zhihong liu received her master’s degree from naval medical university (the second military medical). she worked as a visiting scholar at the national institutes of health (nih) in the united states from 1993 to 1996. in 1996, she was appointed as a full professor in the medical school of nanjing university. she was elected as an academician of the chinese academy of engineering in 2003. currently, she is the director of the national clinical research center for kidney disease at jinling hospital, and the editor-in-chief of kidney diseases and the chinese journal of nephrology, dialysis & transplantation. she has made significant contributions to patient care, research, and medical education. she is the chief scientist of the national basic research program of china (973 program), and she has been honored with the national science and technology progress award of china.