Professor Hu Hailan Photo: Courtesy of L'ORÉAL Foundation

The award ceremony of the "World Outstanding Female Scientist Achievement Award" ended on the evening of June 23. Hu Hailan, executive director of the Neuroscience Center of Zhejiang University in China, received the World Outstanding Female Scientist Achievement Award for her major discoveries in social and emotional neuroscience,and she is also one of the youngest recipients of this award.

Hu Hailan, as the seventh Chinese recipient of this award, stated in her speech that China's female scientists are now in an era of diversity. "Six Chinese female scientists have won this honor before me including Professor Ye Yuru, Chen Hualan, and Zhang Miman in the life sciences. I feel very honored to be a part of them because they are all my idols, " she said.

Cracking the emotional 'code'
Although depression has been gradually recognized by the public, it is still a problem. According to The Lancet, nearly 30 percent of the population suffers from depression across the world and the public psychological crisis has become more serious because of COVID-19, a breakthrough in depression research in medicine is imminent.

Hu Hailan, the award-winning female scientist has made breakthroughs in related areas. She and her team discovered that ketamine has a rapid, highly effective effect on the habenula, and the habenula nucleus is an area of the brain that is highly active during depression. According to research, ketamine is more effective than traditional antidepressants, and its direct relation provides a new perspective for understanding the pathogenesis of depression for treating the core symptoms of depression, and it is also one of the most important discoveries in the mental health in recent years.

According to her speech, there are two research- and application-related directions of the team currently: The first is to cooperate with other laboratories, hoping to modify the molecular structure of ketamine, retain its antidepressant effect, and remove its addictive effect and other negative symptoms. The second is to expand the target, and try the strategy of "repurpose old drugs" and find new drugs for the new molecular targets discovered.

Follow a career that really interests
"I have never felt that scientific research is boring. Scientist is the best profession in the world," Hu said.

From biochemistry and molecular biology to brain science, and then to a deep understanding of emotional mechanisms at the postdoctoral, Hai Lan has always followed her heart at each stage of career, and bravely stepped outside of her comfort zone. As she said, "Persistence can reflect resilience, which is to pursue what you are interested in, and to endure setbacks for a long period of time."

Perseverance in scientific research is a reality, not a metaphor. Hu Hailan told reporters that failure or temporary unsuccessful experiments occupy more than 70 percent of their time each day, and the exercise of toughness is also the basic skill of experimental scientists. Therefore, she believes that to join science must be out of interest and find something that she is willing to work for her whole life, and persistence is a kind of happiness.

From Hangzhou No. 2 High School of Zhejiang Province and Peking University to the international stage, Hu's exploration of the emotional mechanism of the brain is getting deeper with her interest in brain science. As she said in the interview: "Scientific research is like a marathon that doesn't know where the destination is. Sometimes you have to insist on being alone. And the charm is not knowing where the end is, but it always fills you with hope. "