The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) announced the election of 90 regular members and 10 international members during its annual meeting on Oct 21st. George Fu Gao (Director and Professor, CAS Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences) is the only Chinese scientist among the selected international members this year.

“These newly elected members represent the most exceptional scholars and leaders whose remarkable work has advanced science, medicine, and health in the U.S. and around the globe,” said National Academy of Medicine President Victor J. Dzau. “Their expertise will be vital to addressing today’s most pressing health and scientific challenges and informing the future of health and medicine for the benefit of us all. I am honored to welcome these esteemed individuals to the National Academy of Medicine.”

Election to the Academy is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have demonstrated outstanding professional achievement and commitment to service.

The newly elected members bring NAM’s total membership to 2,302 and the number of international members to 192.

George Fu Gao, D.V.M., D.Phil., director, the Academic committee of Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences; member (academician), Chinese Academy of Sciences; fellow, The National Academy of Science (NAS); fellow, The Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS); fellow, American Academy of Microbiology (AAM); associate Member, European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO); fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS); fellow, The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE); and fellow, African Academy of Sciences (AAS).He is also director-general of Chinese Center for Disease Control & Prevention (China CDC) and vice president of National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC).

Gao has focused his research work on pathogen biology and immunology in his career. He has made numerous remarkable contributions to the related research: the origins and interspecies transmission mechanisms of avian influenza viruses, virus entry mechanisms, and T-cell molecular recognition. His research has recently expanded on public health policy and global health strategy. Gao is a recipient of several international and national awards, including TWAS Medical Prize (2012), Nikkei Asian Prize (Japan 2014), Tan Jiazhen (C. C. Tan) Grand Scientific Achievement Prize (2014), Gamaleya Medal (Russia 2018) and HKU Centennial Distinguished Chinese Scholar (2019). He has published more than 500 refereed papers (Including papers in Cell, Nature, Science, The Lancet, New England Journal of Medicine, Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA etc.)