>  “Curiosity is the foundation of all major scientific discoveries.”

At the 2025 World Laureates Forum, a lecture tracing the origins of life from microscopic structure captivated the entire audience. Folding as much as 10 kilometers of DNA within a cell nucleus into a space the size of a golf ball. This vivid metaphor opened the scientific narrative presented by Karoline LUGER, Member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and recipient of the 2023 World Laureates Association Prize in Life Science or Medicine.

Her research, long enshrined in textbooks for revealing the nucleosome structure and laying the foundation of modern chromatin biology, now leads listeners on a far more expansive intellectual journey.

Chapter 1

A Journey of Information Compression Across Three Billion Years

At the opening ceremony, Professor Karoline LUGER drew the audience in with a scientific narrative spanning three billion years.

Karoline LUGER delivers a lecture at the 2025 World Laureates Forum

“Packing 10 kilometers of DNA inside the human cell nucleus into a space the size of a golf ball, without tangling or knotting, represents the daily information-management challenge faced by eukaryotic cells,” she explained. This constraint resembles the physical limits once encountered by magnetic tape, yet life evolved an exquisite solution: chromatin.

She systematically outlined her team’s research trajectory since resolving the nucleosome structure in 1997 and turned to a deeper evolutionary question: where did DNA-compressing histones originate? To answer this, her laboratory explored the margins of the living world: archaea, giant viruses, and even bacteria.

01

Giant Viruses: Independent “Inventors” of Histones?

Professor LUGER presented her team’s breakthrough discoveries in giant viruses such as Mimivirus. Remarkably, these viruses encode their own histones and form structures even more stable than eukaryotic nucleosomes. “This is not theft from hosts but may represent an independent evolutionary event.” Electron-microscopy comparisons showed that viral histones efficiently compress and protect genomes, ensuring rapid replication and infection. This finding challenges the traditional belief that histones are exclusive to eukaryotes.

02

Archaeal Chromatin: Flexible Strategies in Extreme Environments

Her team also identified primitive histone forms in archaea. Unlike the stable and conserved nucleosomes of eukaryotes, archaeal histones can flexibly alter DNA packaging in response to environmental extremes such as high temperature or acidity. “Histones may have first functioned as purely protective ‘armor,’ enabling survival under harsh conditions. Eukaryotes later evolved complex epigenetic regulatory roles upon this foundation.”

03

Overturning Textbooks: Histone-Like Proteins in Bacteria

Perhaps the most surprising discovery emerged from bacteria. Screening approximately 18,000 bacterial genomes, Professor LUGER’s team identified genes encoding histone-like proteins. She highlighted a predatory bacterium named Vampirococcus luggeri, named after her surname, which efficiently expresses a histone-like protein sharing only 20% homology with human histones yet fully wraps DNA into a unique protective structure. “This suggests that the need for DNA compression may be universal across the tree of life, and histone-based solutions may have evolved independently multiple times.”

Chapter 2

Curiosity-Driven Basic Research as the Source of Transformative Innovation

Professor LUGER emphasized that these seemingly niche investigations into histones in viruses, archaea, and bacteria are driven purely by curiosity.

“We study why viruses use histones not only to trace evolutionary history. The mechanisms may also inspire new antiviral drugs or gene-regulation tools.” She expressed particular appreciation for the Forum’s recognition of the value of basic science, adding,

“Research must allow failure, because unpredictability is precisely where discovery becomes possible.”

In an era focused on applications and outputs, her defense of the purity of fundamental science is especially powerful.

Karoline LUGER participates in the ‘Passing the Torch’ session at the 2025 World Laureates Forum

Chapter 3

Legacy and Perseverance of a Structural Biology Pioneer

Professor LUGER’s scientific career itself exemplifies the spirit of her lecture. As a young scholar at the University of Innsbruck in Austria, she experienced the “shock and joy” of purifying a protein for the first time. During her doctoral and postdoctoral work at the University of Basel and ETH Zurich, she chose the formidable challenge of nucleosome structural determination, achieving a landmark breakthrough in 1997. After joining the University of Colorado, she established a world-leading structural biology laboratory and trained numerous active scientists.

Her research spans structure, evolution, and disease, elucidating mechanisms involving the nucleosome assembly factor FACT and chromatin remodeler SMARCAD1, and, with collaborators, uncovering the “monkey-bar” mechanism of PARP in DNA repair, offering key insights for targeted cancer therapeutics.

Karoline LUGER participates in the WLF Möbius Night at the 2025 World Laureates Forum

Chapter 4

Building Platforms for Science to Illuminate the Future

As an organizer of the 2025 World Laureates Forum, the Shanghai Lingang Science and Technology Innovation Development Foundation is honored to welcome Professor Karoline LUGER. Her lecture not only demonstrates the fundamental power of basic science to expand the boundaries of knowledge but also embodies the enduring spirit of curiosity, resilience, and collaboration.

Her journey across the three domains of life resonates deeply with Lingang’s mission. What we strive to build is more than a physical venue for international dialogue. It is a beacon of ideas that illuminates curiosity-driven exploration and supports paradigm-challenging breakthroughs. Her story shows that major discoveries begin with persistent questioning of fundamental problems and flourish through courageous exploration of unconventional paths.

By gathering global wisdom, Lingang seeks to cultivate an innovation ecosystem that embraces unpredictability and encourages imagination, allowing scientists like Professor Karoline LUGER to freely share discoveries that may lack immediate utility yet reshape the foundations of human understanding.

The Shanghai Lingang Science and Technology Innovation Development Foundation will continue to advance this mission: supporting frontier exploration, fostering deep dialogue, and nurturing interdisciplinary integration. Together with the global scientific community, we aim to make Lingang fertile ground for future breakthroughs and a place where humanity’s long-term challenges can be confronted collectively.

In Lingang, ideas transcend borders and disciplines. The path of exploration from nucleosomes to the origins of life presented by Professor Karoline LUGER will continue to inspire generations of scientists to uncover nature’s deepest secrets, guided always by curiosity.

> October 25, 2025, Shanghai Lingang Center. Under the spotlight, a performance curve charting more than four decades of rocket-like growth in computing power glowed behind Jack J. DONGARRA, now 74 years old. The 2021 Turing Award Laureate and Co-Chair of the Intelligent Science Conference at the 2025 World Laureates Forum opened his keynote with a striking insight, “What we truly need is software that can keep pace with the exponential growth of hardware.”

This single sentence distilled his life’s pursuit and perfectly defined his role at this moment in Lingang: a “software pathbreaker” who has infused supercomputing with its soul, engaging with Shanghai, this rising city of the East, on how open collaboration can harness the coming tidal wave of computational power.

