ZHU CHEN was honored by the American Association for Cancer Research with its Award for Distinguished Public Service and Global Impact in Cancer Research in Biomedical Science.
Chen, a fellow of the AACR Academy, is the vice chairman of the 12th Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress. From 2007 to 2013, he served as China’s minister of health. He received the award Oct. 9, where he delivered the opening plenary lecture at the AACR’s inaugural meeting in China.
Chen helped pioneer the concept of combination targeted therapies for cancer and, by combining traditional Chinese medicine with Western medicine, he provided the first successful model in the treatment of acute promyeloctyic leukemia with all-trans retinoic acid and arsenic trioxide.
Under Chen’s leadership, the Chinese National Human Genome Center has contributed to human genome sequencing and SNP HaploMap projects. They recently completed genome sequencing of Schistosoma japonicum, which revealed features of a host-parasite interplay that lead to better control and prevention of infection, a disease that remains a significant health problem in China.
