World-leading computational biology pioneer Bao Zhirong returns to China from US

After 30 years in the United States, world-leading computational biologist Bao Zhirong has taken up a full-time position at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) in Shenzhen.

Bao, who pioneered imaging technologies that allow scientists to track the behaviour of individual cells in real time as organs form and diseases emerge, has been a chair professor at SUSTech’s life sciences school since January, according to his new faculty profile.

He was previously at New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre – one of the world’s most distinguished cancer hospitals – where he oversaw multimillion-dollar research projects funded by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH).

One of Bao’s most influential contributions was AceTree, a cell-tracking software developed in his lab that has become a critical tool in developmental biology. It has been widely used to study how birth defects arise, how cancer cells hijack normal growth pathways and how stem cells might be guided to repair damaged tissues.

Recognition for Bao’s work has included the Basil O’Connor Starter Scholar Award and the NIH Director’s Transformative Research Award, which supports high-risk ideas with the potential to reshape biomedical science.

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Why are more Chinese scientists leaving the US to return to China?

Why are more Chinese scientists leaving the US to return to China?

Bao did not immediately respond to a request for comment.