Li-Meng Yan

Yan is a native of Qingdao, Shandong, China.

She received her Master of Medicine {{lang|zh|医学硕士学位}} from Xiangya Medical College of Central South University in China.{{Cite news |date=2020-09-19 |script-title=zh:港大前研究員污衊中國 班農為幕後黑手炮製病毒人造論與美右翼反華媒體唱雙簧 |language=zh |page=A24 |work=Ta Kung Pao |issue=42052 |department=國際 |editor-last=郭 |editor-first=嘉 |url=http://paper.takungpao.com/resfile/PDF/20200919/PDF/a24_screen.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=2020-09-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200923145826/http://paper.takungpao.com/resfile/PDF/20200919/PDF/a24_screen.pdf |archive-date=2020-09-23 |oclc=222546985}}{{When|date=June 2021}} In 2014, she completed a Doctor of Medicine {{lang|zh|医学博士学位}} in ophthalmology from Southern Medical University in Guangzhou.{{Cite web |date=4 August 2020 |title=Li-Meng Yan, Pakar Virologi Pengungkap Sumber Corona di China |url=https://www.cnnindonesia.com/internasional/20200804191248-113-532177/li-meng-yan-pakar-virologi-pengungkap-sumber-corona-di-china |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200823040909/https://www.cnnindonesia.com/internasional/20200804191248-113-532177/li-meng-yan-pakar-virologi-pengungkap-sumber-corona-di-china |archive-date=August 23, 2020 |access-date=2020-09-16 |website=CNN Indonesia |language=id-ID}}{{cite journal |last1=Li-Meng |first1=Yan |title=普萘洛尔对小鼠角膜碱烧伤模型中新生血管抑制作用的实验研究-手机知网 |journal=Doctal Thesis |date=2014 |url=https://wap.cnki.net/touch/web/Dissertation/Article/90023-1015569677.nh.html |access-date=15 June 2021 |archive-date=July 25, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220725181346/https://wap.cnki.net/touch/web/Dissertation/Article/90023-1015569677.nh.html |url-status=live}} After this, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) until 2020.{{Cite press release |title=HKU responds to the media concerning a former staff member's TV interview |date=July 11, 2020 |url=https://www.hku.hk/press/press-releases/detail/21274.html |access-date=October 22, 2020 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712112605/https://www.hku.hk/press/press-releases/detail/21274.html |archive-date=July 12, 2020 |series=Press release |work=University of Hong Kong}}

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, Yan had served as a co-author on an article on universal influenza vaccines.{{Cite journal |display-authors=etal |vauthors=Valkenburg SA, Leung NH, Bull MB, Yan LM, Li AP, Poon LL |year=2018 |title=The Hurdles From Bench to Bedside in the Realization and Implementation of a Universal Influenza Vaccine. |journal=Front Immunol |volume=9 |pages=1479 |doi=10.3389/fimmu.2018.01479 |pmc=6036122 |pmid=30013557 |issn=1664-3224 |doi-access=free}}

Between September 2020 and March 2021, Yan authored a series of four preprint research papers, wherein she argued that SARS-CoV-2 did not emerge naturally in a "spillover from animals," but rather was produced in a laboratory. Her preprints (which did not undergo a scientific peer review process) were posted to the Zenodo platform, an open-access repository where anyone can post their research.

