10 Award-Winning Asian Scientists You Should Know About
Across the fields of neuroscience, cancer research, and molecular biology, Asian scientists are making remarkable contributions that are shaping the future of science and medicine. From Nobel Prize winners to pioneers of gene-editing and regenerative medicine, these individuals are pushing boundaries, developing groundbreaking therapies, and earning well-deserved international recognition in their fields.
In this article, we highlight 10 distinguished scientists of Asian heritage whose innovative research has earned them global acclaim and prestigious awards in recent years. We focus on some extraordinary researchers from Asian countries including China, Japan, India and Thailand who have all won significant awards in the last decade.
Take a closer look at our list of 10 Award-Winning Asian Scientists You Should Know About...
1. Nieng Yan
Award: 2024 L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science International Award
Nieng Yan (Yan Ning) is a Chinese structural biologist and a professor at the School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University. In 2024 she was a winner in the International L’Oréal-UNESCO Awards, which were created in 1998 to celebrate exceptional female scientists and their contributions to the progress of science. A leading authority in her field, she was recognised for her research which led to the discovery of the atomic structure of multiple membrane proteins that mediate the traffic of ions and sugars across the cell membrane. Her work has seen advancements in epilepsy and arrhythmia treatments, and she is a passionate advocate for gender equality in science research and education. She has won numerous other awards to date, including the 2019 Weizmann Women & Science Award, and the 2011 National Outstanding Young Scientist Award in China.
2. Mu-Ming Poo
Award: 2016 Gruber Prize in Neuroscience
Mu-Ming Poo is a Chinese neuroscientist and founding director of the CAS (Chinese Academy of Sciences) Institute of Neuroscience. In 2016 he was awarded the Gruber Prize in Neuroscience for his groundbreaking research on synaptic plasticity, which showed how the brain’s circuitry changes in response to life experiences. He later became known for the significant research which led to the world’s first truly cloned primates in 2017, using somatic cell nuclear transfer. Throughout the years he has won a number of other significant awards including the 2021 Ameritic Prize, the 2005 National Prize for International Cooperation in China, the 2010 Qiushi Excellent Scientist Award, and the 2011 CAS Outstanding Science and Technology Achievement Prize.
3. Hualan Chen
Award: 2016 L'Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science
Another winner of the L’Oréal-UNESCO Awards is Professor Hualan Chen, a Chinese veterinary virologist and expert in animal epidemic diseases. She was awarded the prestigious prize in 2016 for her work on the avian influenza virus and has since been involved in the development of vaccines for bird flu. She is currently a PhD supervisor at the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and has also published key research into swine flu. Her many additional accolades include the 2011 China Young Female Scientists Award, the 2016 National Outstanding Science and Technology Talent Award, and was named among Ten Scientific Figures of the Year by Nature.
4. Feng Zhang
Award: 2025 National Medal of Technology and Innovation
Feng Zhang is a Chinese-born biochemist based in the USA who is best known for his significant role in the development of optogenetics and CRISPR technologies. His current lab uses synthetic biology to develop technologies for genome and epigenome engineering in order to study neurobiology. In January 2025, he was one of nine scientists (including Jennifer Doudna) to be awarded the National Medal of Technology and Innovation by US President Joe Biden. He is the co-founder of Editas Medicine, Sherlock Biosciences and Beam Therapeutics, and has won numerous other awards including the 2015 Tsuneko & Reiji Okazaki Award, the 2016 Gairdner Foundation International Award and the Tang Prize. He was also made a laureate of the Asian Scientist 100 in the same year.
5. Dr Claire Chewapreecha
Award: 2024 Nature Awards for Inspiring Women in Science
The 2024 winner of the Nature Awards for Inspiring Women in Science (Scientific Achievement) was Claire Chewapreecha of the MORU Mahidol Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit in Thailand. The award recognises scientists who have made an exceptional contribution to science and who have made efforts to inspire the next generation of women in STEM. Dr Chewapreecha is a bacterial genomics expert and computational biologist who uses genomics to fight melioidosis, a tropical disease with a 10-50% fatality rate. Her long-term goal is to build a sustainable genomic research programme for melioidosis and other infectious diseases in Thailand.
