Dr Cao is a senior expert in respiratory infections, with his research interests including (1) Epidemiology, clinical characteristics, and treatment of viral pneumonia, (2) Molecular and cellular basis of the pathogenesis of influenza and COVID-19, (3) Diagnosis and treatment strategy and drug resistance of infections by drug-resistant pathogens, (4) Immune damage and protective mechanism of viral pneumonia.
As a physician-scientist, Dr Cao is a leader of respiratory medicine, and a tireless researcher of evidence-based medicine for respiratory infections. He pioneered the original concept of “Respiratory Viral Sepsis”, which extended the theory of sepsis. He initiated the “seven-category ordinal scale” in clinical trials, which proved the feasibility to conduct randomized controlled clinical trials in the pandemic. His research has an outstanding influence in China and provided references to treatment guidelines of respiratory diseases in WHO and the world.
Dr Cao has published over 200 original peer reviewed articles and reviews in major journals including the Lancet and NEJM, among which 14 papers are listed as Highly Cited Paper in ESI, an H-index of 68, and over 130,000 citations (Google Scholar). He was also elected as “Highly Cited Chinese Researchers” by Elsevier for five consecutive years.