Professor Fan Chunhai, a leading Chinese scientist in the field of DNA nanotechnology, was honored with the 2024 "Rozenberg Tulip Award" during the 31st International Conference on DNA Computing and Molecular Programming (DNA31), held from Aug 25 to 29 in Lyon, France.

The award, established by the International Society for Nanoscale Science, Computation, and Engineering (ISNSCE), is presented annually to one scientist who has made outstanding contributions to the fields of biological computing and molecular programming. It is named in memory of the late Dutch theoretical computer scientist Grzegorz Rozenberg, a pioneering figure in natural computing.

This marks the first time a Chinese scientist has received this prestigious international award, reflecting the global recognition of China's growing influence and innovative achievements in this cutting-edge interdisciplinary field.

The award committee highlighted Professor Fan's profound impact on DNA nanotechnology, particularly applauding his exceptional research in biosensing, biological computing, and drug delivery applications. The committee also acknowledged his long-standing contributions to the development of these fields within China.

Professor Fan Chunhai is a Wang Kuancheng Chair Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, a New Cornerstone Investigator, and a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. From 2004 to 2018, he served as a researcher at the Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Since 2018, he has been a professor at the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, where he currently serves as dean. He is also the executive dean of the Institute of Translational Medicine and the Tang Zhongying Chief Scientist at the National Center for Translational Medicine.

In addition to his research and administrative roles, Professor Fan is an associate editor of JACS-Au and serves on the editorial boards of over ten internationally renowned journals, including Angewandte Chemie, Accounts of Chemical Research, and ACS Nano. He is also co-chair of the editorial board of ChemPlusChem.

He has been elected as a member of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and is a fellow of several prestigious international organizations, including the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the International Society of Electrochemistry, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering and the Royal Society of Chemistry.

With more than 700 published papers and approximately 80,000 citations, Professor Fan boasts an H-index of 138. He has been consistently named a "Highly Cited Researcher" globally since 2014.

Source: Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Jiusan Society, VOC