Yan stated that evidence of genetic engineering was censored in scientific journals, allegedly as part of a conspiracy to suppress information on the topic.{{Cite web |last=G |first=Kashmira |date=2020-09-15 |title=Fact-check: Does a new study give evidence that the coronavirus was made in a lab? |url=https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-does-new-study-give-evidence-that-coronavirus-was-made-lab-1532068 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200916052113/https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-does-new-study-give-evidence-that-coronavirus-was-made-lab-1532068 |archive-date=September 16, 2020 |access-date=2020-09-16 |website=Newsweek |language=en}} However, other scientists disputed the validity of the papers, pointing to poor methods, undisclosed funding from politically-motivated sources, the use of pseudonyms for the papers' co-authors, and the papers having never been submitted to a journal for review.{{cite news |last1=Baptista |first1=Eduardo |title='Artificial coronavirus' study linked to Steve Bannon and Chinese fugitive Guo Wengui |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3101832/artificial-coronavirus-study-linked-steve-bannon-and-chinese |access-date= |work=South China Morning Post |date=September 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200916150318/https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3101832/artificial-coronavirus-study-linked-steve-bannon-and-chinese |archive-date=September 16, 2020 |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Dapcevich |first=Madison |date=September 21, 2020 |title=Did Chinese Virologist Dr. Li-Meng Yan Say COVID-19 Was Made in a Wuhan Lab? |work=Snopes |url=https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/li-meng-yan-covid-19-lab/ |access-date=October 22, 2020 |archive-date=October 31, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211031102429/https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/li-meng-yan-covid-19-lab/ |url-status=live}}{{Cite report |url=https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/our-work/pubs_archive/pubs-pdfs/2020/200921-in-response-yan.pdf |title=In Response: Yan et al Preprint—Examinations of the Origin of SARS-CoV-2 |last1=Warmbrod |first1=Kelsey Lane |last2=West |first2=Rachel M. |date=September 21, 2020 |last3=Connell |first3=Nancy D. |last4=Gronvall |first4=Gigi Kwik |access-date=September 26, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200926201015/https://www.centerforhealthsecurity.org/our-work/pubs_archive/pubs-pdfs/2020/200921-in-response-yan.pdf |archive-date=September 26, 2020 |institution=Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security |url-status=live}} The papers were described by virologists as "non-scientific,"{{Cite web |last=Wermuth |first=Julian |date=2020-09-17 |title={{lang|de|Stammt das Coronavirus aus dem Labor? Diese 4 Punkte sollten dich skeptisch machen|cat=no}} |trans-title=Does the coronavirus come from the laboratory? These 4 points should make you skeptical |url=https://www.watson.ch/international/coronavirus/989183448-stammt-das-coronavirus-aus-einem-chinesischen-labor-der-faktencheck |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200920152807/https://www.watson.ch/international/coronavirus/989183448-stammt-das-coronavirus-aus-einem-chinesischen-labor-der-faktencheck |archive-date=2020-09-20 |access-date=2020-09-20 |publisher={{ill|Watson (news portal)|lt=Watson|de|Watson (Nachrichtenportal)}} |language=de |department={{langx|de|Der Faktencheck|lit=The factcheck|label=none|link=no}}}} "junk science," and written to spread "political propaganda."{{Cite news |last1=Kuznia |first1=Rob |last2=Bronstein |first2=Scott |last3=Griffin |first3=Drew |last4=Devine |first4=Curt |date=October 21, 2020 |title=How a Covid-19 origin theory backed by Bannon unraveled - CNNPolitics |work=CNN |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/21/politics/coronavirus-lab-theory-yan-bannon-invs/index.html |access-date=October 22, 2020 |archive-date=May 3, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220503181006/https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/21/politics/coronavirus-lab-theory-yan-bannon-invs/index.html |url-status=live}}

Reviewers for MIT Rapid Reviews: COVID-19 ({{abbr|RR:C19|Rapid Reviews: COVID-19}}), which seeks out preprint papers and reviews them in an attempt to reduce the spread of false or misleading scientific news,{{Cite journal |title=Frequently Asked Questions |url=https://rapidreviewscovid19.mitpress.mit.edu/faq |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200811184627/https://rapidreviewscovid19.mitpress.mit.edu/faq |archive-date=2020-08-11 |access-date=2020-10-10 |journal=Rapid Reviews: COVID-19}} analyzed Yan's study and issued the following statement:

Given the far-reaching implications of the "Yan Report," RR:C19 sought out peer reviews from world-renowned experts in virology, molecular biology, structural biology, computational biology, vaccine development, and medicine. Collectively, reviewers have debunked the authors' claims that: (1) bat coronaviruses ZC45 or ZXC21 were used as a background strain to engineer SARS-CoV-2, (2) the presence of restriction sites flanking the {{abbr|RBD|receptor binding domain}} suggest prior screening for a virus targeting the human Angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 receptor, and (3) the furin-like cleavage site is unnatural and provides evidence of engineering. In all three cases, the reviewers provide counter-arguments based on peer-reviewed literature and long-established foundational knowledge that directly refute the claims put forth by Yan et al. There was a general consensus that the study's claims were better explained by potential political motivations rather than scientific integrity. The peer reviewers arrived at these common opinions independently, further strengthening the credibility of the peer reviews.{{cite journal |last1=Koyama |first1=Takahiko |title=Reviews of "Unusual Features of the SARS-CoV-2 Genome Suggesting Sophisticated Laboratory Modification Rather Than Natural Evolution and Delineation of Its Probable Synthetic Route" |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201008172718/https://rapidreviewscovid19.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/78we86rp/release/2 |series=Rapid Reviews: COVID-19 |publisher=MIT Press |issn=2692-4072 |url=https://rapidreviewscovid19.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/r94z275c/release/2 |date=2020-10-02 |archive-date=2020-10-08 |last2=Lauring |first2=Adam |last3=Gallo |first3=Robert Charles |last4=Reitz |first4=Marvin |journal=Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases |author-link3=Robert Gallo |department=Biological and Chemical Sciences |url-status=live}}

