‘Genius’ biochemist Kunliang Guan returns to China from US to head new lab

Guan takes up position at Westlake University in aftermath of National Institutes of Health investigation

He joins former colleague neuroscientist Fu Xiangdong, who was forced to resign from the University of California, San Diego

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Guan Kunliang is recruiting staff for a new laboratory at Westlake University in Hangzhou. Photo: Westlake University

Published: 6:25am, 15 Aug 2023Updated: 9:44am, 15 Aug 2023

After working in the United States for more than 30 years, biochemist Kunliang Guan is back in China with a full-time chair professor position at Westlake University in the eastern province of Zhejiang.

As one of the most cited researchers in his field and a recipient of a MacArthur “genius” award, among other prizes, Guan will head a new laboratory to continue his world-leading research on cell signalling pathways related to organ development and cancer, according to the university’s website.

Previously, he was a distinguished professor at University of California, San Diego’s pharmacology department – and a target of investigations backed by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the world’s biggest funder of biomedical research.

In 2019, Guan was banned from applying for NIH funding for two years after he was found to have violated the university’s code of conduct by failing to disclose research support from foreign sources, including Fudan University in Shanghai.

Biochemist Kunliang Guan is back in China with a full-time chair professor position at Westlake University in the eastern province of Zhejiang. Photo: Westlake University

By the time the suspension ended in 2021, the operations of Guan’s lab had shrunk dramatically and he had stopped taking on new graduate students for fear that he would not be able to support them, he told Science magazine in March.

“I’m one of the lucky ones. I don’t know how many people that the NIH wanted to stop are able to start again. Maybe none,” Guan was quoted as saying.

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‘Genius’ biochemist Kunliang Guan returns to China from US to head new lab

Guan takes up position at Westlake University in aftermath of National Institutes of Health investigation He joins former colleague neuroscientist Fu Xiangdong, who was forced to resign from the University of California, San Diego

Guan takes up position at Westlake University in aftermath of National Institutes of Health investigation

He joins former colleague neuroscientist Fu Xiangdong, who was forced to resign from the University of California, San Diego