Li Lanjuan (; born 13 September 1947), also romanized as Lan-Juan Li, is a
Chinese
Chinese can refer to:
* Something related to China
* Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity
**''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation
** List of ethnic groups in China, people of ...
epidemiologist
Epidemiology is the study and analysis of the distribution (who, when, and where), patterns and determinants of health and disease conditions in a defined population.
It is a cornerstone of public health, and shapes policy decisions and evidenc ...
and
hepatologist
Hepatology is the branch of medicine that incorporates the study of liver, gallbladder, biliary tree, and pancreas as well as management of their disorders. Although traditionally considered a sub-specialty of gastroenterology, rapid expansion ...
. She is a professor at
Zhejiang University School of Medicine, an academician of the
Chinese Academy of Engineering
The Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE, ) is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for engineering. It was established in 1994 and is an institution of the State Council of China. The CAE and the Chinese Academy of Sciences ...
, and serves as the director of the State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases. She developed Li-NBAL, an artificial
liver support system that is used to sustain the lives of people suffering from
acute liver failure
Acute liver failure is the appearance of severe complications rapidly after the first signs (such as jaundice) of liver disease, and indicates that the liver has sustained severe damage (loss of function of 80–90% of liver cells). The complicati ...
, and won multiple national awards for her roles in combatting the
SARS
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, ''sever ...
,
H1N1
In virology, influenza A virus subtype H1N1 (A/H1N1) is a subtype of influenza A virus. Major outbreaks of H1N1 strains in humans include the Spanish flu, the 1977 Russian flu pandemic and the 2009 swine flu pandemic. It is an orthomyxovirus ...
, and
H7N9
Influenza A virus subtype H7N9 (A/H7N9) is a bird flu strain of the species Influenza virus A (avian influenza virus or bird flu virus). Avian influenza A H7 viruses normally circulate amongst avian populations with some variants known to occ ...
epidemics.
Early life and education
Li was born on 13 September 1947
into a poor peasant family in
Shaoxing
Shaoxing (; ) is a prefecture-level city on the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay in northeastern Zhejiang province, China. It was formerly known as Kuaiji and Shanyin and abbreviated in Chinese as (''Yuè'') from the area's former inhabitants. ...
,
Zhejiang
Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Jiang ...
. She excelled in her studies and tested into
Hangzhou High School, a provincial key school.
After graduation, she became a middle school substitute teacher in her township. She also studied
acupuncture
Acupuncture is a form of alternative medicine and a component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in which thin needles are inserted into the body. Acupuncture is a pseudoscience; the theories and practices of TCM are not based on scientifi ...
at Zhejiang Chinese Medicine Hospital and performed acupuncture for local elders. Her village later recommended her to become a
barefoot doctor
Barefoot doctors () were healthcare providers who underwent basic medical training and worked in rural villages in China. They included farmers, folk healers, rural healthcare providers, and recent middle or secondary school graduates who receiv ...
, and she accepted the offer despite it paying much less than her teaching job.
In 1970, when Chinese universities began admitting
Worker-Peasant-Soldier student
Worker-Peasant-Soldier students () were Chinese students who entered colleges between 1970 and 1976, during the later part of the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976). They were accepted not for their academic qualifications, but rather for their wo ...
s, Li was recommended by her township to study at
Zhejiang Medical University
Zhejiang Medical University () was a former university in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. In 1998, was merged into Zhejiang University to become its Medical School.
History
In 1952–53, due to the Adjustment for University Colleges and Depa ...
(now
Zhejiang University School of Medicine).
Career
Upon graduation in 1973,
Li was assigned to work at the Department of Infectious Diseases at the , commencing her career in epidemiology.
Acute liver failure
Acute liver failure is the appearance of severe complications rapidly after the first signs (such as jaundice) of liver disease, and indicates that the liver has sustained severe damage (loss of function of 80–90% of liver cells). The complicati ...
caused by
hepatitis B
Hepatitis B is an infectious disease caused by the ''Hepatitis B virus'' (HBV) that affects the liver; it is a type of viral hepatitis. It can cause both acute and chronic infection.
Many people have no symptoms during an initial infection. Fo ...
was very common in China. In 1986, Li and her team developed an artificial
liver support system (ALSS), also called non-biological artificial liver (NBAL), to detoxify affected people and sustain their lives until the liver regenerates itself or a donor liver becomes available for
transplant.
The system, now known as Li-NBAL,
has significantly improved survival rates for people with severe chronic hepatitis.
Instead of patenting the invention, she disseminated the technology to more than 300 hospitals all over China free of charge.
She was appointed Vice President of the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University in October 1993, a position she held for three years. In November 1996 she became deputy director of the State Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases of
Ministry of Health, and was promoted to director six years later. She also served as Director of the Department of Health of the Zhejiang Provincial Government from 1998 to 2008.
SARS
During the
2003 SARS outbreak, Li led the disease prevention effort in Zhejiang and controlled the disease's spread in the province.
During the 2013
avian flu
Avian influenza, known informally as avian flu or bird flu, is a variety of influenza caused by viruses adapted to birds. outbreak in the
Yangtze Delta
The Yangtze Delta or Yangtze River Delta (YRD, or simply ) is a triangle-shaped megalopolis generally comprising the Wu Chinese-speaking areas of Shanghai, southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang. The area lies in the heart of the Jiangnan reg ...
