Ningbo natives honored as reform pioneers

Tu Youyou [Photo/Xinhua] 

Tu Youyou, born in December 1930, is the director of the artemisinin research center of the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences. Her discovery of artemisinin, the active compound that serves as the backbone for the most effective antimalarial treatment to date, has saved many people's lives worldwide. In 2015, Tu won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, becoming the first Chinese to win the award. In January last year, she became one of two recipients of the 2016 State Preeminent Science and Technology Award, China's highest scientific honor.