Zhu Chen

Doctor of Science

China Center and College of Science and Engineering, October 8, 2012

Zhu Chen, Minister of Health of China, is internationally recognized in the fields of medical science and health policy. His scientific career has largely focused on acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL), a highly fatal disease throughout the world. He has made a significant contribution to targeted cancer therapy through his first successful treatment of APL with all-trans retinoic acid and arsenic trioxide. Because of this discovery, APL, once associated with a dismal outcome, is now highly curable with a 5-year event-free survival rate approaching 90%. He has demonstrated exceptional leadership both scientifically and socially. He has served as the inaugural director of the Chinese National Human Genome Center since 1998; in 2000, he was elected as Vice President of the Chinese Academy of Science; and, since 2005, he has directed national policy on the development of science in China. His research in leukemia has resulted in over 400 papers, including over 100 on high-level international journals, such as Nature, Nature Genetics, Science Blood, and PNAS, with more than 15,000 citations. He is an elected member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Foreign Associates of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine of the United States. He is a member of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS), Titular Member of the European Academy of Arts, Sciences and Humanities, Foreign Associate of French Academy of Sciences, Foreign Member of Academia Europaea and External Scientific Member of the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Genetics. He is also the recipient of numerous awards and honors including the prestigious Prix de l'Qise" by La Ligue Nationale contre le Cancer of France. In addition, he has received honorary degrees from the University of Hong Kong and from l'Université Paris 7, France.