Professor Shan Cao is an internationally recognized expert in traditional Chinese medicine and higher education, as well as a senior medical scientist. She currently serves as Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Dean of the School of Medicine at Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Director of the Institute of Medicine-Food Homology Functional Foods at Henan University of Chinese Medicine, and Director of the Henan Provincial Engineering Technology Research Center for Proactive Health in Traditional Chinese Medicine. As a leading figure with broad academic influence in the inheritance and innovation of traditional Chinese medicine, multidisciplinary translational research, and institutional governance in higher education, she also serves as Vice Chair of the Industry–Education Integration Working Committee of the China Medical Education Association and Vice President of the Zhongjing Inheritance and Innovation Professional Committee of the World Federation of Chinese Medicine Societies. Professor Cao has long been committed to the inheritance of elite medical talent cultivation and the full-chain training of undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral students. She enjoys a distinguished reputation in higher education teaching reform, having received the Special Prize in the Teaching Skills Competition of the Henan Provincial Education System and the First Prize in the Professor Group of the Henan Provincial Undergraduate University Classroom Teaching Innovation Competition.
As one of the pioneers in the study of prescription compatibility principles and the translational development of the health industry, Professor Cao’s research focuses on two core areas: the compatibility principles and mechanisms of traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions, and the reform and research of higher education teaching. Relying on the Institute of Medicine-Food Homology Functional Foods and the provincial-level Engineering Technology Research Center for Proactive Health under her leadership, she has successfully established an international interdisciplinary platform deeply integrating industry, academia, research, and education. By introducing modern multi-omics approaches and scientific methods in proactive health management, Professor Cao has systematically elucidated the modern pharmacological mechanisms of classical prescriptions and has made innovative contributions of substantial translational medical value to the integration of traditional Chinese medicine into modern functional food development and health industry policy.
With decades of dedication to frontier research and clinical education, Professor Cao has achieved remarkable accomplishments in major project leadership, teaching achievement transformation, and industry–academia–research application. Over the years, she has served as principal investigator for more than 20 national, provincial, and ministerial-level research and teaching projects, including traditional Chinese medicine inheritance projects supported by the National Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, projects funded by the Natural Science Foundation of Henan Province, and major special research projects in traditional Chinese medicine science in Henan Province. As a productive and accomplished scientist, she has published more than 100 academic papers in high-level journals in China and abroad, and has served as editor-in-chief or associate editor of 12 national and provincial planned academic books and textbooks. In recognition of her distinguished contributions to scientific innovation and teaching reform, she has received, as the first contributor, one Second Prize of the Henan Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award and two First Prizes of the Henan Provincial Higher Education Teaching Achievement Award. She has also received, as a major contributor, one First Prize and two Third Prizes of the Henan Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award.