Trajectory: From a Pizza Shop to Defining the Standards of Computing

Beneath the title of “foundational architect of high-performance computing software”, Jack DONGARRA’s journey was anything but smooth. Born in 1950 into a Sicilian immigrant family in Chicago, he was the first in his family to attend university. In high school, he struggled with what would later be recognized as undiagnosed dyslexia and achieved only average grades. His original ambition was simply to become a high school mathematics teacher.

A turning point came in 1972. While studying mathematics at Chicago State University and working part-time at a pizza shop to pay tuition, DONGARRA secured an internship at nearby Argonne National Laboratory. There, he was tasked with testing a matrix computation software package known as EISPACK. The experience opened an entirely new world. He soon abandoned physics, committed himself to computer science, and embarked on a lifelong mission to unlock hardware potential through software.

His career reads like an epic of software-driven paradigm shifts. The LINPACK software library he led not only became a cornerstone of scientific computing, but also evolved into the LINPACK Benchmark, the global standard for measuring supercomputer performance. He went on to co-develop LAPACK, BLAS, and the distributed computing standard MPI, together forming the software backbone of modern scientific computing, enabling everything from weather forecasting to artificial intelligence.

One of his most visionary initiatives came in 1993, when he co-founded the TOP500 list of the world’s fastest supercomputers. Updated twice a year, this concise ranking has driven nearly three decades of global competition and progress in high-performance computing. The 2021 Turing Award citation captured the essence of his contributions,
“For pioneering contributions to numerical algorithms and libraries that enabled high-performance computing software to keep pace with exponential hardware advances for over four decades.”

Resonance: Developmental Threads and Future Blueprints from the Lingang Podium

In his opening keynote at the 2025 World Laureates Forum, Professor DONGARRA offered scientists and young scholars a clear narrative of the past, present, and future of high-performance computing. Beyond the traditional pillars of theory and experiment, he emphasized that computational simulation has emerged as the indispensable third paradigm, enabling humanity to study phenomena, such as galaxy collisions, that cannot be experimentally realized.

Jack DONGARRA delivering a keynote speech at the 2025 World Laureates Forum

With his characteristic humor, he revisited the forces behind the computing revolution, Moore’s Law and Dennard scaling, tracing the journey from refrigerator-sized 5MB hard drives to today’s thumbnail-sized terabyte storage devices. Yet he also highlighted the arrival of physical limits. As single-core frequency scaling hit the power wall, performance growth pivoted toward parallelism: from multi-core CPUs, to heterogeneous CPU–GPU architectures, and ultimately to interconnected systems of tens of thousands of nodes, culminating in exascale supercomputers capable of 10¹⁸ floating-point operations per second and occupying entire buildings.

As the architect behind the LINPACK Benchmark and the TOP500, he demonstrated how this 33-year “global competition” has precisely mapped computational leaps. In 1993, the world’s fastest supercomputer delivered less performance than an ordinary laptop today. At the top of the current ranking stands the U.S. system El Capitan, whose exascale capability means that computations completed in one second would take a typical computer four continuous years to finish.

Equally thought-provoking were his observations on the global landscape. He noted that China now operates a large number of high-performance computing systems and has independently developed multiple exascale supercomputers. While these achievements do not appear on international rankings due to complex geopolitical factors, their power is well recognized through academic publications. This, he emphasized, reflects China’s determination and capability to build a self-reliant advanced computing ecosystem.

Consensus: Science as a Universal Language, Software as the Key to the Future

In Lingang, Professor DONGARRA went beyond technical roadmaps to articulate his scientific philosophy. As Co-Chair of the Intelligent Science Conference, he stressed, “Science is a universal language, and cooperation is always the driving force behind scientific progress.”  This belief set the tone for the Forum’s overarching theme, “Science in Future: Shanghai and the World.” In confronting global challenges such as climate change and disease control, he argued, only cross-border knowledge sharing can yield solutions.

His argument ultimately returned to the foundation of his life’s work: software. Faced with modern supercomputers composed of millions of cores and heterogeneous architectures, he stated candidly, “algorithms and software are actually the harder part.” Hardware provides theoretical peak performance, but only exceptional software and algorithms can transform that potential into real scientific discovery. This insight, consistent with his identity as a “software pathbreaker,” precisely defines the next core challenge of the computing era.

Jack DONGARRA at the Intelligent Science Conference of the 2025 World Laureates Forum

Linkages: From Global Benchmarks to the Lingang Innovation Ecosystem

Professor DONGARRA’s influence extends beyond ideas to the cultivation of future generations. In June 2025, the International Supercomputing Conference awarded the Jack Dongarra Early Career Award to Associate Professor GAN Lin of the National Supercomputing Center in Wuxi. It is the first time this award has been conferred on a Chinese scholar. This recognition signaled authoritative international acknowledgment of China’s strength in high-performance computing. GAN Lin’s work, applied to domestically developed systems such as Sunway TaihuLight, exemplifies how software algorithms and advanced hardware combine to address major needs in climate modeling and biomedicine.

This philosophy of using software to empower hardware in solving real-world problems closely aligns with the mission of the Shanghai Lingang Science and Technology Innovation Development Foundation. The Intelligent Science Conference, which brought together multiple Turing Award and Fields Medal laureates, stands as a prime example of how the Foundation fosters convergence between academic insight and industrial demand in Lingang. By hosting World Laureates Association Prizes and top-tier forums, the Foundation not only introduces cutting-edge global scientific thought, but also anchors it within local innovation ecosystems, actively building a continuum from basic research, to applied research, to technology transfer.

    Jack DONGARRA participating in WLF Möbius Night at the 2025 World Laureates Forum

From the software libraries Jack DONGARRA pioneered, now the bedrock of global computing, to his assertion at the 2025 World Laureates Forum that “software is the harder part,” a single intellectual thread runs through his career: transformative progress arises from open collaboration, shared knowledge, and exceptional software that allows the world’s most powerful hardware to truly serve humanity.

Lingang, with its open posture, is becoming both witness and catalyst to this great endeavor. The Shanghai Lingang Science and Technology Innovation Development Foundation will continue to serve as a platform builder and connector of resources, striving to make Lingang a global salon for scientific thought and a testbed for frontier innovation. We believe that when the soul of software meets the strength of a rising city, and individual vision resonates with collective mission, a powerful force will emerge, capable of meeting the challenges of our time and shaping a shared future.

