Respiratory expert and epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan was
the first person to identify the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome
(SARS) virus during the 2003 outbreak.
As head of the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory
Diseases, Nanshan and his team offered to admit all the critical SARS
cases in Guangdong province into his Institute. He drew up the
procedures for the proper management and prevention of SARS that were
adopted by the Chinese Ministry of Health. This pioneering work earned
him the national labour medal from the government.
Nanshan has also developed guidelines for the diagnosis
and management of asthma, chronic cough, and chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease (COPD), a group of lung conditions that cause
breathing difficulties. A paper he co-authored on COPD was selected by
readers of prestigious medical journal ‘The Lancet’ as their paper of
the year in 2008. Between 2005 and 2010 Nanshan served as President of
the Chinese Medical Association.
Still at the forefront of respiratory medicine, Nanshan
is currently leading the Chinese National Health Commission's expert
panel investigating the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
Edinburgh education: Visiting scholar, 1979 to 1981. Honorary MD, 2007.
Current position: Head of National Health Commission team investigating COVID-19