HKIAS Senior Fellow Professor George Fu Gao was elected Foreign Member of The Royal Society and conferred an honorary doctorate by the City University of Macau

30 May 2022

Professor George Fu Gao

Professor George Fu Gao, HKIAS Senior Fellow and the Director-General of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention in China, was recently elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society for his contributions in the field of infection and immunity, particularly relating to emerging viral infections, have helped to improve our understanding of major threats to human health.

In addition, Professor Gao was conferred an honorary doctorate by the City University of Macau on 28 May 2022.

Professor Gao currently is the Vice President of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and Director and Professor of CAS Key Laboratory of Pathogen Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Microbiology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

His research interests include enveloped viruses and molecular immunology, mainly focusing on the enveloped virus entry and release, especially interspecies transmission (host jump) of influenza virus and coronaviruses. His research has recently expanded to public health policy and global health strategy.

Professor Gao is a member/fellow of several academies, including the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), the American Academy of Microbiology (AAM), the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO), the Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) and the African Academy of Sciences (AAS). He is a recipient of numerous awards, including The World Academy of Sciences Medical Prize (2012), the Nikkei Asia Prize (2014), the Japanese Foreign Minister's Award (2015), the Gamaleya Medal (Russia 2018) and the HKU Centennial Distinguished Chinese Scholars Scheme (2019).

Established in 1660, the Royal Society's fundamental purpose is to recognise, promote, and support excellence in science and encourage the development and use of science for the benefit of humanity. The Society has played a part in some of the most fundamental, significant, and life-changing discoveries in scientific history.