Shi Zhengli is a Chinese virologist and researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV), which is part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). She is best known for her extensive research into bat-borne coronaviruses, a field in which she has become a leading international authority.
Academic Background and Career Shi Zhengli was born in 1964 in Henan Province, China. She graduated from Wuhan University in 1987 and earned her master's degree from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in 1990. In 2000, she received a PhD from Montpellier University II in France.
Following her doctoral studies, she returned to the WIV, eventually becoming a researcher and the Director of the Center for Emerging Infectious Diseases. In 2023, she was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Scientific Contributions Shi's research has primarily focused on the identification and characterization of viruses originating in wildlife, particularly bats. Following the 2002–2004 SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak, Shi led a team that spent years collecting samples from bats in caves across China. In 2005, her team published research in the journal Science identifying bats as the natural reservoir for SARS-like coronaviruses.
In 2013, her team published a paper in Nature identifying a coronavirus in horseshoe bats that was a close relative of the virus that caused the original SARS outbreak. This work provided significant evidence for the zoonotic origin of SARS-CoV.
Role in the COVID-19 Pandemic At the end of 2019, following the emergence of a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, Shi and her team were among the first to sequence the genome of the virus now known as SARS-CoV-2. They determined that it was a novel coronavirus closely related to a bat virus (RaTG13) previously identified by her lab.
Shi has been a prominent figure in the international discourse regarding the origins of COVID-19. While most scientists support the theory that the virus transitioned from animals to humans through a natural zoonotic event, some observers and government officials have scrutinized the WIV and its research practices. Shi has consistently denied allegations that the virus originated from a laboratory leak, maintaining that the viral sequences handled in her laboratory did not match SARS-CoV-2 and that strict biosafety protocols were followed.
Recognition Shi Zhengli has authored or co-authored over 100 scientific papers. She is a member of the American Academy of Microbiology and has received numerous awards in China for her contributions to public health and virology. Due to her extensive field work in bat caves, she is frequently referred to in popular media as China’s "Bat Woman."
