Li Lin (; born 1961) is a Chinese biochemist and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He served as director of the Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences beginning in 2013, and was director of the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology (SIBCB) from 2004 to 2009. He was also a member of the

12th National People's Congress The 12th National People's Congress was elected in national congressional conferences from October 2012 to February 2013 and was in session from 2013 to 2018. It succeeded the 11th National People's Congress. It held five plenary sessions in ...

. His research focus is the

Wnt signaling pathway The Wnt signaling pathways are a group of signal transduction pathways which begin with proteins that pass signals into a cell through cell surface receptors. The name Wnt is a portmanteau created from the names Wingless and Int-1. Wnt signaling p ...

Biography

Li Lin was born in

Nanjing Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

Province in 1961. After graduating from

Nanjing University Nanjing University (NJU; ) is a national public research university in Nanjing, Jiangsu. It is a member of C9 League and a Class A Double First Class University designated by the Chinese central government. NJU has two main campuses: the Xianl ...

in 1983 with a bachelor's degree in biochemistry, he entered the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry to study under Professor Xu Genjun, an

enzyme Enzymes () are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products. A ...

specialist, and earned his Ph.D. in 1989. At the time, scientific research in China was poorly funded, and his research was limited by primitive facilities and supplies. He often went to slaughterhouses and wet markets himself to buy chicken and pig livers for his experiments. From 1990 to 1992, Li worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the

State University of New York, Stony Brook Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public research university in Stony Brook, New York. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is one of the State University of New York system' ...

. He returned to the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry (now Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, SIBCB) afterwards, at a time when most Chinese students and researchers chose to stay abroad for the better living standards and research facilities. He was promoted to full professor in 1993. His research is focused on the mechanisms of the

. Li served as deputy director of the SIBCB from 2002 to 2004, and director from 2004 to 2009. In 2013, he became director of the Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, of which SIBCB is a constituent institute. He is an editor of many scientific journals.

Honours and awards

Li has won many awards, including the CAS Young Scientist Award (1993), National Outstanding Young Scientist Award (1995), Outstanding Young Scholar Award by Hong Kong Qiushi Foundation (1996), and China Youth Science and Technology Award (1997). He was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2011. He was also elected as a member of the 11th

Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC, zh, 中国人民政治协商会议), also known as the People's PCC (, ) or simply the PCC (), is a political advisory body in the People's Republic of China and a central part of ...

and a member of the

Personal life

Li is married to Zhang Qin (), his classmate at Nanjing University. He considers

Wang Yinglai Wang Yinglai (; 13 November 1907 – 5 May 2001), also known as Ying-Lai Wang, was a Chinese biochemist recognized as the first person to create synthetic insulin, a major scientific breakthrough that produced a biologically active compound fr ...

, the founding director of the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry, his role model.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Li, Lin 1961 births Living people Biologists from Jiangsu Chemists from Jiangsu Chinese biochemists Delegates to the 12th National People's Congress Members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Nanjing University alumni People's Republic of China politicians from Jiangsu Politicians from Nanjing Scientists from Nanjing Stony Brook University people