Shanghai University Hires HIV -Nobel Laureate as Professor

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Shanghai University Hires Nobel Laureate as Professor

2010-11-19 16:21:47 Xinhua Web Editor: Guo Jing

A university in Shanghai has hired Nobel Prize-winning French scientist Luc

Montagnier, the discoverer of HIV, as a professor, the first time a Nobel

laureate has become a full-time faculty member on the Chinese mainland.

Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) held an appointment ceremony with

Montagnier Thursday, the university's president, Zhang Jie, said.

Under the agreement with Montagnier, an institute named after him will be

established in SJTU's life sciences and technology college.

It will focus on research into HIV-AIDS and other virus-caused diseases like

cancer.

Prof. Montagnier, 68, will also be in charge of recruiting overseas talent and

establishing a 30-member academic committee.

" We were not only attracted to Professor Montagnier because of his Nobel

laureate title, but also because of his great passion for research in his

field, " said Zhang.

Montagnier said he would be engaged in research at SJTU to try to find a cure

for AIDS.

Luc Montagnier and Francoise Barre-Sinoussi, a pair of French scientists,

isolated the AID-causing HIV virus.

They, along with German scientist Harald zur Hausen who discovered the human

papillomavirus (HPV), shared the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 2008.

http://english.cri.cn/6909/2010/11/19/2743s605950.htm