Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, PR China

Specialization: Biosafety, Infectious diseases

Yuan Zhiming obtained his PhD on microbiology and biotechnology at Sun Yat-sen University. From 1995-2003, he was engaged in collaborative research at CIRAD and the Pasteur Institute in France, the Royal Danish University of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, the Danish National Institute of Environmental Research and the University of Illinois, USA. He has been working as a professor at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the president of Wuhan Branch, Chinese Academy of Sciences, since 2000.

As a principal investigator, his research group works on the diagnosis and drug discovery of aborviruses, genomics, insecticidal proteins and their mode of action, genetic modification of entomopathogenic bacteria (Bacillus spp.), as well as the production, standardization and application of bio-pesticide and other microbial agents. Since 2003, he was appointed chair of the Institutional Biosafety Committee, member of National Laboratory Biosafety Committee, advisor of different national technical committees on biosafety management, and general manager of National High-Level Biosafety Laboratory in Wuhan.

Yuan Zhiming also works as a group leader on Sino-French biosafety legislation cooperation. In addition, he was elected as President of Hubei Society for Microbiology in 2008. Along with providing expertise and consultative services to both private companies and government institutions on matters of biotechnology and biosafety, he has given many lectures to national and international audiences. He published more than 200 papers in various high impact-factor journals.