Devotion of a Doctor
Epidemiologist Professor Li Lanjuan (73) is an important figure for China in fighting the SARS-CoV-2 virus. She is the architect of the total lockdown in Wuhan to contain the spread of the virus.
Li Lanjuan
Epidemiologist Professor Li Lanjuan (73) is an important figure for China in fighting the SARS-CoV-2 virus. She is the architect of the total lockdown in Wuhan to contain the spread of the virus.
Last week, Li was named among the 10 people who helped shape science in 2020 by Nature, the world\'s leading scientific journal from England. Nature magazine said, Li was among scientists to make extraordinary discoveries.
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Professor Li Lanjuan arrived in Wuhan in January as the Covid-19 epidemic worsened. She stayed in Wuhan for several months until the spread of the SARS CoV-2 virus was brought under control. The Chinese government honors Li for her leadership in the fight against the new coronavirus.
On 18 January 2020, the Chinese government sent experts, one of them being Li, to Wuhan to measure the epidemic caused by the coronavirus. Li was among female academics in epidemiology in China and a member of the senior expert panel representing the National Health Commission. A few days later, the epidemiologist from Zhejiang University in Hangzhou urged that Wuhan, a city of 11 million inhabitants, to immediately be put in total quarantine.
Wuhan needed me, so I stayed
“If the infection continues to spread, other provinces will also lose control, like Wuhan. China’s economy and society will suffer seriously,” Li said when interviewed by a television station owned by the Chinese government on 22 January 2020.
Li\'s action calling for a lockdown in the Wuhan area won many people\'s praise. The decision was considered to be able to delay the spread of the disease by up to five days. Thus, it gave time for all countries to prepare responses for the new coronavirus.
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Earlier, in 2003, as the director of the Zhejiang Health Department, Li ordered a quarantine for patients with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). It was a controversial decision that was then considered to be the key to contain the spread of the virus.
Locking down a city of 11 million people to stop the spread of infection was unique, said Ben Cowling, an epidemiologist at the University of Hong Kong. "I don\'t think there\'s any precedent for this," he said.
During the quarantine, Li stayed in Wuhan to help care for people infected with Covid-19. She became a symbol of doctor who worked selflessly to support the country in a crisis. She spent all of her time serving patient and doing coronavirus research. On social media, she is often pictured in her medical garb and is called "Grandma Li".
"Wuhan needed me, so I stayed," said Li. That simple sentence conveyed with the determination of a doctor has touched many people.
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After leaving Wuhan in March 2020, Li – who is a professor at the Zhejiang University School of Medicine and a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering – continued her research on the coronavirus by releasing a paper in April on the potential of various strains of pathogens.
Li Lanjuan
Selfless
Li\'s journey to become a doctor was not smooth. Li was born to a family of farmers in Shaoxing, Zhejiang province. All of the family’s needs were provided by her mother, who sold agricultural produce. Her father did not work because of an eye illness. Despite the mediocre condition of the family, Li remained optimistic.
Li enrolled at Hangzhou High School and when she graduated she worked as a substitute teacher at a high school. She received a small payment as a substitute teacher. At that time, Li saw many elderly residents who often had pain in the lower back. Her intention to help them led her to study acupuncture and moxibustion at the Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine.
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Armed with the knowledge she got, Li provided free medical treatment to the villagers. Gradually, she was called "Doctor Li" for her acupuncture medication service. No matter the situation, Li was always there to treat sick villagers. In fact, she also helped a mother who gave birth. She was described as a "barefoot doctor."
In 1970, seeing Li\'s dedication in providing treatment in the village, she was recommended to study at the Zhejiang University of Medicine, which is now the Medical Faculty of Zhejiang University. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Li studied hard. Her academic performance had always been the best. After graduating, she was assigned to work in the Department of Infectious Diseases at the Zhejiang University School of Medicine.
Ten years later, the death rate from hepatitis in the country skyrocketed. Many young people contracted hepatitis, which caused liver failure and death. "The family [member] of a patient knelt in front of me, crying. \'Doctor Li saved my child.\' As a doctor, I was helpless,” said Li.
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This incident made Li determined to find new breakthrough in hepatitis treatment. Together with her team, she applied for funding for research to build an artificial liver support system. In 1986, the artificial liver was a new technology. During that time, other researchers kept changing, only Li was loyal in the research room.
Finally, in 1996, Li Lanjuan and her team created a unique and effective artificial liver support system. For the artificial liver technology, Li filed a patent for "Li\'s Artificial Liver System". She taught her co-workers about her artificial heart system. In addition, Li promoted her findings to more than 300 hospitals in 30 provinces. She did all of them without personal interest.
Since 2001, she\'s organized annual artificial liver promotion classes for many doctors for free. As of now, more than 600 experts and professors from England, the United States, Germany, Japan and other countries have come to Zhejiang to visit or study. (NATURE/SCMP)
Li Lanjuan
Born: Shaoxing, Zhejiang, China, 13 September 1947
Career:
- Academic at Chinese Academy of Engineering
- Director of a Primary State Laboratory for Diagnosis and Medication of Communicable Disease, China
- Center of Innovation Collaboration for Diagnosis and Medication of Communicable Disease, China
- Center for Communicable Disease Research, China
- Founder of Shulan Health