>In the microscopic realm of quantum physics, directly observing and controlling a fragile, fleeting quantum state was once considered almost impossible. Until one scientist, through exquisitely designed  experiments, opened a gateway to the unknown. That scientist is Serge HAROCHE, Nobel Laureate in Physics (2012) and Honorary Professor at the Collège de France.

 

“Capturing” Schrödinger’s Cat

One of the core mysteries of the quantum world lies in quantum superposition. The famous thought experiment of Schrödinger’s cat vividly illustrates the paradoxical state in which a microscopic particle exists as both alive and dead at the same time. Yet in reality, such states are extraordinarily fragile and easily disrupted by their environment, making direct observation exceptionally difficult. The groundbreaking contribution of Serge HAROCHE, together with David J. WINELAND, was the invention of revolutionary experimental methods that made it possible to measure and control individual quantum systems.

Professor HAROCHE is widely regarded as a founding experimental pioneer of cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED). His experimental designs are often described as works of art. He constructed an ultra–high-reflectivity microwave cavity, effectively a “photon prison”, capable of confining photons for more than 0.1 seconds. He then allowed a Rydberg atom, an unusually large and highly sensitive atom, to pass through the cavity like a probe. Through the interaction between the atom and the photons trapped inside, HAROCHE achieved quantum non-demolition measurements, enabling him to repeatedly count and manipulate photons without destroying them. This meant that the long-elusive “Schrödinger’s cat” could finally be “captured” and carefully observed in real physical experiments.

From the Nobel Stage to Lingang’s “Scientific Gravity Field”

At the 2025 World Laureates Forum, the scientist renowned for “capturing photons” returned to Lingang, a place defined by its futuristic vision, to share his profound reflections on science, light, and discovery with the global scientific community and the public. 

Professor HAROCHE is not only a master designer of precision experiments, but also an outstanding communicator of scientific thought. At the Forum, he guided young scientists through a sweeping historical narrative, from Galileo and Einstein to modern quantum mechanics, emphasizing a central principle: There are no eternal truths in science, only conclusions that humanity continuously revises and deepens. He repeatedly stressed that the ultimate driving force behind all great discoveries is a scientist’s irrepressible curiosity and passion for exploring the world, a pure motivation capable of sustaining researchers through uncertainty and long scientific journeys.

His own career exemplifies the principle of “standing on the shoulders of giants.” Beginning at the legendary Kastler–Brossel Laboratory, a cradle of great physicists, HAROCHE grew to become a giant of his own generation. His experiences and insights continue to inspire young scientists to carry forward this invaluable tradition of intellectual inheritance through dialogue and collaboration.

As a co-organizer of the World Laureates Forum, the Shanghai Lingang Science and Technology Innovation Foundation firmly believes that Professor HAROCHE’s return is not only a celebration of top-level scientific knowledge, but also a vivid demonstration of Lingang’s emergence as a global “gravity field” for scientific innovation.

The Virtuous Cycle of Science

Professor HAROCHE’s research offers a textbook example of how fundamental science drives technological innovation. He emphasizes that basic science and technology exist in a symbiotic relationship: advances in precision instrumentation deepen our understanding of light, while new insights into light, in turn, give rise to even more sophisticated instruments, forming a virtuous cycle.

Scientific Breakthroughs by Serge HAROCHE

Future Applications

Control and measurement of single quantum states

Provides essential physical foundations for quantum computing and quantum simulation.

Quantum non-demolition measurement techniques

Dramatically enhance the sensitivity of quantum precision measurements, enabling detection of extremely weak electromagnetic fields.

Coupling of Rydberg atoms and photons

Opens pathways for developing novel quantum sensors and for information storage and transmission in quantum networks.

Deeper understanding of quantum decoherence

Supports the design of more stable and controllable qubits, addressing one of the central challenges of quantum computing.    

Regarding the highly publicized field of quantum computers, Professor HAROCHE maintains a calm and constructive stance. He believes that achieving universal, fault-tolerant quantum computing remains a long-term goal with significant obstacles ahead. He cautions against excessive “quantum hype” in industry and warns that over-promising could have negative consequences. Instead, he stresses that quantum science is a globally open and collaborative field, not a closed or secretive race.

Professor Serge HAROCHE participating in the “Generations Inspire Generations” event at the 2025 World Laureates Forum

Reflections on Education

Professor HAROCHE has long maintained close ties with China’s scientific community. He has delivered frontier lectures at the Yan Jici Lecture Series at the University of Science and Technology of China, presenting cutting-edge research on quantum science with giant atoms. More notably, he has cultivated deep, sustained collaborations with Chinese scientists. For example, he successfully verified a quantum entanglement proposal put forward by the team of Academician GUO Guangcan of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and personally wrote to engage in academic exchange. Such cross-border scientific friendship and cooperation lie at the very heart of what the World Laureates Forum seeks to promote.

His message to the younger generation is sincere and forward-looking, “Science is an adventure. You must recognize that the work you are doing today may one day lead to unexpected and wonderful outcomes, and that you yourself are part of that adventure.”

Professor Serge HAROCHE engaging with students during activities at the 2025 World Laureates Forum

The Shanghai Lingang Science and Technology Innovation Foundation and the World Laureates Forum will continue to build world-class platforms for international scientific exchange, inviting towering figures like Professor Serge HAROCHE to share wisdom, inspire young scholars, and encourage deeper engagement with fundamental science, planting the seeds for future technological revolutions that will shape humanity’s tomorrow.

> At six o’clock every morning, a 76-year-old mathematician dives into the pool, beginning his day with a 1,500-meter swim. Rain or shine, this routine has endured for decades, an embodiment of discipline, patience, and quiet perseverance.

In 2025, the World Laureates Forum convened in Lingang, where the world’s leading scientific minds gathered to exchange ideas. It was here that mathematician Shing-Tung YAU personally presented the World Laureates Association Prize in Intelligent Science or Mathematics to his longtime collaborator, close friend, and former student, Richard SCHOEN, Honorary Chair Professor at Stanford University.

Their half-century partnership and friendship became one of the Forum’s most moving moments. On this vibrant scientific frontier in Lingang, YAU drew upon his own experience to encourage Chinese scholars to adopt a more open mindset, to “dismantle academic walls” and broaden their global horizons.

A World Laureates Forum Moment

Under the spotlight, amid a hushed audience, YAU spoke with composure and deep emotion, “Personally, I feel an immense sense of honor and genuine joy to present the 2025 World Laureates Association Prize in Intelligent Science or Mathematics to Professor Richard Schoen.”

