Yi ZHANG, dr, Associate Professor, PhD mentor.

Research area: health law, global health governance, and regulatory science.

Dr. Zhang serves as legal advisor and the Chinese delegate to the WHO negotiations on the International Health Regulations (2005) and the Pandemic Agreement. She was also a member of the expert panel on the drafting of the Vaccine Administration Law, a member of the expert panel on the amendment and improvement of the Law on Infectious Disease Prevention and Control and a member of the expert panel on the amendment of the Regulations for the Implementation of the Drug Administration Law.

Education

2013.11—2018.05  PhD - Faculty of Law, University of Groningen (the Netherlands)

Employment

2026.01—current     Associate Professor, Vanke School of Public Health, Tsinghua University

2022.08—2026.01   Assistant Professor, Vanke School of Public Health, Tsinghua University

2018.09 - 2022.07    Postdoctoral Researcher, Faculty of Law, Tsinghua University

Research Interests

1. Health law, human rights law, the right to health

2. Global health governance

3. Governance of emerging biomedical technologies

Awards

Postdoctoral researcher with distinction, Law School, Tsinghua University (2022)

PhD cum Laude, Faculty of Law, University of Groningen, the Netherlands (2018)

Postdoctoral International Exchange Program of the China National Postdoctoral Council (2019)

Tsinghua University Postdoctoral Fellowship (2018)

Selected publications

1. Shen T, Wang X, Zhang Y* and Zhang Y*, How generative AI reconfigure clinician-AI and clinician-patient relationships. Clinical and Translational Medicine. 2026;16 (2):e70606.

2. Du X, Zhao Z, Sun X, Zhang Y, Zhang Y* and Luo X*, Challenges for Chinese Cancer Innovative Drugs in Going Global: Insights from Multiregional Clinical Trials. The Lancet Oncology. 2025; 26: e558–69.

3. Zhang Y, Li J, van den Dool A*, China’s Revised Infectious Diseases Law: A Step Towards Stronger Global Pandemic Preparedness. The Lancet Regional Health–Western Pacific. 2025, 63: 101708.

4. Shen T, Li Y, Cao Y, Du X, Wang X, Zhang Y* and Zhang Y*, Rapid Deployment of Large language Model DeepSeek in Chinese hospitals Demands A Regulatory Response. Nature Medicine. 2025; 31: 3233–3238.

5. Mao Y#, Zhang Y#, Cao Y*, Can DeepSeek Transform Healthcare in Low- and Middle-income Countries? Equity, Governance, and Deployment Strategies. The Innovation. 2025, 6 (12):101009.

6. Min K#, Zhang Y#, Liu J#, Yang J, Cao F*, Peng Z*, Liu D*, China’s Biosafety/biosecurity governance: evolution, challenges, and architecture design. Frontiers of Medicine. 2025 (online). doi:10.1007/s11684-025-1158-y.

7. Du X, Luo X, Liu L, Cao Y, Zhang Y* and Zhang Y*, Mapping the Cell Therapy Landscape: Insights into Clinical Trials and Regulatory Advances in China. Journal of Hematology & Oncology. 2024; 17:96.

8. Du X, Luo X, Guo Q, Jiang X, Su Z, Zhou W, Wang Z, Li J, Yang Y* and Zhang Y*, Assessment of clinical benefit, cost and uptake of biosimilars versus reference biologics in immune-mediated inflammatory diseases in China. Frontiers in Public Health. 2024; 12:1476213.

9. Zhang Y*, Guo Y, To Tier or Not to Tier: The Institutionalization of the World Health Organization’s power to Determine Pandemic Emergency in The Amended International Health Regulations (2005). Global Health Research and Policy. 2025,10 (40).

10. Zhang Y, Wang C, ‘Internet Plus Health Care’ as an impetus for China’s health system reform’ in Cohen G., Kramer D., et al (eds), Digital Health Care outside of Traditional Clinical Settings: Ethical, Legal, and Regulatory Challenges and Opportunities (Cambridge University Press 2024).

11. Wang C, Zhang Y*, ‘Common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities as a guiding principle in international health law in times of pandemics’ in M Heijer and H Wilt (eds), Netherlands Yearbook of International Law 2020 (Springer 2022).

12. Zhang Y, ‘Exploring the role of ASEAN in fostering human rights approaches to tobacco control in Asia’ in Gispen ME and Toebes BCA (eds), Human Rights and Tobacco Control (Edward Elgar Publishing 2020).

13. Zhang Y, Advancing the Right to Health Care - Towards Accountability (Intersentia 2019).