Zhang Yonglian (Chinese: 张永莲; born February 1935), also known as Yong-Lian Zhang, is a Chinese molecular biologist and endocrinologist. She is Professor and Founding Director of the Shanghai Key Laboratory for Molecular Andrology at the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, and a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.[1]

Biography

Zhang was born in Shanghai in February 1935. After graduating from the Department of Chemistry of Fudan University in 1957, she joined the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.[2][3][4] For the next 20 years she worked in a highly classified national defence program researching radiation biology under director Zhang Youduan (张友端), and was virtually unknown to the outside world.[5]

Since 1978, her research has been focused on steroid hormones.[2] She went to London, England in 1983 and worked at the Molecular Endocrinology Lab of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (ICRF) for two years. After returning to China, she participated in collaboration programs with multiple universities in the United States, Europe, Australia, and Hong Kong.[4]

She is considered a pioneer in steroid hormone research, with a particular focus on the mechanisms of how androgens regulate eukaryotic transcription.[4] She discovered that the new gene Bin1b can initiate the movement of sperm and has antimicrobial functions, the first such gene known in the epididymis. Her findings were published in the journal Science.[2][4] In 2007, she founded the Shanghai Key Laboratory for Molecular Andrology to study the generation and maturation of sperm using genetic methods.[2][6]

Honours and recognition

Zhang was elected an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in 2001.[7] She has won the State Natural Science Award (Second Class), the CAS Natural Science Award (First Class),[2] and the Ho Leung Ho Lee Prize for Life Sciences.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "Zhang Yonglian". Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology. Archived from the original on 22 January 2018. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Yang, Cindy (1 March 2014). "Academician Zhang Yonglian Honored for Cutting Edge Genetic Research". All China Women's Federation. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  3. ↑ "Biography of Zhang Yonglian". China Vitae. Archived from the original on 15 July 2016. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Awardee of Life Sciences Prize: Zhang Yonglian". Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation. 2006. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  5. ↑ "张永莲". Jiusan Society. 29 November 2017. Archived from the original on 14 July 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2018.
  6. ↑ "Shanghai Key Laboratory of Molecular Andrology". Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  7. ↑ "张永莲". Chinese Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 28 October 2018.
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