Dr. Bao is a physician-scientist and accomplished executive with over 30 years of experience spanning venture capital, global clinical trials, drug regulation, technology transfer, and international collaboration. She has a proven track record of leading organizations, driving results, and fostering global partnerships across the healthcare and life sciences sectors.
Her international journey began in 1996, when she became the first Chinese physician invited by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Israel—an opportunity that led her to pursue a Ph.D. at the Weizmann Institute of Science under Prof. Yosef Yarden, an Israel Prize laureate. She later completed postdoctoral training at the U.S. National Cancer Institute (NIH). To promote friendship between China and Israel, she published two influential books—My 2000 Days in Israel and Wild Cactus—which chronicle her and her daughter’s experiences in the country.
Dr. Bao spent 16 years at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where she managed and directed over 20 global multi-center clinical trial projects and IND applications with the FDA. Her cancer research, which included a breakthrough highlighted by Nature Reviews as one of the year’s most important findings, has been published extensively in leading journals. She has delivered over 100 presentations in more than 20 countries.
In the private sector, she has served as Chief Medical Officer for several large pharmaceutical and biotech companies, overseeing diversified product pipelines. She is currently a Venture Partner at Shanghai HealthCare Capital (SHC), which manages a $1.2 billion USD fund investing in life science technologies worldwide. She has served on the boards of three biotech companies in the U.S. and Israel. She also led investments in Israeli biotech firms and continues to support Israeli companies as a senior scientific advisor for the China-Israel Innovation Hub (Shanghai). Dr. Bao is also the co-founder of China – Israel Healthy Longevity Association.
Dr. Bao is an Adjunct Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), where she lectures on drug safety and clinical trials for the Master’s program in Drug Regulatory Pathways. Recent presentations to HKUST’s life science faculty include “The Global Biotech Investment Landscape: Insights from the US NIH & FDA, and Implications for Hong Kong’s Prospects” and “The Miracle of Science: Lessons Learned from the COVID Vaccine Development.”
Dr.Bao’s career across China, Israel, and the U.S. has earned her numerous honors, including the NIH Director’s Merit Award, recognition from the Henry Jackson Foundation for fostering international S&T collaboration, and the 2025 Sino-Phil Asia Peace Prize.
Education
- Ph.D. – Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel (Mentor: Prof. Yosef Yarden)
- Postdoctoral Fellowship – National Cancer Institute / NIH, USA
- M.D. – Southeastern University Medical School, China