Professor Zhang Cheng. [Photo/sdu.edu.cn]

Zhang Cheng, a professor at the Cheeloo College of Medicine of Shandong University, was selected as a member of Academia Europaea on April 21.

Founded in 1988 and headquartered in London, Academia Europaea is one of the most wide-ranging and influential international scientific organizations. The organization currently has about 5,500 academicians, including about 90 Nobel Prize winners.

Professor Zhang is the first Chinese expert in the field of cardiovascular disease to be elected as a Member of Academia Europaea. Zhang is currently serving as the vice dean of the Cheeloo College of Medicine at Shandong University and the head of the Cardiovascular Department at Qilu Hospital. His primary research focuses are atherosclerosis and heart failure.

Zhang has undertaken over 10 of China's major research projects and published over 200 SCI-indexed papers in internationally renowned journals such as Science, Nature Medicine, Nature Reviews and Cardiology.