Chinese epidemiologist receives Edinburgh honor

China's leading epidemiologist Zhong Nanshan has received international recognition for the pivotal role he has played in combating the COVID-19 pneumonia outbreak by being named the inaugural winner of the Being Edinburgh Award.

With more than 90 percent of the votes from students, staff and alumni, Zhong, one of the leading specialists tackling the coronavirus pandemic in China and an alumnus of Edinburgh University, took out the 2020 Being Edinburgh Award.

In leading the Chinese National Health Commission's expert panel investigating the outbreak, Zhong has become the public face of China's efforts to halt the spread. He also drawn comparisons with Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer for England and the chief medical adviser to the United Kingdom government on its COVID-19 containment efforts.

The University of Edinburgh said Zhong's ongoing work resonated with the university community, particularly alumni living and working in China and students whose families and friends were caught up in the early stages of the pandemic.

Niamh Martin-McGarrigle, a member of the Being Edinburgh selection committee, said: "During this time of international crisis, the Being Edinburgh Award allows us to highlight positive news in our global alumni community.

"Dr Zhong is an inspiration to students, staff and alumni alike, and embodies important values that the university aims to uphold: Drive, passion, and sustained hard work. His win is well-deserved, and we wish him the best of luck in his research on COVID-19."

In an email to the university, Zhong said it was an honor to receive the first Being Edinburgh Award. He expressed thanks to those who voted and confirmed a planned lecture series to colleagues in Europe and the US about the transmission route, infectivity, diagnosis and management of the COVID-19 infection.

The 83-year-old has long been a household name in China, well known for being the first person to identify the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, or SARS, virus during the 2003 outbreak.

While at the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Diseases, Zhong and his team offered to admit all critical SARS cases in South China's Guangdong province into his institute. He drew up the procedures for the proper management and prevention of SARS that were adopted by the then-Chinese ministry of health. This pioneering work earned him the National May 1 Labor Medal from the government.

The medal is presented by the All-China Federation of Trade Unions.

Zhong was a visiting scholar at the University of Edinburgh between 1979 and 1981, and was awarded an honorary doctorate of medicine in 2007.