An 83-year-old Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor was among recipients of Hong Kong Qiu Shi Science and Technologies Foundation awards on Saturday.

Zhang Tingdong, from the First Clinical Hospital affiliated to Harbin Medical University, received the Outstanding Scientist Award and 1 million yuan ($157,200) for his contribution in curing acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) with arsenic trioxide, "a major breakthrough in medical science", according to the foundation.

His research began in 1970s, when he discovered that prescriptions issued by some experienced TCM doctors for leukemia therapy contained the highly toxic arsenic trioxide.

In later research and clinical experiences Zhang found the material did work in curing APL while a lot of work had to be done to improve the efficiency and reduce side effects.

By collaborating with some of the country’s leading medical research institutes, Zhang succeeded in creating medicines made from arsenic trioxide and retinoic acid to cure APL in the 1990s, which "have been long regarded by the world as standard medicines in curing the disease ever since", said Shi Yigong, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and vice president of Tsinghua University.

Shi, who is also a top life scientist and advisor to the Qiu Shi foundation, said the recovery rate of curing APL using Zhang’s method reached more than 90 percent and Zhang has successfully cured more than 1,200 leukemia patients.

Zhang was among 11 individuals and one team to be honored at the ceremony at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui province.

The Outstanding Scientific Research Team Award went to the Hepatitis E Vaccine team from Xiamen University，which invented the world’s first recombinant Hepatitis E Vaccine and made it available on the market in 2012.

Ten other young scientists from seven universities and institutes received the Outstanding Young Scholar Award.

"The peculiarity of Qiu Shi awards lies in its unofficial background and its role as a supplement to the official science and technology awarding system", said Ma Mingming, 35, a chemistry professor at USTC.

Ma was recognized for his research in bio-inspired polymer composite actuator and generator driven by water gradients. He will receive $150,000 from the Qiu Shi foundation over three years, to support further research.

Funded by late Hong Kong entrepreneur Cha Chi Ming (1914-2007) with $20 million, the Qiu Shi foundation was established in 1993 when "economic and social reform was still in its infancy and capital was needed in every area, while it was impossible for the government to look after everything and everyone", according to the foundation’s official website, citing Cha, who died in 2007.

Shi described the Outstanding Scientist Award as the "grand award".

"The foundation has granted the grand award to 24 top Chinese scientists and provided financial assistance to 149 young scholars, many of whom have since become the backbone of scientific research in China today", said Shi at the ceremony, which was also attended by Chen Ning Yang，a Nobel laureate in Physics, and Sun Jiadong, laureate of the"Two Bombs, One Satellite"Award.