Li Lanjuan (; born 13 September 1947), also romanized as Lan-Juan Li, is a Chinese

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, ''seve ...

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 orthomyxoviru ...

, and H7N9 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 inhabitant ...

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Chekiang) is an East China, eastern, coastal Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable citie ...

. 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 scientif ...

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. ...

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 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

, 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 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 identi ...

, 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 Province in the 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 ninth-most populous Chinese city an ...

(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, whic ...

to help combat the epidemic. On 20 April 2020, Stephen Chen from the '' South China Morning Post'' 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

(Second Class), for research on artificial liver support system * 2005 elected as an academician of the

(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

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 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 UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences

Personal life

Li is married to Zheng Shusen, a liver transplant expert and also an academician of the

. They have a son named Zheng Jie ().

References

External links

Li Lanjuan
on the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University

on the

(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