Yan's preprint was promoted by the Rule of Law Society,{{Cite journal |last=Rasmussen |first=Angela L. |date=January 2021 |title=On the origins of SARS-CoV-2 |journal=Nature Medicine |language=en |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=9 |doi=10.1038/s41591-020-01205-5 |pmid=33442004 |issn=1546-170X |doi-access=free}} a political organisation affiliated with Steve Bannon, former Trump strategist, and Guo Wengui, an expatriate Chinese billionaire, in November 2020.{{cite news |last1=Ward |first1=Alex |title=The bogus Steve Bannon-backed study claiming China created the coronavirus, explained |url=https://www.vox.com/2020/9/18/21439865/coronavirus-china-study-bannon |work=Vox |date=2020-09-18 |language=en |quote=Yan's study was published by the Rule of Law Society and the Rule of Law Foundation, two New York City-based groups Bannon helped create alongside Guo Wengui, a Chinese dissident and billionaire [...]. |access-date=September 19, 2020 |archive-date=September 19, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919003644/https://www.vox.com/2020/9/18/21439865/coronavirus-china-study-bannon |url-status=live}} The organisation's stated intent was to investigate "Chinese corruption and financially support victims of the regime."{{Cite news |title=Steve Bannon Is Behind Bogus Study That China Created COVID |url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/steve-bannon-linked-groups-push-study-claiming-china-manufactured-covid |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200916022611/https://www.thedailybeast.com/steve-bannon-linked-groups-push-study-claiming-china-manufactured-covid |archive-date=September 16, 2020 |access-date=2020-09-16 |website=The Daily Beast |date=September 15, 2020 |language=en |last1=Markay |first1=Adam Rawnsley}}{{Cite news |last1=Helderman |first1=Rosalind S. |last2=Dawsey |first2=Josh |last3=Shih |first3=Gerry |last4=Zapotosky |first4=Matt |title=How former Trump adviser Steve Bannon joined forces with a Chinese billionaire who has divided the president's allies |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/steve-bannon-guo-wengui/2020/09/13/8b43cd06-e964-11ea-bc79-834454439a44_story.html |access-date=2020-10-23 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=October 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211011124358/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/steve-bannon-guo-wengui/2020/09/13/8b43cd06-e964-11ea-bc79-834454439a44_story.html |url-status=live}} The Rule of Law Society had not previously published scientific or medical research. Yan previously appeared on Bannon's "War Room" podcast. The lack of financial disclosure in Yan's papers was described as a lapse in ethical transparency by Dr. Adam Lauring, particularly when publishing "what are essentially conspiracy theories that are not founded in fact".

In November 2020, The New York Times reported that Yan's "trajectory was carefully crafted" by Steve Bannon and Guo Wengui, who played to rising anti-Chinese sentiments, with the goal of bringing down China's government and distracting from the Trump administration's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Times article pointed out that Guo and Bannon arranged for Yan to fly first class to the United States, arranged lodging, coached her on media appearances, and arranged interviews for her with conservative media hosts such as Lou Dobbs and Tucker Carlson.{{Cite news |first1=Amy |last1=Qin |first2=Vivian |last2=Wang |first3=Danny |last3=Hakim |date=2020-11-20 |title=How Steve Bannon and a Chinese Billionaire Created a Right-Wing Coronavirus Media Sensation |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/20/business/media/steve-bannon-china.html |access-date=May 4, 2021 |archive-date=April 30, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210430175006/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/11/20/business/media/steve-bannon-china.html |url-status=live}}

