The 2021 Beijing Science and Technology Awards were unveiled recently. Xiaoliang Sunney Xie, Director of CPL was awarded the Zhongguancun Award for Outstanding Contributions while 5 other Leading Scientists received Beijing Science & Technology Progress Awards, including 3 in the first class and 1 in the second class.
Zhongguancun Award for Outstanding Contributions
Sunney Xie is the Lee Shau-kee Professor and Dean of Faculty of Sciences at Peking University. He received his B.Sc. in Chemistry from Peking University in 1984, and Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from University of California at San Diego in 1990. He became the first tenured professor in 1998 and the first endowed Professor in 2009 at Harvard University among Chinese scholars since China's reform and opening up. He relocated to Peking University in 2018.
Xie has been a pioneer of single-molecule biophysical chemistry, coherent Raman scattering microscopy and single-cell genomics. The single-cell whole genome amplification methods that his group invented has to date benefited thousands of families with monogenic diseases by successfully preventing the passing of disease-causing mutations to their offspring. In fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic, Xie's team has identified broad-spectrum neutralizing antibodies against all SARS-CoV-2 variants, and partnered with pharmaceutical company to promote its clinical application.
Xie received numerous international awards, most notably Albany Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research, Peter Debye Award in Physical Chemistry of American Chemical Society and Founders Award of Biophysical Society.
The Zhongguancun Award for Outstanding Contribution was established in 2019 by Beijing Municipal Government. It aims to reward the individuals who have made significant discoveries in scientific research, promoted scientific development and social progress, or made major breakthroughs in the research and development of key core technologies, and created huge economic and social benefits or ecological environmental benefits. It's worth mentioning that Feng Shao, Deputy Director of CPL also won this prize in 2020.
Beijing Science & Technology Progress Awards
First class: Mechanism of oocyte maturation abnormalities and new intervention strategies (Led by Jie QIAO)
First class: R&D supporting platform for infection prevention and control of major viral diseases, evaluation on innovation and application of key technologies （Led by Youchun WANG）
First class: Global research, development and application of COVID-19 inactivated vaccines (Led by Sinovac, collaborated with Yunlong CAO)
Second class: Establishment and application of clinical strategies for precise diagnosis and treatment of severe and critically ill COVID-19 patients (Led by Ronghua JIN, collaborated with Junyu XIAO)
