Joseph Sriyal Malik Peiris (Sinhala: ජෝසප් ශ්රියාල් මලික් පීරිස්, born 10 November 1949) is a Hong Kong-based Sri Lankan virologist, most notable for being the first person to isolate the SARS virus.
[9] In 1988, because of the Sri Lankan Civil War,[13] Peiris went back to Newcastle upon Tyne to become a consultant virologist at the Royal Victoria Infirmary.
[18] He retired from the position of co-director of the HKU-Pasteur Research Pole, jointly created in 2000 by HKU and the Pasteur Institute in France,[19] and became an Honorary Director.
Research in his group showed that the virus induces a high level of cytokines when a type of white blood cell called macrophage is infected.
[31][32] By June 2003, Peiris, together with his long-time collaborators Leo Poon and Guan Yi, has developed a rapid diagnostic test for SARS-CoV-1 using real-time polymerase chain reaction.
[37] He and collaborators also developed a diagnostic test for 2019-nCoV (later renamed to SARS-CoV-2), again using real-time polymerase chain reaction,[38] and found that SARS-CoV-2 survives well on smooth surfaces and is susceptible to disinfectants such as household bleach, ethanol and benzalkonium chloride.