Gao Fu | |
|---|---|
高福 | |
 26 January 2020, at a press conference on the Covid-19 pandemic. | |
| Born | (1961-11-15)15 November 1961 (age 64) Ying County,Shanxi, China |
| Other names | George F. Gao |
| Alma mater | |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Virology and immunology |
| Institutions | |
Gao Fu (Chinese:高福;pinyin:Gāo Fú; born 15 November 1961), also known asGeorge Fu Gao, is a Chinesevirologist andimmunologist. He served as Director of theChinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention from August 2017 to July 2022[1] and has been Dean of the Savaid Medical School of theUniversity of Chinese Academy of Sciences since 2015.
Gao was born inYing County,Shuozhou,Shanxi province in 1961.[2] He enteredShanxi Agricultural University and was assigned to studyveterinary medicine even though he did not want to be a veterinarian.[3]
After graduating in 1983, he entered the graduate school ofBeijing Agricultural University, where he earned a master's degree inmicrobiology andveterinary epidemiology in 1986.[4] This enabled him to change his career direction to infectious disease research, and he joined the faculty of the university as a teaching assistant and later lecturer invirology.[3]
In 1991, Gao went to the United Kingdom to study atOxford University, where he earned his Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1994 under the supervision of David H. L. Bishop and Ernest A. Gould.[4] After a three-month stint at theUniversity of Calgary in Canada, he returned to Oxford as apostdoctoral researcher, working under John I. Bell,Andrew McMichael and Bent K. Jakobsen.[4]
In 1999, Gao moved toHarvard Medical School as a Wellcome Trust International Travelling Fellow and conducted research underDon Craig Wiley andStephen C. Harrison until 2001. From 2001 to 2004, Gao taught at Oxford University, serving as a lecturer, doctoral supervisor, and group leader.[4]
After 13 years abroad, Gao returned to China in 2004 to serve as Professor and Director of theInstitute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IMCAS).[3] In 2008 he was appointed Vice President of Beijing Institutes of Life Science and Director of the National Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Microorganism and Immunology of the CAS. He has also been anadjunct professor at Oxford since 2010.[4]
Gao was appointed Deputy Director of theChinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention in April 2011. He was promoted to Director in August 2017, succeeding Wang Yu (王宇).[5][6]
In 2015, Gao was appointed Dean of the Savaid Medical School of theUniversity of Chinese Academy of Sciences.[7] He also serves as Vice President of theNational Natural Science Foundation of China.[8]
In 2020, Gao contributed to research onSARS-CoV-2.[9]
Gao's main research focus is on the mechanism ofviral entry and release, especially thecross-species transmission (host jump) of theinfluenza virus. He also studiesviral ecology, including the ecology of the flu virus in migratory birds and poultry markets.[10] He was the first to describe the cross-species transmission mechanism of theH5N1 avian flu virus.[11]
Gao's research also involves public and global health policy. During the peak of the2014 Ebola outbreak, he spent two months leading the China Mobile Test Laboratory inSierra Leone from September to November, playing a role that is described by the USNational Academy of Sciences as "heroic" in fighting the epidemic.[10]
As of 2019, Gao has published 20 books or book chapters and over 500 peer-reviewed research papers,[10] including those on newly discovered pathogenic viruses such as theSARS virus and theH7N9 avian flu virus.[11]
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| Preceded by Wang Yu (王宇) | Director ofChinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention 2017–2022 | Succeeded by |
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