Shing-Tung YAU (left), 1982 Fields Medal
Richard SCHOEN (center), recipient of the 2025 World Laureates Association Prize in Intelligent Science or Mathematics; Honorary Chair Professor, School of Humanities and Sciences, Stanford University
ZHU Chen (right), Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences

Introducing the awardee, YAU spoke with warmth, “Professor Schoen is not only an outstanding mathematician, he is my former student, my long-term collaborator, and a dear friend.”

His remarks traced five decades of shared academic history. He recalled witnessing Schoen’s growth “from a young scholar of quiet determination and deep ideas into one of the truly great geometers of our time.”

When SCHOEN first joined Stanford in the 1970s to work with YAU, geometric analysis was only just beginning to take shape. At that time, YAU noted, “geometry and analysis were often regarded as two separate disciplines and two different worlds.”

Memories of Collaboration

YAU paid special tribute to their joint work on the Positive Mass Theorem in general relativity.

“This was a problem that had troubled physicists and mathematicians since the time of Einstein,” he recalled, “We spent many intense years trying to understand how geometry could capture the idea that the total energy of an isolated physical system should never be negative.”

Those days of shared struggle remain vivid, “I still remember the long nights at the blackboard, when our discussions continued until dawn.” YAU admired SCHOEN’s composure and perseverance, “Especially the calm, unwavering focus he brought when assembling the analytical and geometric parts of the proof.”

When the proof was finally completed, it was more than a mathematical triumph, it was a profound moment revealing how mathematics can illuminate the structure of nature itself.

Academic Legacy

For YAU, students’ independent thinking matters more than their accolades. He recalled his own youth studying under Shiing-Shen CHERN, “Professor Chern initially asked me to work on the Riemann Hypothesis, but I wasn’t particularly interested.”

Unexpectedly, CHERN respected his choice and allowed him to pursue the Calabi Conjecture, a decision that would later define YAU’s career. Today, YAU has passed on this same academic freedom to younger generations.

He has supervised more than 70 doctoral students, many of whom are now central figures in mathematics worldwide. SCHOEN himself went on to achieve landmark results independently, solving the Yamabe problem, contributing to the Differentiable Sphere Theorem, and making foundational advances in harmonic maps and minimal surface theory.

YAU reflected, “Today, as his former advisor, I feel both proud and humbled. It is rare for a teacher to see a student exceed all expectations and redefine a field with such elegance.”

Shing-Tung YAU in conversation with young scientists at the 2025 World Laureates Forum,  WLF Möbius Night

Reflections on Education

YAU has long held distinctive views on mathematics education in China. Observing that many parents steer children toward “popular” majors, believing mathematics leads to hardship and limited prospects, he expressed deep concern. He urged students to ask questions boldly rather than chase standard answers.

When his grandson asked for advice on choosing a field of study, YAU replied, “Keep an open mind. Find what genuinely interests you, and don’t let others decide for you.” This philosophy mirrors his lifelong advocacy for intellectual freedom and exploratory research.

A Vision of a Mathematical Powerhouse

YAU’s efforts to bring the International Congress of Mathematicians to China began in the 1990s, when he described Chinese mathematics as “starting from almost nothing.” That effort culminated in the 2002 ICM in Beijing.

Looking ahead to the 10th International Congress of Chinese Mathematicians in 2026, YAU stated with confidence, “In the next five to ten years, China will certainly become a major mathematical power.” He observed that, unlike in earlier years when awardees were predominantly overseas scholars of Chinese origin, one-third of this year’s award recipients are now based in China. He likened the situation to filling the Three Gorges Reservoir, “Before the water level rises, you don’t see the flood—but that doesn’t mean the power isn’t there.” 

The metaphor captured both the present state and the latent momentum of Chinese mathematics.

Interdisciplinarity and Integration

In YAU’s view, mathematics is not only a foundational discipline but also a bridge connecting diverse scientific fields. In July 2025, his team and collaborators published groundbreaking work on glioma imaging genomics in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

By applying differential geometry to medical imaging, they achieved a roughly 17% improvement in diagnostic accuracy, demonstrating the immense potential of mathematics-life science integration.

At the Shanghai Institute for Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Sciences, founded by YAU, 50% of research focuses on interdisciplinary work, 25% on pure mathematics, and 25% on applied mathematics. In the institute’s central plaza, Chinese-style water features flow gently over walls engraved with mathematical formulas. Nearby, a golden model of the Calabi–Yau manifold outlines an abstract six-dimensional structure, East and West, art and science, seamlessly intertwined.

 Calabi–Yau Square, Shanghai Institute for Mathematics and Interdisciplinary Sciences

At the 2025 World Laureates Forum in Lingang, YAU concluded, “Richard’s work has influenced not only geometry, but also physics, topology, and our philosophical understanding of space and curvature.” 

As the award ceremony ended, the two scholars stood side by side. Behind them stretched Lingang’s open skyline and the ceaseless tide of the East China Sea, and its rhythm echoing a friendship forged over fifty years: refined by time, deepened through inquiry, and crystallized into an almost timeless guardianship of science.

At 76, Shing-Tung YAU still swims at dawn each day. This daily discipline is more than a personal ritual, it mirrors the spirit of Lingang itself: facing the sea, greeting each new tide and sunrise, and believing in the power of sustained effort. It symbolizes a shared conviction: whether advancing mathematics or cultivating a world-class international scientific community like Lingang, true breakthroughs are never achieved overnight. They require patience, resilience, and an open mind.

As an organizer of the World Laureates Forum, we have witnessed this firsthand in Lingang, and firmly believe that the solitude and long-term dedication demanded by top-level scientific thought find their ideal home in this calm yet vibrant innovation ecosystem, where global intellect and local cultivation converge and mutually nourish one another.

> For the eighth consecutive year, a silver-haired scholar stood on the stage of the World Laureates Forum in Shanghai, delivering the same message with unwavering conviction. Like the vesicular transport system within a cell, his ideas move with precision and persistence, carrying the spirit of open and collaborative science to every corner of the world.

In October 2025, at the World Laureates Forum in Shanghai, Randy W. SCHEKMAN, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine (2013), took the WLF stage for the eighth consecutive year. From his groundbreaking discoveries in cellular transport mechanisms, to his global advocacy for open access to scientific knowledge, and his deep commitment to Parkinson’s disease research, Professor SCHEKMAN’s decades-long career has consistently embodied a single promise: science in the service of humanity.

As a co-organizer of the World Laureates Forum, the Shanghai Lingang Science and Technology Innovation Development Foundation has witnessed how Professor SCHEKMAN has transformed this international platform into a bridge for ideas and a vital link between China and the global scientific community.

