Chinese scientist Wang Xiaodong has been elected to of America's National Academy of Science, one of the highest honors attainable by American scientists. Moreover, Prof. Wang thus becomes the academy's youngest member.  

Forty-one-year-old Wang graduated from Beijing Normal University and now works as a professor of biochemistry at Southwestern Medical Center, the University of Texas in Dallas.

Wang Xiaodong was honored for his remarkable contribution to the discovery of the biochemical pathway responsible for cell death.

His continuing research could lead to treatments for cancer and to therapies targeting the abnormal cells in neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

(CRI.com April 23, 2004)