Professor Guizhen Wu, President of Asia-Pacific Biosafety Association (A-PBA), China CDC’s Chief Expert of Biosafety Control, Member of WHO Technical Advisory Group for Biosafety (TAG-B), Key Expert Group Leader of the National Key R&D Program of China “Biosafety Key Technology Research and Development”, has been working for nearly four decades in the field of public health emergencies and laboratory biosafety.

Wu is the major planners and promoters of the construction of laboratory biosafety management system in China. With her pioneering efforts, a comprehensive, centralized, standardized, and scientific laboratory management system has been established in China CDC and followed by establishment at all levels of CDCs since 2004. Based on the system, she has presided over the efficient disposal of emerging infectious diseases, including the pandemic H1N1 influenza, Ebola outbreak in West Africa, and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), etc., making a significant contribution to people’s health.

To respond promptly to the initial outbreak of COVID-19 in late December, 2019, Wu led the specialists to sequence the virus genome, develop diagnostic reagents, and successfully isolate the virus in 7 days. The genetic sequence was shared globally in the first time, since then the development of most COVID-19 vaccines and diagnostic agents was initiated around the world. Wu also successfully led the development of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine (BBIBP-CorV), which was listed for emergency use by WHO in 2021. These major achievements have been recognized as China's major contributions to the global efforts against the COVID-19 pandemic. With her outstanding performance in response to COVID-19, Wu was recognized and awarded as the "national advanced individual in combating COVID-19" in China.

Wu and her team also participated in drafting and revising more than 10 relevant laws, regulations, and standards. She authored more than 100 papers in Nature, Science, Cell, NEJM, Lancet and other international journals as correspondence. As Editor-in-Chief, Wu published 15 biosafety-related monographs including the recently published Laboratory Biosafety Guide, and initiated a scientific journal in English, namely Biosafety and Health in 2019, which periodically published the academic findings in the field of biosafety. In January 2022, Wu was selected as the world's top 100,000 scientists, ranking first in China in the field of public health and Preventive Medicine.

Wu was rewarded the Special Government Allowance from the State Council of China and awarded the Outstanding Young and Middle-Aged Expert by the Ministry of Health (now the NHC) of China. She has also won the National Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress (Special Class and First-Class) and seven provincial and ministerial science and technology awards.
As China CDC’s Chief Expert of Biosafety Control, Wu collaborates and shares with the World Health Organization (WHO), European Biosafety Association (EBSA), and American Biological Safety Association International (ABSA). She continues to play a crucial role in guiding China’s biosafety development and safeguarding the country in response to emerging and reemerging infectious diseases.

National Institute for Viral Disease Control and Prevention, China CDC