Recently, the results of the 2025 Advanced Science Young Innovator Award were announced. Professor Zeyu Xiao of Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine received this honor, becoming one of only 11 awardees worldwide and the sole recipient from China.
The Advanced Science Young Innovator Award, established by Wiley, recognizes young scientists who have made outstanding contributions in basic and applied research across fields including materials science and chemistry, physics and engineering, life and health sciences, earth and environmental sciences, as well as social and human sciences. Applicants must have served as an independent PI for no more than 10 years or be under the age of 45. Their research outcomes are not restricted to publications in Wiley journals.
In 2025, the award committee received nearly 500 applications from over 40 countries and regions. After four rounds of rigorous review, 11 winners were selected globally. Professor Xiao’s recognition highlights the high regard of the scientific community for her pioneering contributions in in vivo Raman imaging analysis and its diagnostic and therapeutic applications.
Zeyu Xiao
Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, China
Professor Zeyu Xiao is a Distinguished Professor and doctoral supervisor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy from Peking University, a Ph.D. in Chemistry jointly trained by the Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of Florida, and completed her postdoctoral research at the Cancer Nanotechnology Cross-discipline Research Center of MIT and Harvard Medical School in the laboratory of Academician Robert Langer.
Her research focuses onin vivo imaging analysis and drug delivery, with a primary emphasis on the development and clinical translation ofRaman imaging probes. She has published more than 60 papers, with over 8,000 citations. In the past five years, as corresponding author, she has published in leading journals such asNature Biotechnology,Chem,Nature Communications,Advanced Science, andJournal of the American Chemical Society. Some of her representative work has been highlighted and reviewed inNature Biotechnology.
She holds 11 international and national invention patents, one of which has demonstrated safety and efficacy in human clinical research. Professor Xiao has received numerous honors, including theGrand Prize of the National Disruptive Technology Innovation Competition, theSecond Prize of the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association Science and Technology Award, recognition as aShanghai Health and Medical Discipline Leader, theAACR Women in Cancer Research Award, and theHarvard Chinese Scientist Award.
