Tu Youyou Awarded China's Highest Scientific Honor by President Xi Jinping

In 2016, the State Science and Technology Awards were conferred upon a total of 279 projects, seven scientific and technological experts, and one international organization. Among these, two individuals received the State Preeminent Science and Technology Award; 42 projects received the State Natural Science Award (including one First Prize and 41 Second Prizes); 66 projects received the State Technological Invention Award (including three First Prizes and 63 Second Prizes); and 171 projects received the State Scientific and Technological Progress Award (including two Grand Prizes, 20 First Prizes, and 149 Second Prizes). The International Science and Technology Cooperation Award of the People’s Republic of China was awarded to five foreign scientific and technological experts and one international organization.

Since the major reform of the National Science and Technology Awards system in 1999, 27 individuals have successively received the State Preeminent Science and Technology Award. Among them are Wu Wenjun, Yuan Longping, Wang Xuan, and others. Tu Youyou stands out for three distinctive reasons: she is the first female scientist, the first non-academician, and the first Nobel laureate among the 27 recipients. Tu Youyou has become the first female scientist to receive the State Preeminent Science and Technology Award.

Tu Youyou was born on December 30, 1930, in Ningbo, Zhejiang Province. In 1951, she was admitted to Peking University, where she studied pharmacognosy in the Department of Pharmacy at the School of Medicine. She graduated from Beijing Medical College (now the Health Science Center of Peking University) in 1955. After graduation, she underwent two and a half years of training in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and has since worked at the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine (renamed the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences in 2005). During her tenure, she was promoted successively to master’s supervisor and doctoral supervisor. She currently serves as Chief Scientist at the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences. Tu Youyou is a Lifetime Researcher and Chief Researcher at the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Director of the Artemisinin Research and Development Center, doctoral supervisor, pharmacologist, and Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine.

Image source: Baidu

Tu Youyou has long been engaged in research on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and the integration of TCM with Western medicine. Her most notable contribution is the development of novel antimalarial drugs, artemisinin and dihydroartemisinin. In 1972, she successfully extracted a colorless crystalline compound with the molecular formula C15H22O5, which was named artemisinin. In September 2011, she was awarded the Lasker Award and the GlaxoSmithKline China R&D Center “Outstanding Achievement Award in Life Sciences” for her discovery of artemisinin—a medication used to treat malaria—that has saved millions of lives worldwide, particularly in developing countries.

In October 2015, Tu Youyou was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her discovery of artemisinin, a drug that can effectively reduce the mortality rate among malaria patients. She became the first Chinese national to receive a Nobel Prize in the sciences.

Image source: Sohu

This article is compiled from Xinhua News Agency and publicly available online information.