Speaker

Professor Ning Zhang is a distinguished scientist and National Distinguished Young Scholar (recipient of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars). He has been honored with several prestigious national awards, including selection into the National “Ten Thousand Talents Plan”, the Mid-aged and Young Leading Scientists, Engineers and Innovators Program (Ministry of Science and Technology), and the National Hundred, Thousand, and Ten Thousand Talents Project (Ministry of Human Resources). He is also a recipient of the Outstanding Contribution Expert Award and the Lee Foundation Award for Distinguished Achievement.

Currently, Professor Zhang holds multiple leadership roles: Director, Cancer Translational Research Center, Peking University First Hospital; Deputy Director, Peking University-Baiyao International Medical Center; Vice President, Peking University International Cancer Institute; Vice President, Peking University National Institute of Health Data Science; Executive Council Member & Secretary-General, Chinese Anti-Cancer Association; Chair, Translational Medicine Branch, Chinese Society of Gerontology and Geriatrics; Executive Associate Editor-in-Chief, Cancer Biology & Medicine; Executive Associate Editor-in-Chief, Medical Review; Chief Scientist, Baiyao Group.

Professor Zhang’s research focuses on biomedical sciences, with groundbreaking work published in top-tier journals such as Nature, Cancer Cell, Nature Biotechnology, Gastroenterology, and Nature Communications.

Wang Yu is the chairman of the China Foundation for Hepatitis Prevention and Control. He received his M.D. from Beijing Medical University and Ph.D. from Japan Jichi Medical University. He has a professional background in viral molecular biology and immunology and has been engaged in research on hepatitis viruses and related diseases. He has successively served as the Director of the Hepatology Institute of Beijing Medical University, the Vice President of Beijing Medical University, the Deputy Director of the China National Biotechnology Development Center, and the Deputy Director of the Department of Rural and Social Development of the Ministry of Science and Technology. From 2004 to 2017, he served as the director General of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. He is currently an executive director of the Chinese Medical Association, a member of the Expert Advisory Committee of the National Immunization Program, and a member of the World Health Organization’s Western Pacific Region Polio Eradication Certification Committee.

Dr. Grace Zhou holds a Ph.D. from the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences. She is a recipient of China’s National Thousand Talents Plan award, was named one of China’s Top 10 Outstanding Innovative Women (2024), and is the sole winner of the 2019 International “Antiviral Women Scientist Award”. Additionally, she was honored as one of China’s Top 10 Outstanding Female Entrepreneurs (2021), “Scientific Chinese of the Year” (2017), and a recipient of the “State Council Special Allowance” (1998). Formerly an Associate Professor in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Chicago (1999–2014),Dr. Zhou dedicated 15 years to herpesvirus research and has nearly 30 years of expertise in antiviral infection and oncolytic herpesvirus-based tumor immunotherapy. In 2015, Dr. Zhou founded ImmVira Pharma, which has since established the proprietary OVPENS platform—a fully integrated system combining scientific rationale, R&D technology, and manufacturing processes. Building on this foundation, the company has developed two key platforms: Oncolytic Virus Immunotherapy and Engineered Exosome Delivery. Oncolytic Virus Pipelines focus on multiple solid tumors with various routes of administration (intratumoral, intravenous, and intravesical). Exosome Delivery Pipelines targeting applications in large health markets, including complex metabolic, immune, respiratory, ocular, and dermatological diseases.

George Fu Gao has been a key leader in the public health field, making remarkable contributions to research and discovery through basic research, clinical evaluation and advocacy. He has made many remarkable contributions to the scientific field of control and prevention of emerging infectious diseases. He obtained his DPhil degree from Oxford University, UK and did his postdoc work in both Oxford University and Harvard University (with a brief stay in Calgary University). Gao worked in Beijing Agricultural University (1986-1991), Oxford University (2001-2006), Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy Sciences (2004-2008, Director-General). China CDC (Director-General, 2017-2022), National Science Foundation of China (Vice-President, 2018-2022). Gao is a member (academician) of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), an international member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS), a foreign member of the U.K. Royal Society (RS), a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, a fellow of African Academy of Sciences and a fellow of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS).

