George Gao

Event 201 Players George Fu Gao George Fu Gao Professor George F. Gao is the Director-General, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention; a Professor in the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences; President of the Chinese Society of Biotechnology; and President of the Asian Federation of Biotechnology (AFOB). Dr. Gao 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. His research interests include enveloped viruses and molecular immunology. His group research is mainly focused on the enveloped virus entry and release, especially influenza virus interspecies transmission (host jump), structure-based drug-design, and structural immunology. He is also interested in virus ecology, especially the relationship between influenza virus and migratory birds or live poultry markets and the bat-derived virus ecology and molecular biology. Dr. Gao has published more than 450 refereed papers and 10 books or book chapters, and he has applied for and obtained more than 25 UK, US, and Chinese patents. His research has recently expanded to public health policy and global health strategy. He led the China CDC team from September to November 2014 to work in Sierra Leone in the fight against Ebola. Dr. Gao is a member (academician) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a fellow of the Third World Academy of Sciences (also known as the World Academy of Sciences), a fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, and an associate member of EMBO. He is a recipient of several national and international awards, including the TWAS Medical Prize (2012), the Nikkei Asian Prize (2014), and the HLHL S&T Advancement Award (2015).