Key player: Hongwei Yu

JOB TITLE: professor for Marshall University's Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology.

HOMETOWN: Quing Dao, China.

HIGH SCHOOL: No. 7 High School.

COLLEGE AND MAJOR/DEGREE: Ocean University of China, bachelor's degree in agriculture; University of Alberta in Canada, master's; University of Cadbury, Canada, doctorate.

ADDITIONAL TRAINING: Post-doctoral fellowship, University of Texas, San Antonio; research assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Medicine.

FAMILY: Wife, Jan; two daughters, Jennifer and Christine.

NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS: Conducting intensive research into cystic fibrosis; co-founder of Progenesis, the first research-based business to spin off from Marshall University's Robert C. Byrd Biotechnology Science Center.

FAVORITE WEB SITE: Scientific American, www.sciam.com.

ITEM YOU CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT: My laptop.

FAVORITE BOOK GENRE: Scientific literature.