Top biomedical scientist Hu Ye quits US to take up founding role in China
Hu has been appointed founding dean at the new school of biomedical engineering at his alma mater, Tsinghua University
Correction: A previous headline incorrectly linked Hu’s return to funding cuts. His return to China was unrelated to the NIH funding, and the funds were not frozen or reduced. The Post apologises for the inconvenience caused.
A top biomedical scientist has left the United States after more than two decades to become the founding dean of a new school of biomedical engineering at his alma mater, Tsinghua University.
The move means that Hu Ye, a critic of US funding cuts to science, has given up the prestigious chair professor position at Tulane University in New Orleans as well as millions of dollars in research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Hu has long focused on the rapid detection of viruses, publishing numerous papers in top-tier journals and serving as the associate editor of ACS Nano journal.
Hu has applied for more than 30 patents in the field of nanomedicine, 14 of which have been authorised by American or international companies, and is a co-founder of four biotech start-up companies in the United States.
Just months before he left the US, Hu commented publicly on the effect of freezes and cuts to NIH funding on scientific research, joining a chorus of scientists and researchers concerned about the US administration’s science policy.