Laureate on a mission

Erwin Neher, director of a lab for innovative drug discovery at the Macau University of Science and Technology, gives an interview to China Daily in the Macao Special Administrative Region in October, wearing the Chinese Government Friendship Award medal which he received in late September for his outstanding contributions to China’s development. LESLEY LIU / CHINA DAILY German Nobel laureate Erwin Neher has a close affinity with traditional Chinese medicine, saying the potential of TCM, with a history of more than 2,000 years, has drawn him to the Macao Special Administrative Region to deepen his research in the field. The renowned biophysicist, specializing in cell physiology, holds true to his belief with a resounding vote of confidence in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area's bid to be a world-class innovation and technology hub that could take on Silicon Valley. Neher, who was appointed by the Macau University of Science and Technology in 2016 to head a biophysics laboratory named in his honor, won the 2024 Chinese Government Friendship Award in late September, becoming the first expatriate scientist in the Hong Kong and Macao SARs to receive the nation's top friendship award.