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Professor Jun Yu, Choh-Ming Li Professor of Medicine and Therapeutics, and Assistant Dean (Mainland Affairs) at The Chinese University of Hong Kong’s (CUHK) Faculty of Medicine (CU Medicine), has recently been awarded the “Women in Science Award”, the “2024 Cell Press China Best Paper Award” and “2024 Cell Press China Most Picked Award” by Cell Press, a leading international journal publisher. The awards recognise her exceptional contributions to and extensive influence on research into the pathogenesis, prevention and treatment of gastrointestinal cancer. This marks the first time in the awards’ history that a scientist has received three in the same year, taking home top honours in biomedical sciences in China. Professor Yu is also the only recipient from an institution in Hong Kong, China this year.

Professor Yu expressed her profound gratitude, commenting: “I am deeply honoured to receive these three awards from Cell Press, and I am grateful to the expert committee and judging panel for recognising the work of my team and myself. These accolades not only reaffirm our commitment to advancing research in life sciences but also highlight the importance of international collaboration and exchange for global health and well-being. I hope this recognition will inspire more scientists, particularly women, to pursue excellence in biomedical research and enhance China’s leading role in early detection and prevention strategies for digestive diseases, including some cancers.”

Three Cell Press awards honour Professor Yu’s achievements in advancing global biomedical innovation

Cell, as the world’s leading medical journal published by Cell Press, is globally acknowledged as one of the “big three” academic journals, along with Nature and Science, which are highly reputable among academics and immensely influential in their fields.

Professor Yu was one of four winners of the “Women in Science Award” presented by Cell Press, in recognition of her unwavering effort and exemplary contributions to research as a female scientist. She also became the first scholar from an institution in Hong Kong to have received this award. Her revolutionary discoveries of novel microbial mechanisms and non-invasive diagnostic biomarkers have advanced cancer prevention and screening, alleviated healthcare burdens locally and internationally, and cemented China’s leadership at the frontiers of life science.

Professor Yu’s paper published in Cell, “Streptococcus Anginosus Promotes Gastric Inflammation, Atrophy, and Tumorigenesis in Mice”, was selected for the “2024 Cell Press China Best Paper Award” as one of the most impactful studies in the life sciences category, among a total of 2,446 research papers with the first authors affiliated to China-based institutions. Professor Yu became notably the only recipient from an institution from Hong Kong, China. After more than five years of research, Professor Yu and her team revealed for the first time that Streptococcus anginosus is a pathogen of gastric cancer and confirmed that the bacterium induces inflammation and atrophy in the stomach and accelerates carcinogenesis, opening up a whole new direction in understanding the pathogenesis of gastric cancer.

Another paper by Professor Yu, “Integrative Plasma and Fecal Metabolomics Identify Functional Metabolites in Adenoma-colorectal Cancer Progression and as Early Diagnostic Biomarkers” published in Cancer Cell, won the “2024 Cell Press China Most Picked Award”. It was the only research paper from a Hong Kong institution among 25 awardees. The study demonstrated that plasma and faecal metabolites play a pivotal role in the progression of colorectal cancer, offering a highly promising non-invasive biomarker for early diagnosis.

Professor Yu has been involved in the study of digestive diseases for 30 years and is currently the Director of The State Key Laboratory of Digestive Disease and Director of The Institute of Digestive Disease at CUHK. She has made significant contributions to unravelling the molecular mechanisms of the pathogenesis of gastrointestinal tumours, elucidating the relationship between gut microbiomes and tumours as well as between fatty liver and liver cancers, and developing early diagnostic markers and target therapies. She holds more than 30 patents, and her patented early diagnostic markers for colorectal and gastric cancers have been approved by the National Medical Products Administration of the People’s Republic of China for clinical trials. In addition to being a member of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, an Academician of the Academy of Europe and an Academician of the Hong Kong Academy of Sciences, she has received more than 50 major academic awards in the Chinese Mainland and overseas. In 2024, she was awarded the Wu Jiepeng – Paul Janssen Medical and Pharmaceutical Award, and in 2025, she became the first and only academic in Hong Kong, China to be selected as a “National Distinguished Doctor” by The National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China.

About Cell Press and its awards

Founded in 1986, Cell Press is one of the most prestigious international publishers, with more than 60 scientific journals across the life, physical, medical, sustainability and applied sciences. The awards of “Chinese Scientists with Cell Press” were established 10 years ago, with winners selected based on a comprehensive evaluation of downloads, citation counts and the extent of innovation, following nominations by the Cell Press editorial board, independent review by a third-party expert committee and online voting. The awards aim to honour scientists whose work drives scientific progress, improves human health and inspires future generations of researchers.