CAS Academician Chen Zhu Nominated ''People to Watch in 2009''

China's current health minister Chen Zhu (Chinanews)

For Chen Zhu, academician and former vice president of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2009 will be a year of reform--reform of China's health care system. It is maybe the reason for his being nominated as one of the eight people to watch in 2009 by America's Science magazine.
Observers appraise that Chen, China's current health minister, has done a good job in two disasters last year: the Wenchuan Earthquake in May and the tainted milk event that reared its head in September.
"He's an ideal person to ask to fall on his sword if the need arises," says one scientist.
And this year, the Paris-trained hematologist's primary challenge will be health care reform, including the creation of a specialized funding channel for medical research. Whether he prevails--and keeps his job--may depend on whether China can avoid another health crisis.
Others that accompany Chen are: Paul Drayson, United Kingdom's new science minister; Paul Nurse, British biochemist and Nobelist; Svante P bo, paleogeneticist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Germany; Lisa Jackson, new-nominated administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); Lim Chuan Poh, chair of Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research; Drew Faust, Harvard University President and Massachusetts Institute of Technology President Susan Hockfield.
More information can be found at http://www.sciencemag.org/content/vol323/issue5910/newsmakers.dtl#323/5910/21a.