Tu, a traditional Chinese medicine expert, received one half of the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for developing an anti-malarial drug, artemisinin, based on ancient herbal medicine. Tu is the first Chinese woman to win a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Artemisinin rapidly kills malaria parasites at an early stage of their development, which explains its unprecedented potency in the treatment of severe malaria. When used in combination therapy, artemisinin is estimated to reduce mortality from malaria by more than 20 percent overall and by more than 30 percent in children.

(Photo: China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine)