Chen Hualan

Chen Hualan
Born	Template:Birth year and age Jingyuan County, Baiyin, Gansu, China
Occupation(s)	Veterinary virologist, researcher, doctoral advisor
Years active	1991–present
Known for	Research on avian influenza; development of avian influenza vaccines; leadership at Harbin Veterinary Research Institute
Notable work	Development of H5 subtype inactivated avian influenza vaccine; recombinant dual live vaccine for avian influenza and Newcastle disease

Chen Hualan (; born March 1969) is a Chinese expert in veterinary virology with a focus on infectious diseases affecting animals. She is associated with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and contributes to the Food and Agriculture Organization's Corporate Statistical Database (FAOSTAT). Presently, Chen serves as a researcher and doctoral advisor at the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, part of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

Honored as one of Nature's "Ten Scientific Figures of the Year" in 2013, Chen received the L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science in 2016 and was inducted into the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2017.

Biography

Born in 1969 in Jingyuan County, Baiyin, Gansu province, Chen began her academic journey in 1987 at Gansu Agricultural University’s Department of Veterinary Medicine, where she earned her bachelor's degree in 1991. She advanced her studies by obtaining a master's degree in veterinary pathology in 1994, followed by a doctorate in infectious disease and preventive veterinary medicine from the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences in 1997. Subsequently, she joined the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute as an assistant researcher.

In 1999, Chen undertook postdoctoral research on avian influenza at the Influenza Sub-center of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. After returning to China in 2002, she was appointed as a researcher at Harbin Veterinary Research Institute and later assumed leadership of the Ministry of Agriculture’s Key Laboratory of Animal Influenza and the National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory.

Chen has been recognized with numerous prestigious awards that underscore her scientific leadership, including the 2nd China Young Women Scientist Award (2005), China Youth May 4 Medal (2006), National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (2008), and UNESCO-L'Oréal "World Outstanding Female Scientist Achievement Award" (2015). In 2015, Thomson Reuters named her a "Global Highly Cited Scientist."

In 2016, she earned both the National Outstanding Science and Technology Talent Award and China Outstanding Young Science and Technology Talent Award. Her election as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences occurred in 2017.

Politically, Chen has been active since 2018 as a member of the Agricultural and Rural Committee within the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and has served as vice chairwoman of the All-China Women's Federation since November that year. She participated in both the 12th and 13th CPPCC National Committees while maintaining key leadership roles at Harbin Veterinary Research Institute and affiliated national laboratories.

Personal life

Chen is married and has one son.

Major achievement

Research Summary

Chen Hualan directed the National Avian Influenza Reference Laboratory where she led comprehensive epidemiological surveillance and research related to avian influenza across China. Her investigations elucidated molecular genetics, antigenic variation, and pathogenic characteristics of avian influenza viruses, laying a scientific foundation for epidemic prediction, prevention measures, and vaccine innovation. Under her leadership, rapid diagnostic testing nationwide played an essential role in controlling outbreaks of bird flu, greatly aiding epidemic containment efforts.

Her research team made significant advances in areas including epidemiology, diagnostic methods, vaccine creation, molecular evolution, and pathogenic mechanisms particularly concerning animal influenza viruses such as avian influenza. They developed an H5 subtype inactivated avian influenza vaccine alongside an innovative recombinant dual live vaccine combining avian influenza and Newcastle disease antigens—both meeting international cutting-edge standards. These vaccines have markedly enhanced poultry disease prevention domestically and internationally, producing substantial socio-economic benefits and public health improvements.

In April 2013, Chen’s group identified that the emerging H7N9 virus responsible for human infections was genetically very similar to strains found in live poultry markets, pinpointing its origin and informing control strategies. By May that year, they demonstrated that H5N1 could reassort with human influenza viruses to acquire airborne transmission capability among mammals—signaling pandemic potential. By July, their findings revealed that although H7N9 was initially non-pathogenic to poultry, mutations following human infection increased its virulence and mammal-to-mammal transmissibility. These critical discoveries were published in leading scientific journals.

On November 20, 2019, Chen’s team received recognition from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences for pioneering work on rapid evolution and control measures against highly pathogenic H7N9 avian influenza. Their development of bivalent H5 and H7 vaccines effectively blocked viral spread among poultry populations and prevented further human infections—demonstrating immediate positive impacts on public health safety and agricultural biosecurity.

Awards

• First Class National Science and Technology Progress Award
• Second Class National Technology Invention Award
• Chinese Agricultural Elites Award
• China Youth Science and Technology Award
• China Young Female Scientists Award (2011)
• National "May 1" Labor Medal
• China Youth "May 4" Medal
• L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science
• Asian Scientist 100, Asian Scientist, 2017

Project and achievements

Since 1994, Chen Hualan has spearheaded more than twenty major scientific initiatives including national key research programs such as "863," "973," and projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China focused on avian and swine influenza.

Year	Achievement	Award
2005	Creation and application of an H5 subtype avian influenza inactivated vaccine	First Prize of National Science and Technology Progress Award
2007	Development of recombinant combined live vaccine for avian influenza and Newcastle disease	Second Prize of National Technological Invention
2007	Study on evolution, cross-species infection, and molecular pathogenicity mechanisms of avian influenza virus	Second Prize of National Nature Award
2009	Molecular mechanism research on H5N1 virus evolution, host crossover infection, and pathogenicity	First Prize of Natural Science from Heilongjiang Province
2010	Development of bivalent (H5+H9) avian influenza inactivated vaccine	First Prize Heilongjiang Province Scientific Progress Award
2013	Investigation into evolution and cross-species infection mechanisms of avian influenza virus	National Natural Science Second Prize
2019	Research on cross-species infection dynamics and transmission pathways of animal influenza viruses	National Natural Science Second Prize

By 2014, Chen had authored over fifty SCI-indexed articles published in top international journals concerning avian influenza. She holds six veterinary drug approvals for avian influenza vaccines—including three genetic engineering vaccines—and possesses seven national invention patents.

Representative publications cover topics such as new H5N1 virus lineages detected in wild birds; canine susceptibility to H5N1; molecular determinants underlying rabies vaccine strain neurovirulence; ongoing evolution patterns of H5N1 viruses within China; along with efficacy evaluations for various avian influenza vaccines. Her research appears in journals like Emerging Infectious Diseases, Virology, Journal of Virology, PLoS Pathogens, and Avian Disease.

These key studies emphasize her significant contributions to understanding viral virulence factors, advancing vaccine technologies, characterizing viral transmission among mammals, and identifying genetic influences on pathogen behavior—forming a robust foundation for improved control strategies against avian influenza critical to veterinary public health and poultry industry sustainability.