Prof. CAI Lei from Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMCAS) received the first International Mycological Association Young Mycologist Award for Asia, the Keisuke Tubaki Medal, which honors the best young mycologist in the Asia Regional Mycological Organization on Nov. 7, 2011. The presentation for his award will be at the Tenth International Mycological Congress in Thailand in 2014.

Prof. CAI has been working on the systematics and biodiversity of fungi from aquatic, coprophilous and thermophilic habitats for many years. More than 4,000 specimens have been examined leading to the discovery and description of five new genera, 45 new species and seven new combinations. Prof. Cai is now focusing on the systematics of plant pathogenic fungi using a polyphasic approach. He published one monograph, two book chapters, and 54 papers on 14 peer-reviewed international journals, and these publications have been cited for 378 times (H’-index = 12).

Currently a full professor of mycology at IMCAS, CAI also serves as vice secretary general of Mycological Society of China and has made his contributions in promoting mycological studies in both China and Asia. As executive associate editor, Prof. CAI has played a key role in establishing a new international journal, Mycology-an international journal on fungal biology. He is currently an associate editor of Fungal Diversity and also reviews papers for journals such as, Jounal of Plant Pathology Microbial Ecology,  Mycologia, Mycotaxon,  Mycoscience, Nova Hedwigia, Plant Disease and Plant Pathology.

The International Mycological Association (IMA), representing at least 30,000 mycologists throughout the world, has established six IMA Young Mycologist Awards to mark outstanding research accomplishment by young mycologists from each of the six IMA Regional Mycological Organizations from 2010.