Allen Cheng

{{Short description|Australian professor of medicine}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2025}}

{{Use Australian English|date= March 2025}}

{{Infobox medical person

| name = Allen Cheuk-Seng Chen

| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|size=100|AC}}

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| nationality = Australian

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| education = {{ubl|MBBS (University of Melbourne) | PhD (Flinders University)| Master of Public Health (Monash University)| Master of Biostatistics (University of Queensland)}}

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| known_for = infectious disease research

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| profession = Professor of Medicine

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| work_institutions = Monash University

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Allen Cheuk-Seng Cheng {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AC}} is an Australian epidemiologist and professor of medicine.

Since 2015, he has been the Professor of Infectious Diseases Epidemiology at Monash University.

His area of research is epidemiology, focusing on infectious disease research and public health policy.

In 2025, he was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia for his eminent service to medicine.

Early life and education

Cheng graduated from the University of Melbourne Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry & Health Sciences in 1993.{{cn|date=March 2025}}

He also has a PhD (Flinders University), a Master of Public Health (Monash University) and a Master of Biostatistics (University of Queensland).{{bsn|date=March 2025}}

Medical career

During the COVID-19 pandemic, he served as Victoria's Deputy Chief Health Officer and chaired the Target Vaccine Advisory Group. He was also co-chair of coronavirus vaccines for the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI).{{Cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/you-agonise-over-it-allen-cheng-s-lockdown-dilemma-20210722-p58byb.html |title='You agonise over it': Allen Cheng's lockdown dilemma |first1=Melissa |last1=Cunningham |first2=Aisha |last2=Dow |date=24 July 2021 |work=The Sydney Morning Herald |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240918090743/https://www.smh.com.au/national/you-agonise-over-it-allen-cheng-s-lockdown-dilemma-20210722-p58byb.html |archive-date=18 September 2024 |url-status=live |url-access=limited}}

Cheng has been Professor of Infectious Diseases Epidemiology within the Monash University Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine since 2015.

Since 2023, he has been the Director of Infectious Diseases at Monash Health. Previously, he served as the Director of Infection Prevention and Healthcare Epidemiology at Alfred Health and held a professorship in Infectious Diseases Epidemiology at Monash University's School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine. Before his tenure at Alfred Health, Cheng worked as an infectious diseases physician in regional locations such as Darwin and Geelong, as well as internationally in Thailand, Papua New Guinea, the United States, and Finland.

Awards and recognition

In the 2025 Australia Day Honours, Cheng was awarded Australia's highest civilian honour, Companion of the Order of Australia, "for eminent service to medicine as an epidemiologist, to infectious and communicable disease research and education, and to national and international public health policy".

Other recognition includes:

: 2008 Sir Richard Stawell Memorial Award, Australian Medical Association (Victoria).

: 2012 Frank Fenner Award for Advanced Research in Infectious Diseases, Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases.{{cite web |title=Awards and Grants |url=https://asid.net.au/awards-and-grants |website=ASID - Australasian Society for Infectious Diseases |access-date=1 March 2025 |language=en-AU}}

: 2014 National Health and Medical Research Council Excellence Award and Level 2 Clinical Fellowship.

: 2018 WG Smith Fellow, Visiting Lecturer, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital.

Personal life

Cheng is the son of migrant parents, who came to Australia from Malaysia and Hong Kong in the 1950s and 1960s. His father died during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Publications

{{As of|2025|3}}, Scopus lists 535 publications, which have been cited 29,107 times, and an h-index of 76.

Google Scholar lists 46,012 citations to his works, and an h-index of 94.

References

{{cite web |title=Professor Allen Cheuk-Seng CHENG: Companion of the Order of Australia |url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/3044941 |website=honours.pmc.gov.au |publisher=Australian Government: Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |access-date=1 March 2025}}

{{cite news |title=Doctors' crucial health role recognised in Australia Day Honours |url=https://www.ama.com.au/media/doctors-crucial-health-role-recognised-australia-day-honours |access-date=1 March 2025 |work=Australian Medical Association |date=26 January 2025 |language=en-AU}}

{{cite news |last1=Kirk |first1=Emma |title=Full list of Australia Day Honours revealed |url=https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/real-life/news-life/the-best-of-us-inspiring-aussies-recognised-in-the-2025-australia-day-honours-list/news-story/4448388308481bc17f2266d2bb8a5b67 |access-date=1 March 2025 |work=news.com.au |date=January 25, 2025}}

{{cite web |title=Allen C Cheng |url=https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=ToxT81EAAAAJ |website=scholar.google.com |access-date=1 March 2025}}

{{cite web |title=Welcome Professor Allen Cheng, our new Director of Infectious Diseases |url=https://monashhealth.org/latest-news/2023/03/24/welcome-professor-allen-cheng-our-new-director-of-infectious-diseases/ |website=Monash Health |access-date=1 March 2025 |language=en-AU |date=24 March 2023}}

{{cite web |title=Researcher profile - Allen Cheng |url=https://research.monash.edu/en/persons/allen-cheng |website=Monash University |access-date=1 March 2025 |language=en}}

{{cite web |last1=Huynh |first1=Jennifer |title=Top Monash researchers recognised with NHMRC Excellence Awards – Rossjohn Lab |url=https://rossjohnlab.com/2014/06/11/top-monash-researchers-recognised-with-nhmrc-excellence-awards/ |publisher=Monash University, Rossjohn Laboratory |access-date=2 March 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241210202006/https://rossjohnlab.com/2014/06/11/top-monash-researchers-recognised-with-nhmrc-excellence-awards/ |archive-date=10 December 2024 |date=11 June 2014 |url-status=live}}

{{cite web |title=Cheng, Allen C. - author profile |url=https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=57202414600 |website=scopus.com |access-date=1 March 2025}}