On February 17th, the 2021 and 2022 Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation (HLHL) Award Ceremony was held at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse (DSG). Liu He, Vice Premier of the State Council, Ji Bingxuan, Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, and Wan Gang, Vice Chairperson of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and Chairman of China Association for Science and Technology, attended and addressed the conference. Prof. Hu Yu from the Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) was one of the seven winners of the Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress among over a hundred candidates in 2021.

The Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation was established and co-funded by patriotic financiers Ho Son Heng, Leung Tin Ju, He Tian and Lee Kwok Wai in 1994, aiming to reward distinguished scientists and technologists in China. With the joint efforts of scientific community, education community and all sectors of society, the Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation has become a large-scale, authoritative, and credible privately-funded award. It has played an important role in promoting scientific and technological innovations in China with a growing influence and reputation at home and abroad.

Prof. Hu undertook 30 state-level programs including key projects of the Ministry of Science and Technology. For 4 decades, he has been focusing on basic and clinic research of thrombotic diseases and hematological malignancies. His research revealed the features in molecular genetics of venous thrombus of the Chinese population, established a molecular diagnostic system for thrombotic diseases, explored thrombus-targeted intervention techniques and created the diagnostic scoring system for disseminated intravascular coagulation. Being the first to find that the carriers of COVID-19 developed disturbance of blood coagulation and to explore the mechanism behind that, he urged the importance of anticoagulant therapy, which has been adopted by domestic and international guidelines. He has published over 190 papers in SCI such as CELL, JAMA, Lancet Oncol as the first or corresponding author, led the compilation of 12 domestic guidelines, participated in compiling an international guideline and been awarded 7 national invention patents. Prof. Hu won the second prize of the State Science and Technology Advancement Award, HLHL Science and Technology Progress Award and National Innovation Medal Prize. At present, he is one of the committee members of the Chinese Society of Hematology, China Medical Association (CMA), an associate editor of two journals--Thromb Haemost and Thromb Res, a committee member of ISTH (International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis) Education Committee, and the editor-in-chief of six treatises or textbooks including Clinical Bleeding and Thrombotic Diseases.

There are three prizes--“Scientific and Technological Achievement”, “Scientific and Technological Progress” and “Scientific and Technological Innovation” established by Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation. The prizes are given annually and have been awarded to a total of 1,413 outstanding scientists, engineers and leading figures in different areas. Affected by the pandemic, the 2021 Award Ceremony were postponed until this year to be held together with the 2022 Award Ceremony.

Hematology Department, Union Hospital:

The Hematology Department of the Union Hospital was set up in 1961, which is one of the earliest hematology specialties in China. In 1981, it became one of the first specialties granted to offer master’s degrees and in 1985, it became one of the first specialties granted to offer MD–PhD degrees. In 1989, the Hematology Institute approved by the National Health Commission was established. In 2007, Hubei Institute of Clinical Medicine on Thrombus and Hemostasis approved by the Department of Health of Hubei Province was founded. In 2008, it was listed as a National Key Discipline by the Ministry of Education. In 2009, it was approved to establish the Key Laboratory of Biological Targeted Therapy of the Ministry of Education. In 2011, it was included in the National Key Clinical Specialty Program of the National Health Commission. In 2015, Hubei Institute of Clinical Medicine on Cell Therapy of Tumor Diseases was set up.

Nowadays, integrating clinical diagnosis and treatment, scientific research, education and professional training, the Hematology Department of the Union Hospital has been the largest diagnosis and treatment center with the largest scale and best facilities in central and southwest China. According to the ranking developed by Fudan University, it ranks among the top hematology specialists in the whole country.

Source: Wuhan Union Hospital

Written by: Qin Wei

Edited by: Qu Mengting, Chang Wen, Peng Yumeng