Chen Wei felt a sense of pride for her country when she was awarded a national honorary medal – "the People's Hero" – for her courageous role in the country's fight against the COVID-19 epidemic. The female military medical scien-tist was one of four prominent figures to be honored on September 8 at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. Chen was among the first medical experts to help out in Hubei, a province in China that was hardest hit by the coronavirus. She has led her team in achiev-ing remarkable progress in COVID-19-related basic research and development of a vaccine and protec-tive medicine.