Wang Xiaofan graduated  from WHU’s Department of Chemistry with a biochemistry degree. He was recruited as the assistant professor in Duke University’s Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology in 1992, where he became one of the early Chinese professors teaching at Duke. He was granted a tenured position in 1998 and became a full professor in 2003. As an expert in cancer molecular biology, Professor Wang contributed tremendously in the fields of cell signal transduction, DNA damage and repair, cancer micro-environment particularly concerning TGF-β. He has returned to WHU many times to network with WHU’s faculty and students.

Professor Wang Xiaofan has been very active in giving suggestions and advice on China’s scientific and educational institutional reform. He also helps promote the substantial collaboration between foreign scholars and CAS scientists. As the chair of Society of Chinese Bio-scientists in America, he has made great effort to raise the profile of Chinese scientists.

The CAS International Scientific Cooperation Award, founded in 2007, recognizes foreign scientific and management experts who have made outstanding contributions to international scientific cooperation. 20 foreign scholars have been awarded this prize.