Shi Zhengli, a Chinese virologist based at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, has long been known as China's "bat woman" for tracking down dozens of SARS-like diseases in bats. She has been the focus of conspiracy theories during the COVID-19 outbreak. Her work and the lab have been accused of being the origins of the novel coronavirus. Shi recently published her new research into SARS-related pathogens, animal hosts and evolution.