President Xi Jinping signed a presidential order on Tuesday to award four people national medals and honorary titles for their outstanding contributions to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. Chen Wei, a Tsinghua alumna, was among the recipients.
Xi's presidential order came after the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress voted to adopt a decision to confer the national medals and honorary titles on the four renowned specialists.
Zhong Nanshan, a prominent infectious disease expert, was awarded the Medal of the Republic and Zhang Boli, Zhang Dingyu and Chen Wei were awarded the "People's Hero" national honorary title.
"People's Hero" national honorary title recipient Chen Wei
Chen Wei is a military medical scientist who made major achievements in COVID-19-related basic research, vaccine development and protective medicine.
Chen, who received her master’s degree in 1991 from Tsinghua University’s Department of Chemical Engineering, is now director of the Institute of Bioengineering of the Academy of Military Medical Sciences (AMMS) at the PLA Academy of Military Science.
Known for her research on prevention and control of biological hazards, Chen has had a decorated career with many remarkable achievements. She developed the PLA’s first new biological drug for SARS prevention (recombinant human interferon ω), as well as the world's first Ebola vaccine to win new drug approval.
