Victor DZAU

Victor Dzau was born in Chinese Mainland and grew up in Hong Kong. He is one of the most influential leaders in health and is recognised globally. He is past and inaugural president of the US National Academy of Medicine (NAM), having led its transition from the Institute of Medicine. He is Chancellor Emeritus of Duke University, past Chief Executive Officer of Duke Health, and James B Duke Distinguished Professor. He served as Chair of departments of medicine at both Harvard and Stanford Universities. His seminal research laid the foundation for the class of lifesaving heart drugs known as ACE inhibitor. He pioneered gene therapy for vascular disease.

As President of the NAM, he led the Commission on a Global Health Risk Framework, Healthy Longevity Global Grand Challenge, and International Human Gene Editing Initiative, Grand Challenge in Healthy Longevity and Collaborative on Emerging Science, Technology, and Innovation. In 2018, he launched the NAM’s International Health Policy Fellowship Program, the Cheng Dzau Fellowship, which enables scholars from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) to gain experience in global health policy, followed by a similar fellowship with The University of Hong Kong (HKU) in 2019.

He has served in leadership and advisory roles for US and international governments, WHO, World Bank, World Economic Forum, G7 and G20, and universities, including serving as Chair of the Tsinghua Medicine Advisory Council and the International Advisory Board of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology School of Medicine. Among his many honors and recognitions are Honorary Citizen of Singapore, the Order of the Rising Sun from Japan. He holds a Doctor of Science Honoris Causa from The University of Hong Kong (2016) and from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (2024), Honorary Professorship from Tsinghua University in 2025, among 23 Honorary Doctorates from US and international universities.