As the 2020 China Emerging Science and Technology Forum concluded at the China Hall of Science and Technology on December 19, a total of 32 young talents were honored as 2020 China Emerging Science and Technology Figures, echoing this year’s theme of "National Needs and Personal Paths: Research Planning for Young Scholars".

Hongli Hu, a Professor at the School of Life and Health Sciences (LHS) of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, was granted the Outstanding Achievement Award of 2020 China Emerging Science and Technology Figures.

BIOGRAPHY

Dr. Hu, Hongli received her bachelor's degree in Applied Physics from Nankai University in 2008 and her Ph.D. degree in Biophysics from Peking University in 2013. Then she continued her study on the structural biology based on Cryo-electron Electron Microscopy at the Wadsworth Center of the New York State Department of Health, the University of Michigan, and Stanford University. She conducted extensive collaborative research with Prof. Brian Kobilka and Prof. Robert Lefkowitz of 2012 Nobel Laureates in chemistry at the university of Michigan and Stanford university. She has participated in many important projects and made outstanding contributions to the analysis of high-resolution complex structures of G protein-coupled receptors. Since June 2019, she joined the School of Life and Health Sciences, Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen) and the Kobilka Institute of Innovative Drug Discovery as an Assistant Professor and doctoral supervisor.

Dr. Hu, Hongli is mainly engaged in the study of G-protein-coupled Receptor (GPCR) complex. She mainly used Cryo Electron Microscopy to obtain the high-resolution structure of GPCR and studied the interaction between membrane proteins and their regulatory proteins which provide an important theoretical basis for the drugs design with targeting of membrane proteins. Since 2017, she has published five articles in top journals such as Nature and Cell, among which she published two articles in Nature as co-first authors. Major achievements include: 3.5 Å Cryo-EM structure of opioid receptor and inhibitory G protein Gi, and Cryo-EM structure of the first full-length molecule of Metabolic Glutamate Receptor (mGlu5) of class C GPCR in different states. Both results were published in Nature, and Dr. Hu, Hongli was the co-first authors. Both articles were highlighted by Nature News & Review.