To implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the CPC and General Secretary Xi Jinping's important instructions, to put into practice the work requirements of the All-China Federation of Trade Unions' "Year of Strengthening County-Level Trade Unions" Work Plan, to vigorously promote the spirit of the "Great Power Craftsman", to consolidate the foundation for building high-end technical talent in our district, and to unite and inspire industrial workers across the district to overcome difficulties together, the Nanshan District Federation of Trade Unions, building on the four successful editions held in 2019–2022, has continued to host the 2023 Nanshan District "Top 10 Innovation Craftsmen" selection.
On November 10, 2023, the 2023 Nanshan District "Top 10 Innovation Craftsmen" list was officially announced. Dr. Liao Yan of the Shenzhen Beike Biotechnology Co., Ltd. R&D Center was one of 10 outstanding talents who emerged from a pool of 134 candidates and received this honor!
The 2023 Nanshan District "Top 10 Innovation Craftsmen" selection focused on Nanshan's "14+7" strategic emerging industry clusters and future industries, attracting many high-precision, highly educated, high-skilled talents. A total of 134 innovation talents from 105 leading industry enterprises, "specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative" little-giant enterprises, and unicorn enterprises applied to participate. Through the rigorous selection of preliminary review of materials, on-site re-review, online voting, and online final-defense rounds, the "Top 10 Innovation Craftsmen" finalists were ultimately produced.
Nanshan District "Top 10 Innovation Craftsmen"
Deputy Director, Beike Biotech R&D Center
She received her doctorate from Sun Yat-sen University. In 2019, she was awarded the title of "Shenzhen High-Level Specialized Talent (Reserve Tier)"; in 2022, she was named a Guangdong Provincial Enterprise "Innovation Star"; and in 2023, she was awarded a "Pengcheng Excellent Talent Card". She has published 23 research papers in domestic and international journals, including Molecular Therapy, of which 7 were as first author or co-first author and 1 as co-corresponding author. She has been granted 3 invention patents and 2 utility model patents. As principal investigator, she has undertaken 6 national and provincial-local natural science foundation projects, including 1 sub-project of the National Key R&D Program, 1 National Natural Science Foundation project, and 2 Guangdong Provincial Natural Science Foundation projects.
During her master's at Sun Yat-sen University, Dr. Liao Yan chose basic medicine with a focus on stem cells. Subsequently, under the years-long guidance of her doctoral advisor Professor Xiang Peng, she settled on her doctoral topic — research into the mechanisms of mesenchymal stem cell therapy for various diseases — laying the foundation for her long-term work in the biomedical field of "cells and genes".
After joining Beike Biotech in 2019, Dr. Liao Yan has, as principal investigator of R&D projects, been mainly responsible for the development of new stem cell technologies and IND filings for new drugs. To raise technological barriers and product performance, she developed an "empowering" technology for stem cells that enhances certain specific functions of mesenchymal stem cells and improves clinical efficacy, with 3 invention patent applications filed with the patent office. She has also actively participated in process development for the company's umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell injection product, as well as pharmacology and toxicology evaluation, and has submitted an IND application to the drug administration. Following expected receipt of clinical approval in 2024, she plans to launch a clinical trial for severe refractory systemic lupus erythematosus. In the future, Dr. Liao Yan hopes to bring this second-generation product, "empowered mesenchymal stem cells", to market and realize its economic and social value. Meanwhile, her team is developing induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology. Cell products derived from iPSC differentiation will offer the advantages of large-scale production, good stability, and strong functionality, with broad development prospects ahead.
