Meng Xiangjin, a professor of virology in the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine's department of biomedical sciences and pathobiology at Virginia Tech, received one major accolade after another the past couple of months.
Born and raised in China, Meng received medical degrees and practiced medicine there before coming to the United States in 1991 to receive a doctorate in immunobiology at Iowa State University's college of veterinary medicine. Four years later he took a position with the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., and he joined the faculty at Tech in 1999.
In January, he was recognized by academic publisher Thomson Scientific as belonging to the top 1 percent of the most-frequently cited scientists in the world in the past decade in two fields -- microbiology and clinical medicine. In February, he was awarded nearly $3 million in grants from the National Institutes of Health to study the hepatitis E virus with the goal of eventually developing a vaccine to protect people and animals from it. And earlier this month, Meng received word that he will receive an award for research excellence from the Lumina Foundation.
Gerhardt Schurig, dean of the veterinary school, referred to Meng as the college's "star researcher" and said Meng's success has attracted the funding and attention to allow the school to build a nucleus of virologists. Meng was the school's only virologist until they hired three more this past year.
"X.J. is the engine, to some extent, for the whole virology team," he said.
Meng credits much of his success to his dual background in human and veterinary medicine. Several recently discovered viruses that affect humans -- such as HIV, SARS and the hantavirus -- can be traced to animals. Whether it's animals or humans, all medicine is connected, he said.
Though Meng didn't feel satisfied or challenged as a medical doctor in China, he said his work treating people there has helped him see beyond the theoretical side of research to the practical application of it. That's why the project funded by the recent grants excites him so much. The potential to create a vaccine to help people sometimes makes the frustrating part of research worthwhile. Hepatitis E, while usually not fatal, is a major problem in developing countries in Asia and Africa and in Mexico. It's also found in the U.S.
Meng and other researchers at Tech recently discovered hepatitis E-related viruses in pigs and birds. The grants will allow researchers, including five other co-investigators at the vet school, to follow up on those discoveries and look into ways to study the virus in those animals with hopes of developing a vaccine for humans. Similar work was done with cows to create a smallpox vaccine.
Meng first began working with swine viruses at Iowa State and his work helped develop a vaccine for a pig virus -- Porcine Circovirus Two -- in 2006. His research on that virus, as well as hepatitis E, is why he's been cited so much by microbiology researchers. The clinical medicine citations are also because of his circovirus research and work he's done on another pig virus -- Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus.
The Thomson Scientific recognition meant a lot to Meng because, as a researcher, that's ultimately the reason you publish. His work in the microbiology field has been cited 896 times in the past 10 years while his clinical medicine work has been cited 1,842 times.
"If your publication, nobody reads it, nobody cites it, it doesn't make an impact," he said. "You can say all you want to say."
One of the reasons Meng came to Tech was that it gave him a chance to teach. He teaches courses in virology and emerging infectious disease and will probably teach in the new medical school in Roanoke being planned by Tech and Carilion Clinic. While all of the research awards are great, he said he'd love to receive one for teaching some day.
Likewise, Meng enjoys working with the staff, graduate students and postdoctoral associates in the vet school's Center for Molecular Medicine and Infectious Disease. Nine researchers work there and six more will be added as a result of the grants.
"It's not just me. I'm the one directing the lab, but it's those people in the lab," he said. "They're the ones who did the work."