Dr. Jennifer R. Grandis is a physician scientist who is interested in the impact of gender on career development in medicine and science. Her cancer research is focused on elucidating and targeting key signaling pathways and genomic alterations in head and neck cancer with the goals of enabling precision medicine studies. She has leveraged her access to head and neck cancer patients and their biospecimens to optimize translational research studies that include developing novel therapies in the laboratory for clinical application as well as generating and interrogating relevant preclinical models to determine the underlying mechanism of clinical findings. In her institutional roles at the University of Pittsburgh and since 2015, at UCSF, she has facilitated collaborations between clinicians and investigators with an emphasis of developing a robust research infrastructure to support clinical and translational cancer studies. She has published over 400 papers in the peer-reviewed literature and been continuously funded by the NIH since joining the faculty in 1993. Dr. Grandis is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation the Association of American Physicians.

Dr. I Ming Hsing is Professor and Former Head of Chemical and Biological Engineering at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). He holds a BSc from National Taiwan University (1990) and an MSCEP and PhD from MIT (1994, 1997). Dr. Hsing’s research integrates molecular biology, reaction engineering, and micro/nanofabrication to advance nucleic acid engineering and biomaterials. His group develops innovative diagnostics, including CRISPR-based platforms for point-of-care testing and community surveillance, and nature-derived biomaterials for chronic wound care. A pioneer in molecular diagnostics, he holds multiple patents and has published extensively. Dr. Hsing serves on the editorial boards of leading journals, serves as a member of the Hong Kong SAR Government’s Research Grants Council, and is the Founding President of the Asia Pacific Biomedical Engineering Consortium, fostering collaboration in biomedical engineering and translational medicine.

Professor Feng Yibin has been recognized as one of the top 1% highly cited researchers globally by Clarivate Analytics ESI for eight consecutive years since 2017. In 2024, he received the honor of “Global Highly Cited Researcher,” placing him in the top 0.1% worldwide. He has published over 630 papers. Additionally, Stanford University has listed him among the top 2% of scientists globally for 2022-2024. According to the 2024 AD Scientific Index, Professor Feng ranks 7th worldwide and 1st in Hong Kong in the field of Complementary and Integrative Medicine.

Dr. Alireza Haghighi is a Pioneering leader transforming global health through groundbreaking advancements in life science and AI. He is internationally recognized for his leadership in projects aimed at improving health and well-being worldwide. Dr. Haghighi regularly advises government leaders and industry executives on national health policies and initiatives. He is the founder of multiple startups at the intersection of AI and life sciences. Dr. Haghighi is the Director and Principal Investigator of the Bahrain National Genome Program and has contributed to the design, development, and leadership of national projects in other countries. He is also the Founding President of the Advancement Initiative for Medicine and Science (AIMS), a global foundation dedicated to advancing medical science and healthcare worldwide, which has improved the health of people across the globe. Dr. Haghighi has received numerous prestigious awards and prizes, including the Global Health Pioneer Award for his innovative strategies and initiatives to enhance the quality of life of people around the world and the International Genetic Disorders Prevention Award. Dr. Haghighi is an American board-certified geneticist, and a clinician-scientist at Mass General Brigham. He completed his graduate and clinical training at the University of Oxford and Harvard Medical School.

Guo Jiguang, Ph.D., is an associate professor and master’s supervisor at the School of Basic Medical Sciences, Hebei University. His main research areas include the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease and therapeutic drugs. Received a bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2001, a Doctor of Science degree from Shanghai Institutes for Life Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2009, and a visiting scholar at UCLA in 2016. He has presided over one project funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and several provincial-level projects, and participated in 973, 863 and several national-level projects. Published works such as “Pathogenic Biology”, and published more than ten SCI papers in international journals such as Cell Research, Genome Biology, and Peer J at home and abroad, and won the second prize of Science and Technology Progress of Baoding City.