Microscopic Mysteries

Professor SCHEKMAN’s scientific journey began at the age of twelve, peering through a toy microscope at pond scum. “The invisible yet vibrant microorganisms,” he later recalled, ignited his lifelong curiosity about the mechanisms of life. As a young scholar, he shifted from pre-medical studies to fundamental research, ultimately uncovering the core principles of intracellular transport using yeast cells as a model system.

In 2013, the Nobel Committee awarded him the highest honor for his pioneering discoveries on the regulation of vesicle trafficking in cells. By identifying three major classes of genes that govern vesicular transport, SCHEKMAN’s work revealed how proteins and other molecules are precisely “delivered” within cells.

These mechanisms underpin essential biological processes such as insulin secretion and neurotransmitter release, and have become foundational to research on diabetes and neurological disorders. Beyond basic science, this work has driven technological innovation in fields ranging from biofuel production to vaccine development, demonstrating the far-reaching impact of fundamental research.

The Open-Access Revolution

“Scientific research should not be locked behind paywalls.” Professor SCHEKMAN’s public appeal in Scientific American sent shockwaves through the academic world. Confronting the high subscription costs imposed by commercial publishers, he openly criticized the excessive profit margins of major publishing houses and called for structural reform.

In 2011, he became the founding Editor-in-Chief of eLife, an open-access journal jointly founded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Max Planck Gesellschaft, and the Wellcome Trust, fundamentally challenging the traditional pay-to-read model. To uphold this principle, he resigned from editorial positions at leading journals such as Nature and Cell, urging the scientific community to move beyond the obsession with impact factors. 

Professor SCHEKMAN has since become a global standard-bearer for the open-access movement. At the World Laureates Forum, he has repeatedly reaffirmed this vision, not only through words, but through action. Through initiatives such as the Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP) alliance, he has translated the philosophy of open collaboration into practice, ensuring the free flow of knowledge across borders and disciplines. This unity of principle and action resonates deeply with the mission of the World Laureates Forum, creating a powerful and sustained synergy.

Breaking the Ice

Personal loss became scientific resolve. After his wife passed away from Parkinson’s disease, Professor SCHEKMAN redirected his research focus toward what he has described as an “epidemic of aging.” Facing the reality that tens of millions of people worldwide live with Parkinson’s disease, he has consistently argued that research must go beyond clinical observation, toward uncovering the disease’s fundamental mechanisms and pathways to cure.

As Chair of the ASAP alliance, Professor SCHEKMAN has united 35 research teams worldwide, concentrating on critical challenges such as α-synuclein aggregation and neural circuit degeneration. The consortium’s publication, A Coordinated Approach to Basic Parkinson’s Disease Research, has introduced a new framework for the field.

Notably, he has extended insights from vesicle trafficking research into neurodegenerative disease studies, exploring the diagnostic potential of exosomes. At the same time, he actively promotes the translation of these foundational discoveries into clinical practice, seeking partnerships with the medical community to bridge the gap from laboratory research to patient care.

Professor SCHEKMAN’s relationship with China represents more than two decades of scientific partnership and mutual trust. From mentoring young Chinese researchers to collaborating with local institutions to build research platforms, his actions vividly demonstrate that great science speaks a universal language beyond national borders. The World Laureates Forum has become a central stage for this sustained dialogue and collaborative innovation.

As a co-organizer, the Shanghai Lingang Science and Technology Innovation Development Foundation is committed to serving as both catalyst and fertile ground, where Professor SCHEKMAN’s forward-looking ideas intersect with China’s innovation ecosystem to generate meaningful collaboration. We remain dedicated to building an open, trustworthy, and mutually beneficial international hub for scientific exchange, empowering leaders like Professor SCHEKMAN to share insight, build consensus, and co-create the future.

True scientific spirit ultimately points toward a more open, collaborative, and healthy future for humanity. This enduring vision is also the shared mission and promise of Lingang and the World Laureates Forum.

As scientific research becomes increasingly intertwined with economic and social development, science has drawn unprecedented public attention, while simultaneously facing complex challenges of its own. What is the underlying logic of science education? From philosophy to paradigm, what obstacles does it confront?
And how can the “light of reason” embedded in scientific thinking illuminate the future? During the 2025 World Laureates Forum, Yin Fan, host of Two Perspectives on Yicai Global, engaged in an in-depth dialogue with Karolin LUGER, structural biologist at the University of Colorado Boulder and Laureate of the 2023 World Laureates Association Prize in Life Science or Medicine. Their conversation explored the core value of science education and the mechanisms through which it empowers both individual cognition and broader social progress.

The Foundational Logic and Core Value of Science Education

“Science belongs to everyone. This is the idea we must convey in schools, and a belief educators must deeply embrace.” In a recent interview with Business Insights on China Business Network, Professor Karolin LUGER, Biochemistry Chair Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, shared her reflections on the philosophy and transformation of science education. In 2023, LUGER, together with Timothy J. RICHMOND and Daniela RHODES, was awarded the World Laureates Association Prize in Life Science or Medicine for elucidating the atomic structure of the nucleosome, a discovery that laid the theoretical foundation for research into chromatin organization, gene regulation, and epigenetic mechanisms.

From LUGER’s perspective, a widespread misconception persists that science is “inaccessible” and reserved for a select group, leading to a separation between science education and general education. This false dichotomy, she argues, pushes people away from science. In reality, science belongs to everyone and people practice it every day. For example, when adjusting water temperature or brewing parameters to explore how they affect the flavor of coffee, one is already engaging in scientific inquiry. At its core, science education should guide people to explore the world through curiosity and be embedded across all stages of learning. Scientists and educators share a responsibility to help dismantle cognitive barriers and encourage the integration of scientific methods into everyday life. 

When discussing the deeper value of science education, Professor LUGER highlighted a well-known psychological tendency: confirmation bias, the inclination to favor information that confirms existing beliefs while ignoring contradictory evidence. The danger of confirmation bias lies in its invisibility: people often fail to recognize or correct flawed assumptions, falling ever deeper into “rabbit holes” of misinformation. Examples abound, from beliefs that COVID-19 vaccines implant 5G chips to persistent claims that vaccines cause autism. Science education, she emphasized, cultivates logical reasoning and rational thinking, helping individuals resist blind conformity and misinformation.

Constants and Variables in Science Education

At its essence, science education is about protecting curiosity, forging resilience, and igniting confidence, teaching students to coexist with failure while navigating a landscape full of variables and uncertainty. As Professor LUGER observed, true scientists are explorers who grow through trial and error.