In an 80-minute show in January 2020, YouTube host Wang Dinggang, also known as "Lu De", said he heard from an unnamed whistleblower who told him China was not being transparent about the outbreak in Wuhan. Wang described his source, who was later revealed to be Yan, as "the world's absolute top coronavirus expert." Although Yan worked at one of the world's top virology labs, she was fairly new to the field of virology and had not studied coronaviruses before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Between July and August, Yan was interviewed by Fox News, Newsmax TV,{{Cite web |last=許懿安 |date=2020-08-15 |script-title=zh:美媒訪港大前研究員閆麗夢 稱2種病毒改造而成 沒提出實質證據 |url=https://www.hk01.com/即時國際/511298/美媒訪港大前研究員閆麗夢-稱2種病毒改造而成-沒提出實質證據 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200828151955/https://www.hk01.com/%E5%8D%B3%E6%99%82%E5%9C%8B%E9%9A%9B/511298/%E7%BE%8E%E5%AA%92%E8%A8%AA%E6%B8%AF%E5%A4%A7%E5%89%8D%E7%A0%94%E7%A9%B6%E5%93%A1%E9%96%86%E9%BA%97%E5%A4%A2-%E7%A8%B12%E7%A8%AE%E7%97%85%E6%AF%92%E6%94%B9%E9%80%A0%E8%80%8C%E6%88%90-%E6%B2%92%E6%8F%90%E5%87%BA%E5%AF%A6%E8%B3%AA%E8%AD%89%E6%93%9A |archive-date=August 28, 2020 |access-date=2020-09-17 |website=HK01 |language=zh}} and the Daily Mail.{{Cite web |last=Ward |first=Alex |date=September 18, 2020 |title=The bogus Steve Bannon-backed study claiming China created the coronavirus, explained |url=https://www.vox.com/2020/9/18/21439865/coronavirus-china-study-bannon |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919003644/https://www.vox.com/2020/9/18/21439865/coronavirus-china-study-bannon |archive-date=2020-09-19 |access-date=October 22, 2020 |website=Vox |publisher=Vox Media}} Yan claimed in interviews that she became aware of person-to-person transmission of COVID-19 in late December 2019, and that she attempted to communicate the risks to her superiors in late December 2019 or early January 2020.

She stated that the Chinese government and the World Health Organization (WHO) knew about the person-to-person transmission of COVID-19 earlier than they reported or made public, and she stated that the Chinese government suppressed both her research and that of others.{{Cite web |date=2020-07-12 |script-title=zh:闫丽梦爆料 李文亮第二?港大回应 |url=https://www.dw.com/zh/闫丽梦爆料-李文亮第二港大回应/a-54137429 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716011435/https://www.dw.com/zh/%E9%97%AB%E4%B8%BD%E6%A2%A6%E7%88%86%E6%96%99-%E6%9D%8E%E6%96%87%E4%BA%AE%E7%AC%AC%E4%BA%8C%E6%B8%AF%E5%A4%A7%E5%9B%9E%E5%BA%94/a-54137429 |archive-date=July 16, 2020 |access-date=2020-09-17 |publisher=Deutsche Welle Chinese Network |language=zh}}{{cite news |title=SARS-CoV-2 바이러스의 기원을 내부 고발한 염려몽(閆麗夢) 박사 |url=https://dailyhongkong.com/2021/02/17/the-whistleblower-of-the-origin-of-sars-cov-2-virus/ |work=데일리홍콩 |date=17 February 2021 |language=ko-KR |access-date=August 8, 2022 |archive-date=July 29, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220729070606/https://dailyhongkong.com/2021/02/17/the-whistleblower-of-the-origin-of-sars-cov-2-virus/ |url-status=live}}

An official statement issued by HKU on 11 July 2020 confirmed that Yan was formerly a post-doctoral researcher at the institution,{{cite news |last1=Wu |first1=Katherine J. |title=Another 'Unfounded' Study on Origins of Virus Spreads Online |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/13/technology/another-unfounded-study-on-origins-of-virus-spreads-online.html |work=The New York Times |date=13 October 2020 |access-date=July 17, 2021 |archive-date=June 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210611000754/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/13/technology/another-unfounded-study-on-origins-of-virus-spreads-online.html |url-status=live}} but disputed the accuracy of other elements of her account, adding that "Dr. Yan never conducted any research on human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus at HKU", and that many of her claims had no scientific basis.{{cite news |last1=Mok |first1=Danny |title=University of Hong Kong rejects accusations from academic of Covid-19 cover-up |url=https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3092868/coronavirus-university-hong-kong-dismisses |access-date=17 July 2021 |work=South China Morning Post |date=12 July 2020 |language=en |archive-date=July 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210715232214/https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3092868/coronavirus-university-hong-kong-dismisses |url-status=live}}

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Category:Chinese ophthalmologists

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