George F. Gao

Gao Fu (; born 15 November 1961), also known as George Fu Gao, is a Chinese virologist and immunologist. He served as Director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention from August 2017 to July 2022 and has been Dean of the Savaid Medical School of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences since 2015.

Early life and education Gao was born in Ying County, Shuozhou, Shanxi province in 1961. He entered Shanxi Agricultural University and was assigned to study veterinary medicine even though he did not want to be a veterinarian.

After graduating in 1983, he entered the graduate school of Beijing Agricultural University, where he earned a master's degree in microbiology and veterinary epidemiology in 1986. This enabled him to change his career direction to infectious disease research, and he joined the faculty of the university as a teaching assistant and later lecturer in virology.

In 2015, Gao was appointed Dean of the Savaid Medical School of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. He also serves as Vice President of the National Natural Science Foundation of China.

In 2020, Gao contributed to research on SARS-CoV-2.

Contributions Gao's main research focus is on the mechanism of viral entry and release, especially the cross-species transmission (host jump) of the influenza virus. He also studies viral ecology, including the ecology of the flu virus in migratory birds and poultry markets.

Gao's research also involves public and global health policy. During the peak of the 2014 Ebola outbreak, he spent two months leading the China Mobile Test Laboratory in Sierra Leone from September to November, playing a role that is described by the US National Academy of Sciences as "heroic" in fighting the epidemic. GISAID, Member of the Scientific Advisory Council (2016–2022) National Natural Science Foundation of China, Vice President

Honours and recognition TWAS Prize in Medical Science, 2012 Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), December 2013 Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), 2014 Fellow of the African Academy of Sciences (AAS), 2017 Academician of the International Eurasian Academy of Sciences, 2018 Foreign associate of the US National Academy of Medicine, October 2019 Member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, 2020