Tu Youyou

Tu Youyou
Bengt Nyman from Vaxholm, Sweden · CC BY 2.0 · source
Name	Tu Youyou
Native name	屠呦呦
Birth date	30 December 1930
Birth place	Ningbo, Zhejiang, Republic of China
Fields	Pharmacology, Traditional Chinese medicine, Phytochemistry
Institutions	China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Academy of Military Medical Sciences
Known for	Discovery of Artemisinin, antimalarial research
Awards	Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, Lasker Award, Copley Medal

Tu Youyou was a Chinese pharmaceutical chemist and pharmacologist noted for isolating the antimalarial compound artemisinin from traditional Chinese medicine sources. Her work at the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Academy of Military Medical Sciences during the 1960s and 1970s led to a breakthrough treatment that transformed global public health responses to malaria. Tu's contributions intersect with international efforts by organizations such as the World Health Organization and influenced research in tropical medicine, infectious diseases, and global health.

Early life and education

Tu Youyou was born in Ningbo, Zhejiang province during the era of the Republic of China. Her formative years coincided with events including the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Chinese Civil War, shaping access to institutions like Peking University Medical School and local schools in Ningbo. She studied pharmacology-related courses at the Beijing Medical College (now Peking University Health Science Center) and later trained at the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, linking her trajectory to figures such as Li Shizhen in historical herbal pharmacopeia studies and to institutions including the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica. Tu's education exposed her to classical texts like the Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergencies and the curriculum influenced by policies from the Ministry of Health (People's Republic of China).

Career and research

Tu's career advanced within the Academy of Military Medical Sciences and the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, institutions that collaborated with units like the People's Liberation Army during Project 523, a research initiative in response to malaria affecting forces in Vietnam War contexts and in regions such as Hainan Island and Yunnan. She worked alongside researchers at centers such as the Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, the Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and international labs connected to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Rockefeller Foundation historical networks. Her multidisciplinary team included chemists, parasitologists, and clinicians who tested compounds in models of Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax infection, collaborating conceptually with fields represented by scholars at Oxford University, Harvard University, and the Institute Pasteur. Tu published findings that influenced protocols at the World Health Organization and contributed to drug development pathways used by entities such as Roche and Novartis in later commercialization of derivative therapies.

Discovery of artemisinin

Under Project 523 initiated by the Central Military Commission, Tu led screening of traditional remedies cited in texts like the Collection of Materia Medica and recipes attributed to physicians of the Ming dynasty and Qing dynasty. By extracting active compounds from plants including Artemisia annua and employing techniques reminiscent of methods used by researchers at the University of Cambridge and Max Planck Institute, she isolated a sesquiterpene lactone later named artemisinin. Laboratory tests used protocols comparable to those in studies at the Wellcome Trust and showed efficacy against Plasmodium species resistant to chloroquine and quinine. Clinical trials conducted in zones affected by malaria informed treatment regimens that were later endorsed by the World Health Organization as artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT). Tu's methodological innovations drew on Chinese herbal scholarship, organic chemistry advances like mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance, and parasitology techniques developed at institutions such as the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

Recognition and awards

Tu received international recognition culminating in the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2015, an award shared with other laureates in fields represented by institutions like the Karolinska Institute. Her honors include the Lasker Award, the Copley Medal, and accolades from bodies such as the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Pan American Health Organization. Other awards and memberships linked her to societies and academies including the National Academy of Sciences (honorary), the Royal Society (honorary), and the World Health Organization advisory panels. Her work has been cited in publications from journals like The Lancet, Nature, Science, New England Journal of Medicine, and has been the subject of biographies and profiles in outlets including the BBC, The New York Times, and The Guardian.

Personal life and legacy

Tu maintained a low public profile compared to contemporaries in fields such as Deng Xiaoping-era scientists and Nobel laureates like James Watson and Francis Crick. She has been associated with institutions such as the Chinese Academy of Engineering and has mentored researchers working at universities including Tsinghua University, Fudan University, and Zhejiang University. Her legacy influences global initiatives against malaria led by organizations like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the Clinton Foundation. Artemisinin-based therapies continue to be central to treatment guidelines in countries such as Nigeria, India, Brazil, Vietnam, and across Sub-Saharan Africa, shaping policy in forums such as the World Health Assembly. Tu's story is cited in discussions of intellectual property, access to medicines debates involving entities like Novartis and GlaxoSmithKline, and in educational curricula at institutions including the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

Category:Chinese pharmacologists Category:Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine Category:1930 births Category:Living people