Prof. YU Hao, alumnus of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), has received the designation of Fellow of the Singapore National Academy of Science (SNAS), as recognition of his research and education accomplishments in the area of Plants.

SNAS was established in 1976 to promote the advancement of science and technology in Singapore, and has begun to elect her own fellows since 2011. Prof. YU is the first botanist Fellow among the current 45 Fellows.

Prof. YU received his Bachelor Degree (’94) and Master Degree (’97 ) from The School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology of SJTU. He is now the Provost’s Chair Professor and Head of Biological Sciences of National University of Singapore (NUS), and Board Director of Singapore Temasek Life Sciences Laboratory (TLL). He is known for his work in plant molecular genetics and plant biotechnology. His research integrates molecular genetic approaches with advanced life science tools, to study the fundamental mechanisms of plant reproductive development and phytohormone signaling. The ground breaking findings from his work provide essential gene resources and mechanisms for crop breeding and urban farming, which in turn will help improve food security in Singapore and around the world. The related results have been published on a set of top academic journals including Nature, Nature Genetics, Nature Plants, Developmental Cell, Molecular Cell, PLoS Biology, Advanced Science, Science Advances,  Nature Communications，PNAS and Plant Cell. Prof YU’s research group created the first set of genome-edited crops in Southeast Asia, and these have been distributed to over 100 labs in more than 20 countries. His team is currently developing novel and high-value plant varieties with desirable traits for the production of food, medicine, and bioenergy.