6. Kazutoshi Mori
Award: 2023 Keio Medical Science Prize
Kazutoshi Mori is a Japanese molecular biologist and a professor of biophysics at the Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University. His distinguished career has seen him dedicate focused research on unfolded protein response which detects harmful misfolded proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum and signals the nucleus to make corrections. In 2023 he was awarded the Keio Medical Science Prize, one of Japan’s most prestigious prizes for scientists who have made significant contributions to the field of medical or life science and have promoted peace and prosperity to mankind. Other prizes awarded to Professor Mori include the 2014 Shaw Prize in Life Science and Medicine, the 2016 Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy, the 2018 Momofuku Ando Prize, and the 2023 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award.
7. Renu Swarup
Award: 2019 BW Most Influential Women of India
Renu Swarup is an Indian geneticist who is credited with establishing the Microbial Culture Collection, India’s largest microbial resource centre. She is a former Secretary for the Government of India and headed the Department of Biotechnology for the Indian Ministry of Science and Technology. Her work on microbial diversity research saw a new microbial species named after her in 2002. In 2019, she was named one of the Most Influential Women of India by BW Businessworld and won the Agriculture Research Leadership Award in the same year. She is a passionate supporter of female scientists and has been involved in a number of advocacy initiatives, including Biotechnology Career Advancement for Women Scientists (BioCARe).
8. Xie Xiaoliang
Award: 2017 Qiu Shi Outstanding Scientist Award
Chinese biophysicist Xie Xiaoliang (Xiaoliang Sunney Xie) is a multi award-winning researcher who is known for his contributions to the studies of single-molecule biophysical chemistry and genomics. He has mentored numerous students and postdocs at both Harvard University and Peking University, with more than 50 former mentees going on to become professors at academic institutions around the world. In 2017 he was awarded the prestigious Outstanding Scientist Award by the Qiu Shi Foundation in recognition of his contributions to advancements in science and technology. His huge list of previous awards include the 2004 NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, the 2012 Biophysical Society Founders Award, the 2015 Peter Debye Award for Physical Chemistry, and the 2015 Albany Medical Centre Prize.
9. Bushra Ateeq
Award: 2020 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in Medical Sciences
Cancer researcher Bushra Ateeq is an Indian Professor who specialises in the exploration of the genetic and epigenetic changes that cause cancer. She is known for her work around understanding the molecular events that drive cancer growth and create resistance towards chemotherapeutic treatments. She has also carried out significant studies to help identify biomarkers for prostate cancer, and has received a number of honours and awards for her work in the field of medical science. In 2020 she was awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology for her notable and outstanding research into molecular oncology. She has also been awarded the 2019 CNR Rao Faculty Award for Excellence in Research, the 2019 Sayeeda Begum Women Scientist Prize, and the 2009 Young Investigator Award for Breast Cancer Research.
10. Tasuku Honjo
Award: 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Tasuku Honjo is a Japanese molecular immunologist who is known worldwide for his identification of cytokines as well as the discovery of activation-induced cytidine deaminase. In 2018 he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine along with James P Allison for their discovery of cancer therapy by inhibition of negative immune regulation. His discovery of a protein on immune cells prompted the development of therapies which have been effective in the treatment of cancer. He has won numerous other awards including the 2017 Warren Alpert Foundation Prize, the 2016 Fudan-Zhongzhi Science Award, the 2016 Keio Medical Science Prize, and the 1996 Imperial Prize of the Japan Academy.
Want to learn about other award-winning scientists?
If you’d like to read about other great scientists and their award-winning research, take a look at some of these other resources on the Hello Bio blog:
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