, Li's team isolated the
H7N9
Influenza A virus subtype H7N9 (A/H7N9) is a bird flu strain of the species Influenza virus A (avian influenza virus or bird flu virus). Avian influenza A H7 viruses normally circulate amongst avian populations with some variants known to occ ...
strain as the pathogen and proved the strain originated from live poultry markets. Her research prompted the government to close all live poultry markets, preventing the spread of the disease to the rest of China.
For her contributions, she was given a special prize of the
State Science and Technology Progress Award
The State Science and Technology Prizes () are the highest honors conferred by the national government of the People's Republic of China in science and technology, in order to recognize citizens and organizations who have made remarkable contribut ...
in 2017.
COVID-19
During the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, Li was one of the researchers who proposed to
lockdown
A lockdown is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks (such as COVID-19) that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely.
The term is used for a prison ...
of the center
Wuhan
Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei, Hubei Province in the China, People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the List of cities in China ...
(known as Category A prevention and control measures). The lockdown proposal was adopted by the Chinese government, and the
Wuhan lockdown
On 23 January 2020, the central government of China imposed a lockdown in Wuhan and other cities in Hubei in an effort to quarantine the center of an outbreak of COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease ...
was implemented at 2pm on 23 January 2020 (before the 2020
Chinese New Year's Eve
Chinese New Year's Eve (Lunar New Year's Eve) is the day before the Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year). Celebrating Chinese
(Lunar) New Year’s Eve has always been a family matter in Asia, it is the reunion day for every Asian family. It has evol ...
).
On 1 February, she left for Wuhan with a team of medical workers from
Hangzhou
Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whi ...
to help combat the epidemic. On 20 April 2020, Stephen Chen from the ''
South China Morning Post
The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remained ...
'' reported on research by Li and her team at Zhejiang University, identifying over 30 strains of the
SARS-CoV-2
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a ...
virus, and that some of more aggressive strains generated 270 times as much
viral load
Viral load, also known as viral burden, is a numerical expression of the quantity of virus in a given volume of fluid, including biological and environmental specimens. It is not to be confused with viral titre or viral titer, which depends on the ...
as the mildest versions. They discovered that the aggressive strains were linked to outbreaks in Europe and in the state of New York, whereas the less aggressive strains were found in the states of Washington and California.
Honours and awards
* 1998
State Science and Technology Progress Award
The State Science and Technology Prizes () are the highest honors conferred by the national government of the People's Republic of China in science and technology, in order to recognize citizens and organizations who have made remarkable contribut ...
(Second Class), for research on artificial liver support system
* 2005 elected as an academician of the
Chinese Academy of Engineering
The Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE, ) is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for engineering. It was established in 1994 and is an institution of the State Council of China. The CAE and the Chinese Academy of Sciences ...
(CAE)
* 2007 State Science and Technology Progress Award (Second Class), for research on the microecology of infectious diseases
* 2013 State Science and Technology Progress Award (First Class), for innovative theory and technological breakthrough in the treatment of severe liver disease
* 2014 State Science and Technology Progress Award (First Class), for research and effective prevention of the
H1N1
In virology, influenza A virus subtype H1N1 (A/H1N1) is a subtype of influenza A virus. Major outbreaks of H1N1 strains in humans include the Spanish flu, the 1977 Russian flu pandemic and the 2009 swine flu pandemic. It is an orthomyxovirus ...
flu pandemic in China
* 2014
Ho Leung Ho Lee Prize for Science and Technology Achievement
* 2015 State Science and Technology Progress Award (First Class), for innovative treatment of terminal liver disease
* 2017 State Science and Technology Progress Award (Special Prize), for major innovation and technological breakthrough in prevention systems of epidemics exemplified by the
H7N9
Influenza A virus subtype H7N9 (A/H7N9) is a bird flu strain of the species Influenza virus A (avian influenza virus or bird flu virus). Avian influenza A H7 viruses normally circulate amongst avian populations with some variants known to occ ...
avian flu
* 2020 Nature's 10: Ten People Who Helped Shape Science in 2020
* 2021 Fellow of the
American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering
The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) is a non-profit organization founded in 1991, and headquartered in Washington. It represents 50,000 medical and biomedical engineers, and academic institutions, private industry, ...
* 2022
Personal life
Li is married to
Zheng Shusen, a liver transplant expert and also an academician of the
Chinese Academy of Engineering
The Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE, ) is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for engineering. It was established in 1994 and is an institution of the State Council of China. The CAE and the Chinese Academy of Sciences ...
. They have a son named Zheng Jie ().
See also
*
*
Chen Wei, medical researcher who won multiple national awards
References
External links
Li Lanjuanon the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University
on the
Chinese Academy of Engineering
The Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE, ) is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for engineering. It was established in 1994 and is an institution of the State Council of China. The CAE and the Chinese Academy of Sciences ...
(CAE)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Lanjuan
1947 births
Living people
20th-century Chinese physicians
21st-century Chinese physicians
Chinese epidemiologists
Chinese hepatologists
Chinese women physicians
Members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering
Physicians from Zhejiang
Scientists from Shaoxing
Chinese Communist Party politicians from Zhejiang
Zhejiang University alumni
Zhejiang University faculty
Coronavirus researchers