Building Climate-Resilient Health Leadership: Pasteur Network Fellows Convene in Hong Kong

From April 26 to May 3, 2025, the Pasteur Network and the HKU-Pasteur Research Pole hosted the first in-person meeting of their Climate & Health Fellows in Hong Kong. The event brought together fellows, mentors, and leading researchers from across the Pasteur Network and partner institutions to focus on the intersection of climate change and health.

This convening was an important milestone for the Climate and Health Observatories Accelerator Project, a three-year initiative supported by The Rockefeller Foundation and the Institute of Philanthropy. The programme aims to foster collaboration and develop strategies designed to foster healthier, more resilient communities in low- and middle-income countries, as well as to strengthen leadership and research capacity related to climate and health challenges in the Global South.

This cohort of fellows from the Pasteur Network represents a diverse group of researchers and public health professionals working across Africa, Asia, and Latin America to address the impacts of climate change on infectious diseases. Their expertise spans microbiology, epidemiology, virology, entomology, geomatics, data science, and public policy, with each fellow focusing on climate-sensitive health issues in their region—such as antimicrobial resistance in Algeria and Hong Kong; vector-borne diseases like dengue and malaria in Vietnam, Senegal, and Cameroon; and neglected tropical diseases in Morocco and Tunisia. Through modeling, surveillance, and One Health approaches, they are integrating climate and health data to develop global goods and predictive tools, inform public policy, and strengthen resilience in public health systems worldwide.

For more information on the fellows, take a look here.

Meet the fellows
Below are testimonials from two Climate & Health Fellows based in Hong Kong (Hogan Kok-Fung Wai) and Cambodia (Saren Sovan). Additional videos will be published soon on the Pasteur Network YouTube Channel:

• Saren Sovan: https://youtu.be/Geu8kkstGM8
  “Shaping public opinion on climate and health can transform our daily lives—even small individual contributions can help build a better world for all.”
• Hogan Kok-Fung Wai: https://youtu.be/z3cEKMdNfTg
  “By integrating climate data with health systems, we can better predict and mitigate the impacts of environmental changes on human health.”

During the week, fellows participated in lectures, workshops, communication training, and collaborative planning sessions. They refined project workplans, developed Theories of Change, and discussed regional perspectives on climate and health issues.

Group activities—including institutional presentations, icebreakers, and a field visit to The Henderson ecological building—helped build trust and foster a sense of community within the cohort. The gathering laid the groundwork for ongoing collaboration, South-South exchanges, and contributions to the global dialogue on climate-resilient health systems.

For their project work, the fellows are self-organizing into thematic working groups to foster collaboration and align their research efforts. Groups include those focused on malaria (Central African Republic; Cameroon; Niger), dengue (Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Côte d’Ivoire), West Nile virus (Brazil, Algeria), Leishmaniasis (Morocco, Tunisia), modeling and forecasting (Brazil; Senegal; Guinea), and heat adaptation (Hong Kong SAR, China; Uruguay; Laos).

Following the Hong Kong convening, fellows will continue advancing their projects in coordination with the Pasteur Network and their home institutions. Over the next year, they will receive tailored mentorship and technical support, with opportunities to engage in regional workshops, thematic working groups, and joint publications.

Meet the Climate & Health Fellows (short biographies)

Disclaimer

“None of the Institute of Philanthropy and its related parties or any other persons involved in or related to the compilation of the contents herein (collectively, “the mentioned parties“) makes any express or implied warranties or representations with respect to the accuracy, timeliness or completeness of the contents or as to the results that may be obtained by the use thereof. In no event shall any mentioned parties have any liability of any kind to any person or entity arising from or related to any actions taken or not taken as a result of any of the contents herein.”

“While The Rockefeller Foundation provided support for the Fellowship, the eligibility criteria, selection process and oversight of the Fellowship are controlled by the Pasteur Network.”