Prof. Fabian Lean is an Assistant Professor of Veterinary Virology at City University of Hong Kong. He graduated with first-class honours in Veterinary Science from the University of Queensland and completed a PhD in Veterinary Virology and Pathology at the University of Melbourne and the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP-CSIRO). He subsequently trained as an anatomic pathologist at the Royal Veterinary College (UK), obtained board certification in Anatomic Pathology through the American College of Veterinary Pathologists (ACVP), and is a registered member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (UK).
Before joining CityU, Prof. Lean worked as a research pathologist at the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), UK, where he conducted research on experimental and comparative viral pathogenesis and contributed to the diagnosis of notifiable viral diseases of animals and zoonotic pathogens in high-containment laboratory facilities.
His research focuses on host-pathogen interactions to address viral emergence, disease mechanisms, and cross-species transmission. He has authored and co-authored more than 40 scientific articles in international peer-reviewed journals and serves as an Academic Editor for Transboundary and Emerging Diseases. Prof. Lean has also received the Wildlife Disease Association (WDA) Graduate Student Scholarship Award for his contributions to research on viral diseases in wildlife.
Prof. Lean’s research interests focus on elucidating the mechanisms of viral disease development by integrating pathology with virological parameters in situ within the host. He is also interested in the comparative and evolutionary determinants of host susceptibility to viral infection, with a particular emphasis on virus-host binding interactions and their relevance to zoonotic risk and One Health.
Prof. Lean’s publications and associated citation metrics are available through Google Scholar, ResearchGate
Lean FZX, Gallo G, Newman J, Ackroyd S, Spiro S, Cox R, Nymo IH, Bröjer C, Neimanis A, Suárez-Bonnet A, Priestnall SL, Everest H, Keep S, Bailey D, Delahay RJ, Seekings A, McElhinney LM, Brookes SM, Núñez A. Distribution of aminopeptidase N (APN) coronavirus receptors in the respiratory and digestive tracts of domestic and wild artiodactyls and carnivores. J Gen Virol. 2025 Apr;106(4):002092. doi: 10.1099/jgv.0.002092
Lean FZX, Stidworthy MF, Dastjerdi A, Partridge T, Smith S, Gough J, Núñez A, Lawson B, Seilern-Macpherson K. Colocalization of hedgehog arterivirus 1 (HhAV-1) and histologic lesions in the European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus) with neurological disease. Vet Pathol. 2024 Dec 12:3009858241300553. doi: 10.1177/03009858241300553.
Reid SM, Byrne AMP, Lean FZX, Ross CS, Pascu A, Hepple R, Dominguez M, Frost S, Coward VJ, Núñez A, James J, Stephan L, Aegerter JN, Brown IH, Banyard AC. A multi-species, multi-pathogen avian viral disease outbreak event: Investigating potential for virus transmission at the wild bird - poultry interface. Emerg Microbes Infect. 2024 Dec;13(1):2348521. doi: 10.1080/22221751.2024.2348521.
Lean FZX, Núñez A, Spiro S, Priestnall SL, Vreman S, Bailey D, James J, Wrigglesworth E, Suarez-Bonnet A, Conceicao C, Thakur N, Byrne AMP, Ackroyd S, Delahay RJ, van der Poel WHM, Brown IH, Fooks AR, Brookes SM. Differential susceptibility of SARS-CoV-2 in animals: Evidence of ACE2 host receptor distribution in companion animals, livestock and wildlife by immunohistochemical characterisation. Transbound Emerg Dis. 2022 Jul;69(4):2275-2286. doi: 10.1111/tbed.14232.
Floyd T, Banyard AC, Lean FZX, Byrne AMP, Fullick E, Whittard E, Mollett BC, Bexton S, Swinson V, Macrelli M, Lewis NS, Reid SM, Núñez A, Duff JP, Hansen R, Brown IH. Encephalitis and death in wild mammals at a rehabilitation center after infection with highly pathogenic avian influenza A(H5N8) virus, United Kingdom. Emerg Infect Dis. 2021 Nov;27(11):2856-2863. doi: 10.3201/eid2711.211225