Prof. Kexuan Tang is Distinguished Professor and Director of the Plant Biotechnology Research Center and the Fudan-SJTU-Nottingham Plant Biotechnology R&D Center at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), one of China’s leading universities. He received his BSc from Sichuan University (1985), MSc from Beijing Agricultural University and Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences (1988), and PhD from the University of Nottingham (UK, 1996), supported by the Rockefeller Foundation Biotechnology Pre-doctoral Fellowship.

His research focuses on plant biotechnology for human health and agriculture, with outstanding contributions in the genetic engineering of medicinal plants, RNAi pest control strategies, and metabolic engineering for drug production. Notably, he co-led the first sequencing of the Artemisia annua genome, enabling the development of engineered strains with enhanced artemisinin content—critical in the fight against malaria—as well as engineered Catharanthus roseus with improved vinblastine content for cancer therapy.

Prof. Tang has authored over 300 peer-reviewed publications with more than 16,000 citations (H-index 66), 3 edited books, over 100 patents, and numerous keynote presentations. His work is supported by competitive grants from bodies including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the National Key R&D Program of China.

He is Honorary Doctor of Linnaeus University (Sweden), and recipient of major awards such as the Natural Science Award of the Ministry of Education of China, Shanghai Technology Invention Award, Shanghai Leading Talent Award, and the Chang Jiang Scholar Award. He holds fellowships from the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB), the Royal Society for Arts (FRSA), the European Academy of Sciences (EURASC), and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts (EASA).

Prof. Kexuan Tang has served as Officer of the Medicine and Life Sciences Division since May 2025, for the mandate May 2025 – April 2028 (current and first term, in accordance with the EurASc Bylaws).