Curiosity, she noted, requires active maintenance. Observing infants, one sees them explore objects by biting, touching, or dropping them, testing how things respond.
This is, fundamentally, the scientific mindset. Yet in many modern education systems, excessive emphasis on grades and rote knowledge transmission compresses space for exploration, causing curiosity to wither. “Like all talents, curiosity fades if it is not carefully nurtured,” she said, noting with regret the prevalence of “adults who are no longer curious,” consumed by work and survival, having forgotten the joy of exploration.

“I allow my students to make mistakes. I encourage them to make mistakes, and I applaud their mistakes,” LUGER shared during the opening ceremony of the 2025 World Laureates Forum, “Because we are doing research. We are exploring the unknown. That is our job.” In her view, research is a marathon, not a sprint. Failure is inevitable, and education must do more than make students “smart”, it must cultivate resilience. Many high-achieving students, accustomed to being “right,” develop a fear of failure. Upon entering the laboratory, experimental errors often trigger self-doubt. “You must accept the limits of your knowledge,” she emphasized, “and become comfortable with making mistakes, far more often than succeeding.” She likened challenges to “running into a wall.” Stepping back may reveal a path around it, or clarify that it is time to change direction. She encourages aspiring researchers to complete this mindset shift early: stop striving to be the rule-following top student, and instead become a scientist who tests, fails, adapts, and tries again.

On building confidence, Professor LUGER observed significant individual differences.
Overconfident students should be guided to break ambitious goals into manageable stages while strengthening foundational skills. Students lacking confidence, by contrast, need encouragement through visible progress rather than negation, helping them avoid spirals of self-doubt. Confidence, she stressed, is a vital engine of growth, and must be cultivated deliberately.

Regarding the impact of AI and automation on research, Professor LUGER described it as “a double-edged sword.” While powerful, AI-generated outputs still require verification. She called for expanded training in modern pedagogy for educators, particularly in the responsible use of AI tools, to support meaningful educational transformation.

The “Light of Reason” in Scientific Thinking: Empowering Individual Cognition and Social Progress

In an era of information overload, where truth and falsehood intermingle, scientific thinking functions as a “light of reason.” It illuminates individual cognitive blind spots while helping society recalibrate its direction. Professor LUGER noted that many public misunderstandings of science stem from the barriers scientists themselves create through overly technical language, making science appear distant and elitist.

Effective communication of scientific thinking, she argued, requires abandoning unnecessary complexity and building bridges between science and daily life, so that people can feel science is present, not abstract.

When asked what scientific literacy is most crucial in a world saturated with misinformation, Professor LUGER acknowledged that she, too, continues to seek solutions. She reiterated that cultivating scientific thinking begins with confronting confirmation bias and guiding the public toward rational inquiry. When confronted with claims such as “vaccines are dangerous” or “Tylenol causes autism,” one must at minimum ask: Where does this claim come from? What evidence supports it? Reason must replace blind belief.

“I truly believe hands-on experience is essential,” she emphasized, “What stays with you is what you have personally engaged in. Active learning is the key to real understanding.” She called for students, from primary school through high school, to enter laboratories and engage in project-based learning. Rather than passively absorbing established knowledge, they should be guided to explore on their own, even if their discoveries seem small.

From dismantling knowledge barriers to cultivating discernment, from safeguarding curiosity to building supportive educational ecosystems, Professor LUGER concluded that only when scientific thinking is fully integrated into everyday life can the light of reason continue to illuminate the unknown path ahead.

>Among the many remarkable moments at the 2025 World Laureates Forum, one figure remained unforgettable: Professor K. Barry SHARPLESS, the 84-year-old, sharp-minded double Nobel Laureate, wearing his signature canvas hat as if he had just stepped out of the laboratory he so dearly loves. As the fifth person in history to win two Nobel Prizes, his presence in Lingang was not only a powerful endorsement of the Forum’s global influence, but also a vivid reminder of how a philosophy rooted in “simplicity” is reshaping the future of science.

A Dual Crown: A Scientific Journey from Asymmetric Catalysis to Click Chemistry

Professor SHARPLESS’s scientific legend began with his mastery of chirality, the precise control of molecular handedness.

In 2001, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, together with William S. KNOWLES and Ryoji NOYORI, for pioneering asymmetric catalytic oxidation reactions. This work solved a foundational challenge in drug synthesis: how to perform “molecular surgery” with precision, producing only the desired enantiomer while avoiding ineffective or harmful ones. It laid the groundwork for safer and more effective pharmaceuticals.

In 2022, he received his second Nobel Prize in Chemistry for establishing the field of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry. From solving the problem of molecular chirality to inventing a molecular “fastener” that connects chemical units with exceptional reliability, SHARPLESS demonstrated the profound power of simplicity and robustness.

His achievements also forged a strong scientific bond between China and the global research community. As early as 2004, he was appointed Honorary Professor at the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, followed by honorary titles from Nanjing University, Tianjin University, and other leading Chinese institutions, marking a long-lasting relationship with China’s scientific community.

A Conceptual Revolution: How Click Chemistry Is Transforming Scientific Paradigms

At the heart of click chemistry lies the wisdom of reducing complexity. In the 1990s, Professor SHARPLESS envisioned a new ideal: to discover reactions that function like “buckling a seatbelt”, fast, precise, reliable, and nearly free of side reactions. The goal was to assemble small, stable molecular modules into a vast diversity of functional structures.

This philosophy gave rise to the iconic “molecular connection” paradigm. In 2002, the SHARPLESS laboratory unveiled the copper-catalyzed azide–alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC), the first near-perfect realization of his vision, a universal molecular “click” mechanism. To enable applications inside living systems, the field soon expanded to strain-promoted azide–alkyne cycloaddition (SPAAC) and later to the groundbreaking SuFEx (sulfur(VI) fluoride exchange) chemistry, ushering click chemistry into its “2.0 era.”

Today, this “simple” revolution permeates nearly every scientific frontier:

In drug discovery, it allows scientists to build immense compound libraries like molecular LEGO, dramatically accelerating the search for new therapeutic candidates.

In life sciences, bioorthogonal chemistry enables precise labeling and regulation of biomolecules inside living cells without disturbing natural biological processes—opening new windows into the mysteries of life.

In  materials science, it enables the tailored synthesis of functional polymers, smart hydrogels, and advanced materials with programmable properties.

At its core, click chemistry elevates chemical synthesis to a level of predictability and reliability comparable to engineering, providing researchers with a powerful standardized toolkit that frees them from synthetic complexity and redirects creativity toward function and innovation.

