Executives
Dr. Jian Wang - President, BGI
Dr. Jian Wang, founding visionary of BGI, is a well-respected research scientist internationally and an avid adventurer, having successfully climbed Mt. Everest. Dr. Wang has received multiple awards for his achievements, including the Qiu Shi Collective Award for Outstanding Achievement of Science & Technologies from the Qiu Shi Science and Technology Foundation, and the Collective Award for Outstanding Achievement of Science & Technologies from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He also was recognized by Beijing as the Outstanding Individual in Prevention and Cure of SARS. Widely published in peer reviewed scientific publications such as Nature and Science, Dr. Wang’s current research interests include the development of genomic and bioinformatic applications in various fields. Prior to founding BGI, Dr. Wang was a senior research fellow at the University of Washington, where he served as one of the main leaders and decision-makers for genomic sequencing projects, and conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Texas and the University of Iowa.
Dr. Huanming Yang - Chairman and Professor, BGI
Dr. Huanming Yang is a globally recognized leader in genetic and genomic research, and co-founder of BGI. Dr. Yang earned his Ph.D. from Copenhagen University, and received his postdoctoral training in France and the U.S. He is a former Professor and Director at the Human Genome Center, Institute of Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research has been published in numerous peer reviewed scientific journals, including Science, Nature, Nature Genetics, and Nature Biotechnology.
In 2011, Dr. Yang was named to the US Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues and received the Chen Award for Distinguished Academic Achievement in Human Genetic and Genomic Research from the Human Genome Organization (HUGO). Previous awards and honors include Research Leader of the Year by Scientific American in 2002 and Award in Biology by the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) in 2006.
Dr. Jun Wang - Director, BGI
Dr. Jun Wang was instrumental in the founding of BGI and the growth of BGI’s Bioinformatics Department, which is now widely recognized as one of world’s premier research facilities committed to excellence in genome sciences. Dr. Wang is an Ole Rømer professor at the University of Copenhagen, and has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed original papers, 35 of which are published in Science and Nature (including Nature cover story). Dr. Wang has been recognized with an award from His Royal Highness the Prince Consort’s Foundation in Denmark, an Outstanding Science and Technology Achievement Award from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Top 10 Scientific Achievements in China, and the prize for Important Innovation and Contribution from the Chinese Academy of Sciences. His research focuses on genomics and related bioinformatics analysis of complex diseases and agricultural crops, with the goal of developing applications using this genomic information.
Mr. Yingrui Li - Chief Executive Officer, BGI Tech Solutions Company
Mr. Li is a recognized thought leader in the field of applied bioinformatics and a key contributor to establishing BGI as a world-class bioinformatics research and services center. Mr. Li has played an instrumental role at BGI in enabling the translation of “Big Data” to useful biological knowledge, including the development of SOAP (Short Oligonucleotide Alignment Program), proprietary software widely used today for alignment of short oligonucleotides onto reference sequences, providing full solution to next generation sequencing data analysis. A graduate from the College of Life Sciences, Peking University, Mr. Li has engaged in or organized a number of national projects, including Yan Huang Project, 1000 Genomes Project, Yan Huang Whole Genome Methylation, and the Cancer Genome Project, among others. He has more than 60 papers published in numerous high-impact peer reviewed scientific journals, including Nature, Science, Nature Genetics, Nature Biotechnology, and BMC Bioinformatics.