Chair Prof. Jian-Kang Zhu to deliver lecture on the relationship between the 5th Base of DNA to health and longevity at CityU this Friday
The City University of Macau (CityU) is delighted to announce that Chair Professor Jian-Kang Zhu, a world-renowned molecular geneticist and plant biologist, has been invited to deliver a Doctor honoris causa Lecture with the theme of “From the 5th Base of DNA to Health and Longevity” this Friday (June 16th). The lecture will take place at 11:00 a.m. in the Ho Yin Convention Centre, Taipa Campus. To those interested, please sign up via the QR code provided below. Additionally, CityU will be hosting the Ceremony for Conferment of Honorary Degree and Congregation 2022/2023 on this Saturday (June 17th), during which Chair Professor Jian-Kang Zhu, Academician Gao Wen, Lawyer Leonel Alberto Alves, and Professor Yafu Gong will be awarded their honorary doctorates.
Chair Professor Jian-Kang Zhu obtained his bachelor’s degree in Soils and Agricultural Chemistry from Beijing Agricultural University in 1987 and his doctorate in Plant Physiology from Purdue University in 1993. He joined the faculty of the School of Plant Sciences at the University of Arizona in 2000 and has held various prestigious positions, including Director of the Institute for Integrative Genome Biology at the University of California, Riverside, Director of the Center for Desert Agriculture at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, and Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture at Purdue University Additionally, he has served as the Director of the Shanghai Center for Plant Stress Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 2022, Chair Professor Zhu resumed his position as Director and Chair Professor at the Institute for Advanced Biotechnology at the Southern University of Science and Technology. He also serves as the editor-in-chief of the international journal Stress Biology and is a member of the editorial boards of several leading international journals, including Research, National Science Review, and Journal of Integrative Plant Biology, among others. Furthermore, he is a member of the advisory committees of many other international research journals, including Molecular Plant, Plant Communication, The Innovation, and Horticulture Research.
His research focuses on developing and applying innovative CRISPR-Cas gene editing technologies for plant breeding, molecular detection, and gene therapy, as well as studying epigenetics (DNA methylation and demethylation), plant stress biology (mechanisms of plant responses to non-biological stresses such as drought, high salinity, and low temperature), and the development of new plant biostimulants. As of March 2023, he has published over 500 papers in top-tier academic journals, including Cell, Nature, Science, and Nature Biotechnology. Nineteen of his research papers have been cited over 140,000 times. He has been listed as a “Highly Cited Researcher” for many consecutive years and is one of the most highly cited scientists in the field of natural sciences worldwide.
