Zihe Rao

Zihe Rao, a structural biologist and molecular virologist, is a professor at Tsinghua University, and the director of the Laboratory for Structural Biology there. He is Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Member of Presidium of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fellow of Royal Society of Edinburgh, Member of The Third-World Academy of Science, Member of the European Academy of Sciences, and Member of the Asian-Euro Academy of Science. He is the former President of Nankai University and the former Director-General of Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Rao’s research has been focused on the understanding of pathogens and infectious diseases, as well as the anti-infection applications. He has revealed fundamental structure-function and mechanistic insights to the replication/transcription, assembly and host invasion of coronavirus, retrovirus, influenza virus, picornavirus, herpesvirus, Africa-Swine-Fever-virus and other disease-causing viruses, and uncovered how Mycobacterium tuberculosis achieves metabolite/energy transport and drug resistance. These works led to new therapeutic targets and innovative drug designs. His most recent works on the mechanisms underlying SARS-CoV-2 lifecycle and the rapid development of effective antiviral strategies contributes to the worldwide efforts against COVID-19.

Rao graduated from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), got his master degree from the Institute of Biophysics, CAS Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and received his doctorate from Melbourne University.