Professor Tuya is an internationally recognized expert in traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture, as well as a senior medical scientist. She currently serves as Professor at the School of Acupuncture, Moxibustion and Tuina, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, and as a member of the University Academic Committee. As a leading figure with profound political and academic influence in the modernization of traditional medicine, she was honorably elected as a deputy to the 11th National People’s Congress and has long served as a National Education Inspector during the 9th and 10th terms. Professor Tuya has served as a master’s supervisor since 1995 and as a doctoral supervisor since 1999. Over more than three decades, she has devoted herself to the inheritance and cultivation of elite medical talent, supervising more than 100 master’s and doctoral students. Under her dedicated guidance, several students have received the Beijing Top 100 Excellent Doctoral Dissertation Award and university-level Excellent Doctoral Dissertation Awards. She herself has also been honored with prestigious teaching distinctions, including “Outstanding Supervisor of Excellent Doctoral Dissertations in Traditional Chinese Medicine in China.”
As one of the pioneers in the field of acupuncture for the prevention and treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders, Professor Tuya’s research is deeply rooted in three core areas: modern research on classical theories of traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture; clinical and mechanistic studies of acupuncture for depression; and mechanistic research on acupuncture treatment for ischemic stroke. Her academic vision is strongly international. From 2007 to 2008, she was funded and invited by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science to serve as a Senior Visiting Scholar in Pharmaceutical Policy at the University of Tokyo, one of the world’s leading academic institutions. By introducing modern neuroscience and pharmaceutical policy approaches, Professor Tuya has made outstanding contributions of substantial international translational value to the pharmacological mechanisms and new drug development related to acupuncture for mental and emotional disorders.
With decades of dedication to frontier scientific research, Professor Tuya has achieved remarkable accomplishments in major project leadership and translational output. Over the years, she has led 15 national, provincial, and ministerial-level major research projects, including seven projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, one international exchange project supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, one National Science and Technology Support Program project, and two major projects under the National Major New Drug Development Program. As a highly accomplished scientist, she has published more than 100 academic papers as first author or corresponding author, including 17 papers in high-level SCI-indexed journals, and has served as editor-in-chief or associate editor of six academic monographs.
The independently developed traditional Chinese medicine-based anti-anxiety and antidepressant new drug led by her has obtained two national invention patents. In addition, the research team she leads has been frequently invited to deliver important presentations at major international academic conferences. Her postgraduate students have won the “Young Investigator” and “Outstanding Researcher” awards at the International Congress on Integrative Medicine & Health in the United States for five consecutive occasions. In recognition of her outstanding contributions to scientific innovation, Professor Tuya has received multiple provincial and ministerial-level science and technology awards, including the Second Prize of the Science and Technology Award of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.