Tu Youyou [Photo/VCG]

Chinese scientist and Nobel laureate Tu Youyou has been elected as an international member of the National Academy of Sciences in the United States, according to a list of newly elected members published by the academy on Wednesday.

Tu, 95, is head and chief professor of the artemisinin research center of Chinese Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences.

A native of Zhejiang province, Tu is best known for her leading role in creating an anti-malaria medicine, with the core ingredient being artemisinin that is extracted from sweet wormwood. The discovery won her a number of honors, including a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2015.

Membership in the US National Academy of Sciences is one of the highest recognitions that scientists can receive in the US.

A total of 120 members and 30 international members were elected on Wednesday, bringing the accumulative number of active members to 2,662 and the number of international members to 556, the academy said.