Youyou Tu: The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2015

Abstract

The 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura for their discoveries concerning a novel therapy against infections caused by roundworm parasites and to Youyou Tu for her discoveries concerning a novel therapy against Malaria. Tu was born in 1930 in China. She has associated with China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine since 1965. Treating Malaria was a problem in the late 1960s. In China, Tu turned to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) aiming to find novel Malaria therapies. Similarly, the big pharma in the West were also having the same approach. The extract from a Chinese herb, Artemisia annua, emerged as an interesting candidate. This herb is also known as sweet wormwood (青蒿) and is commonly found in Asia. A. annua is a TCM being used to treat fever and inflammation. By revisiting the ancient TCM literature, Tu discovered clues that guided her to successfully extract the active component from A. annua. Tu was the first to show that this component, later called artemisinin, was highly effective against Malaria parasite.

About the speaker

Prof. Karl Tsim received his PhD in Molecular Neurobiology from the University of Cambridge. After his post-doctoral training at Stanford University, he joined HKUST in 1992. He is currently the Chair Professor of Life Science and the Director of the Center for Chinese Medicine R & D in HKUST.

Prof. Tsim developed molecular technique to determine the generic and chemical properties of Chinese herbs. He published over 250 scientific papers and serves as editors for many scientific journals internationally. He also served as an advisor/consultant/member to various organizations, both nationally and internationally, in the standardization of Chinese herbs.