Legacy and Bridges: Lingang’s Mission and the Future of Science

As a Forum co-organizer, the Shanghai Lingang Science and Technology Innovation Development Foundation sees fostering generational scientific exchange and advancing international collaboration as central to its mission. Throughout the Forum, Professor SHARPLESS repeatedly praised the talent, curiosity, and determination of Chinese scientists and young scholars, qualities he viewed as key to China’s rapid rise in scientific research. His own career is a vivid example of cross-border and cross-generational scientific collaboration.

The Forum remains committed to its tradition of placing young scientists at center stage. In conversations with young researchers, SHARPLESS shared his humble yet profound scientific philosophy: stay curious, keep asking simple questions, and remember that the greatest breakthroughs often emerge from re-examining common sense.

He recalled early skepticism toward his asymmetric catalysis work. Yet it was precisely his conviction in seeking “simple” solutions that eventually transformed the entire field.
His message deeply resonated with the Foundation’s mission of empowering young scientific talent.

The 2025 Forum in Lingang brought together around 150 leading scientists from over ten countries, including multiple Nobel, Turing, and major-prize laureates, as well as academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Professor SHARPLESS’s active participation not only highlighted his unparalleled scientific achievements, but also symbolized a spirit of openness, collaboration, and relentless pursuit of fundamental breakthroughs.

The Forum may have concluded, but the pursuit of knowledge is endless. As Professor SHARPLESS remarked, “My brain never rests.” We will continue to uphold our mission to support this tireless spirit of exploration and to strengthen the scientific bridge connecting China and the world, the present and the future. We believe that on the innovative soil of Lingang, more revolutionary ideas, simple at first glance yet powerful enough to reshape the world, will surely take root, just as click chemistry once did.

Shanghai Lingang, within the World Laureates Forum, there is one scene that remains utterly unique: No preset agenda. No glowing slides. Only the wavering light of wine glasses, and sparks of thought igniting across the room. This is WLF Möbius Night, a space we believe best embodies the original spirit of scientific exchange.

The 2025 edition once again reaffirmed our core conviction: many of humanity’s greatest scientific breakthroughs are born not in formulas or agendas, but in the spaces in between. As the host, we are not merely organizers, we are builders and witnesses of this scientific “ideal realm.” We strive to dismantle the invisible walls, allowing cross-disciplinary and cross-generational dialogue to unfold freely and authentically.

The Art of Intentional “Blank Space”: Returning Conversation to Its Origins

We deliberately removed everything that has become a “standard feature” of modern conferences. When a Nobel Laureate specializing in DNA repair sits beside a young scholar pushing the boundaries of quantum computing, there are no scripts, only a shared curiosity about the unknown. In such an “informal” setting, stripped of titles and seniority, ideas meet in their purest form. It was here that an imaginative conversation on merging DNA repair mechanisms with quantum algorithms once emerged, an example of the boundless creativity this space is designed to cultivate.

A Dual Mission: Bridging Theory and Industry, Connecting Lingang and the World

Carving “canals” through disciplinary boundaries

We witnessed an intense debate on traditional medicine vs. modern biotechnology.
This was more than a clash between old and new paradigms, and it reflected our commitment to integrating organized research with scientist-driven exploration.
In Lingang’s fertile environment for innovation, such collisions are precisely what support breakthroughs beyond disciplinary silos.

Pressing the fast-forward button for translation and application

WLF Möbius Night is not only a furnace of ideas, it is also a starting point for collaboration. We were pleased to see scientists and industry representatives, through casual conversation, quickly identify mutual needs and opportunities. This informal matchmaking often proves far more efficient than a string of formal presentations.
It is shaping a cycle of “inspiration → technology → application,” the core pathway that allows us to attract world-leading scientific resources to Lingang and support Shanghai’s mission to build a global science and innovation hub.

Notes from the Roundtable: Listening to the “Human” Behind the Science

In the gentle flicker of candlelight, we captured voices that reveal more about the essence of science than any technical report could.

On the “ten-year promise”

When asked where they would invest research energy if granted ten years of stable funding, their answers spanned everything from astrophysics to neural decoding.

On “looking back”

When recalling their most formative moments, scientists spoke of mentors’ silhouettes, chance academic encounters, and the lone lamp glowing in a late-night lab. These quiet fragments mark the starting points of each scientist’s unique trajectory.

On the “institute of the future”

When imagining the ideal research institute, several themes emerged repeatedly:
“tear down walls,” “free movement,” and “embrace failure.”

On “time in China”

Many scientists shared their research and life experiences in Shanghai, memories woven between rigorous experimental data and the warmth of everyday city life, forming impressions both vivid and enduring.

As co-organizers of WLF Möbius Night, the Shanghai Lingang Science and Technology Innovation Development Foundation and Fudan University remain committed to serving as “keepers of the flame” for unbounded intellectual exchange. We firmly believe that the flashes of inspiration that surge through the night will, before long, illuminate humanity’s path forward.

On October 26, 2025, the three-day 2025 World Laureates Forum Lingang Laboratory Symposium on Brain Diseases concluded successfully at the Lingang Center in Shanghai. Jointly hosted by the Lingang Laboratory and the Shanghai Lingang Science and Technology Innovation Development Foundation, the symposium brought together leading minds in global brain science. Focusing on three major neurodegenerative diseases, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), and Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), participants conducted in-depth discussions on disease mechanisms, technological innovations, therapeutic strategies, and translational development.

The symposium attracted 35 internationally renowned disease biologists, including Nobel Laureates and academicians from multiple countries. Dozens of high-level academic sessions were held, drawing nearly 300 domestic and international experts for scholarly exchange. As one of the organizers, the Shanghai Lingang Science and Technology Innovation Development Foundation was honored to support this high-standard global dialogue platform and foster collaborative innovation in brain disease research.

Leading Scientists Unveil Frontiers of Neurodegeneration Research

The academic caliber of the symposium was set by a distinguished group of world-leading scientists.

Randy SCHEKMAN, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine and a key architect of the global roadmap for Parkinson’s disease research, shared the overarching blueprint of the ASAP (Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s) initiative, highlighting its systematic approach to deciphering PD pathogenesis.

Professor Maria G. SPILLANTINI, Member of the European Academy of Sciences and discoverer of α-synuclein, delivered an in-depth report on her latest breakthroughs in the molecular mechanisms and therapeutic innovations for Parkinson’s disease and related dementias.

Professor Don CLEVELAND of the University of California, San Diego, pioneer of gene-silencing therapy, discussed the latest clinical progress and translational potential of antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) technology in treating ALS, PD, and AD.

Professor YUAN Junying, Foreign Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, presented her pioneering discoveries on neuroinflammation and RIPK1-mediated programmed necrosis, opening new avenues for anti-inflammatory therapies in neurodegenerative diseases.

