Zhang Yongzhen, known as Yong-Zhen Zhang, is a Chinese virologist known for his work relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.
16 Facts About Zhang Yongzhen
2.
Zhang Yongzhen led the team that sequenced and published the genome of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in early January 2020.
3.
Zhang Yongzhen said that the lab closure was due to the officials ordering the labe to update its biosafety protocols, because equipment had been moved during construction work, and disputed reports that the shutdown was a punishment for publishing the genome.
4.
Zhang Yongzhen was named one of Nature's 10: "ten people who helped shape science in 2020", and was winner of the 2020 ICG-15 GigaScience Prize for Outstanding Data Sharing during the COVID-19 Pandemic.
5.
Zhang Yongzhen was one of Time's 100 most influential people of 2020 and Straits Times 2020 Asians of the Year.
6.
Zhang Yongzhen studied at South China Agricultural University, Southern Medical University, and Kunming Institute of Zoology.
7.
Zhang Yongzhen is a professor at Fudan University in Shanghai and works at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
8.
Zhang Yongzhen's research involves RNA sequencing, and he has discovered numerous RNA viruses with collaborator Edward C Holmes of the University of Sydney.
9.
Zhang Yongzhen has created a network of labs dedicated to monitoring novel viruses.
10.
In 2019, Zhang Yongzhen got preliminary approval for funding from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China to run a national survey and database of pathogenic viruses, though as of 2020 the project was delayed by red tape.
11.
On 3 January 2020, Zhang Yongzhen's team received a test tube containing swabs from the initial outbreak of a pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan, caused by what would eventually be known as COVID-19.
12.
On that day Zhang Yongzhen uploaded the genome to the United States National Center for Biotechnology Information and notified the Shanghai municipal health authority.
13.
Zhang Yongzhen contacted Wuhan Central Hospital and the Chinese Ministry of Health, arguing that the virus was similar to SARS and that it spread by respiratory transmission.
14.
Zhang Yongzhen advised "emergency public measures to protect against this disease" and the development of antiviral treatments.
15.
Zhang Yongzhen granted permission, and Holmes published the genome on virological.
16.
The Chinese government had prohibited labs from publishing information about the new coronavirus, though Zhang Yongzhen later said he did not know about the prohibition.