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Professor Ya-ping Zhang, Academician and Director, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, will visit United College, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), from 18 to 27 November as the College’s Distinguished Visiting Scholar in 2007-2008.

Professor Zhang was born in 1965 in Zhaotong City of southwest China’s Yunnan Province. He gained his Bachelor degree from Fudan University in 1986 and received his Doctoral degree at Kunming Institute of Zoology in 1991. He studied the molecular evolution and hereditary diversity of animals in the Center for Reproduction of Endangered Species in San Diego from 1992 to 1994. He has been engaged in research on molecular evolution and genetic diversity since he returned to China in 1995. In 2003, Professor Zhang was elected the youngest member of Chinese Academy of Sciences and was further elected the director of the Kunming Institute of Zoology in 2005.

Professor Ya-ping Zhang is best known for his significant contribution to biodiversity and molecular evolution. He has been studying the patterns of biodiversity, and the underlying evolutionary principles using molecular approaches since 1992. Professor Zhang has established one of the biggest animal DNA banks, with thousands of samples from hundreds of animal species, which is not only an important contribution to conserving genetic materials for future investigation, but also provides essential tools that have facilitated current scientific studies of animal genetic diversity.

Professor Zhang also studied the migration of human populations particularly Han Chinese, and he confirmed the African origin of modern Han people. His team later turned to analyzing the mitochondrial genome variation in Asian human populations. Their results support the “out-of-Africa” hypothesis, and suggest a single rapid dispersal from Africa along the Asian coast. These fruitful research outcomes have won Professor Zhang great renown and respect within the scientific community. He became the first Asian scholar to receive the Biodiversity Leadership Award in 2002.

During his visit to United College, Professor Zhang will deliver two public lectures. The details are as follows:

For further information, please contact Mr. George Lam of United College at 2609-7598.

Please browse the following website for details of the lecture: http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/uc/dvs/dvs2007Nov/web_intro_zhang.htm