Deep Dive into Core Topics
Breakthroughs Across AD, PD, and ALS

The symposium generated fruitful discussions across the three major disease areas:

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD):  Experts examined APOE4 biology, amyloid processing, and neuronal dysfunction. Professor BU Guojun of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology revealed the interplay between ApoE biology and lipid metabolism in AD, proposing new therapeutic strategies targeting lipid homeostasis. Professor HUANG Yadong of the University of California, San Francisco reshaped current understanding of APOE4-induced neuronal dysfunction and emphasized efforts to translate these insights into clinical interventions.

Parkinson’s Disease (PD): Discussions centered on α-synuclein aggregation and neuroinflammatory strategies. Findings from Professor SPILLANTINI continued to strengthen mechanistic understanding of α-synuclein pathology, laying a solid theoretical foundation for precision-targeted therapies.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS): Key topics included molecular targets for motor neuron degeneration and drug development. Cutting-edge discussions highlighted the application and translational promise of ASO therapies, demonstrating strong momentum in bridging foundational discoveries with clinical progress.

“Standing Talks” Ignite Innovation

Young Scholars Inspired

A distinctive highlight of this year’s symposium was its innovative approach to academic exchange. Instead of traditional seated formats, the event encouraged open and informal “standing talks,” prompting spontaneous conversation and intellectual collision. This relaxed environment fostered closer interaction between world-leading scientists and young scholars. Participants freely exchanged perspectives, debated scientific challenges, and shared frontier insights. Many leading scientists noted that engaging with younger generations not only supports future talent but also fuels their own scientific inspiration. This cross-generational mentorship deeply inspired every young researcher in attendance.

Scientific exploration is like a Möbius strip and has no end. The Shanghai Lingang Science and Technology Innovation Development Foundation looks forward to continuing this journey alongside the global scientific community, transforming today’s insights into tomorrow’s tangible hope for patients.

On October 25, 2025, the 2025 World Laureates Forum (WLF) Life Sciences Conference, jointly organized by the Shanghai Lingang Science and Technology Innovation Development Foundation and Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), was successfully held at the Lingang Center. As a core component of the World Laureates Forum, this year’s conference, themed “AI-Enabled New Paradigms for Drug and Therapeutics Development,” brought together leading scientists, medical experts, and young researchers from across the globe to explore revolutionary pathways in life sciences.

01 Gathering of World-Leading Minds

The conference was co-chaired by: K. Barry SHARPLESS, two-time Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (2001 & 2022) and Professor at The Scripps Research Institute; Professor DING Kuiling, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and President of Shanghai Jiao Tong University; Professor FAN Xianqun, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), Vice President of SJTU, and Dean of the School of Medicine; Professor E Weinan, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chief Advisor of the SJTU School of Artificial Intelligence.

The conference was hosted by Academician FAN Xianqun, bringing together dozens of senior scientists from around the world and over a hundred outstanding young scholars and students for a high-level, cross-disciplinary exchange.

During the opening ceremony, Professor SHARPLESS and Academician DING delivered keynote remarks.

Professor SHARPLESS emphasized that “the integration of artificial intelligence with traditional drug discovery is revolutionizing medicine, creating a leap from design to development and enabling precision-targeted therapies.”

Academician DING highlighted that AI is becoming a transformative force reshaping research and medical technology development. He stressed that SJTU remains committed to fostering an innovation ecosystem integrating artificial intelligence, medicine, and fundamental sciences to drive scientific translation and technological breakthroughs.

02 Sparks of Scientific Dialogue

During the Keynote Forum, several internationally renowned experts shared frontier research insights and future perspectives.

Academician E Weinan delivered a keynote speech titled “AI-Enabled Scientific Research Infrastructure.” He argued that AI is pushing scientific research paradigms into a new phase, and building AI-driven scientific infrastructure is now imperative.

Speakers also included: Scott D. EMR, Professor at Cornell University and Laureate of the 2025 WLA Prize in Life Science or Medicine; Jeffery FRIEDMAN, 2019 Wolf Prize Laureate, 2020 Breakthrough Prize Laureate, and Member of the WLA Prize Selection Committee for Life Science or Medicine; Professor HONG Liang of Shanghai Jiao Tong University; Wesley I. SUNDQUIST, 2025 WLA Prize Laureate in Life Science or Medicine and Professor at the University of Utah; Professor WU Peng of The Scripps Research Institute; Professor ZHANG Kang, Dean of the Institute of Eye Health and Disease at Wenzhou Medical University.

In the Keynote Roundtable Forum, Academician E Weinan, Professors FRIEDMAN, SUNDQUIST, EMR, and ZHANG Kang engaged in an in-depth discussion centered on how AI can genuinely advance future drug discovery and therapeutic development.

They explored themes such as, the credibility of scientific data, the relationship between mechanistic understanding and AI predictions, and the challenges of scaling AI-driven systems.

The roundtable was moderated by Professor ZHANG Ya, Deputy Dean of the SJTU School of Artificial Intelligence and Executive Deputy Director of the Institute of Medical Artificial Intelligence. The session featured dynamic intellectual exchanges and incisive insights, making it a true feast of high-level academic debate.

03 Illuminating the Power of Youth

In the evening, the Innovation Case Sharing Session was co-hosted by Professor Michael LEVITT, 2013 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry and Professor at Stanford University; and Professor MA Jianpeng, Director of the Institute for Multi-Scale Research of Complex Systems at Fudan University, Leading Scientist of the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and Founder of ABOPharma.

Six young scientists and medical experts presented outstanding innovations on the theme “AI-Enabled Teams and Projects in Drug and Therapeutics Development.”

After the presentations, Professor LEVITT delivered concluding remarks, highly praising the creativity and practical significance of each case. He also shared insights on the broad prospects and future development directions of AI applications in medicine.

This session continued the World Laureates Forum’s longstanding tradition of valuing young scientists, offering them a rare opportunity to engage in direct dialogue with global scientific leaders.

As a co-organizer of the conference, the Shanghai Lingang Science and Technology Innovation Foundation leveraged its strengths to infuse the event with distinctive Lingang characteristics.

Anchored in the strategic vision of the Lingang Science and Innovation City, the conference drew deeply on the outstanding academic resources of Shanghai Jiao Tong University to build a world-class platform connecting top scientists, medical experts, and innovation leaders. The intellectual collision during the event sparked numerous cross-disciplinary collaboration prospects.

Through the glass façade of the Lingang Center, the light of science continues to illuminate the road to the future, just as Professor SHARPLESS remarked,
“The world we strive for is one in which everyone has access to healthcare.”

Source: Shanghai Jiao Tong University