6711 
Rm 209, Patrick Mansion Building, Sassoon Road Campus, HKU 
Key Expertise
Infectious disease epidemiology, statistics 
About Me

Professor Benjamin Cowling joined the School of Public Health (SPH) at HKU in 2004. Prior to moving to Hong Kong, he graduated with a PhD in medical statistics at the University of Warwick (UK) in 2003, and spent a year as a postdoc at Imperial College London (UK). Professor Cowling has been the Head of the Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics since 2013. He is responsible for teaching the introductory module in epidemiology on the MPH curriculum, and is the chairman of the Departmental Research Postgraduate Committee. Prof Cowling is a co-director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control at HKU SPH.

Research Interests
Prof Cowling’s primary research focus is in infectious disease epidemiology. In recent years he has designed and implemented large field studies of influenza transmission in the community and the effectiveness and impact of control measures. His latest research has focused on the epidemiology and control of COVID-19 and influenza, vaccine effectiveness, and immunity to infections at the individual and population level.