In the 49th Annual Meeting of the Society for Invertebrate Pathology (SIP) held on 24-28th of July 2016 in Tours, Loire Valley, France, Prof. Zhihong Hu in WIV is notified to be elected as Vice President of the Society for the term July 2016 to August 2018. This is the first time for the scientist outside the U.S. and Europe to assume an important leading position in SIP.

The Society for Invertebrate Pathology was founded in 1967 as an interdisciplinary scientific society that would draw together members from diverse scientific backgrounds under the unified discipline of invertebrate pathology. Now SIP sets up 7 divisions: Bacteria, DBI, Fungi, Microbial Control, Microsporidia, Nematodes and Virus. The objectives as defined in the Society's constitution are: i) Promotion of scientific knowledge of pathology of invertebrate animals and of related subjects through discussions, reports and publications. ii) Stimulation of scientific investigations and their applications. iii) Planning, organization and administration of projects for the advancement of scientific knowledge in invertebrate pathology. iv) Improvement of education and of professional qualifications in invertebrate pathology. v) Promotion of international cooperation in achieving the above objectives.

The election of Prof. Hu does not only represent the international positive attitude towards her outstanding academic achievement, but also is the symbol of the climbing influence from China in the field of invertebrate pathology. Prof. Hu was one of the members of the council in that society. According to the regulation, she will be promoted as the President of SIP from 2018 to 2020.