ɪn lˈeɪt tˈuː θˈaʊzənd sˈɛvən, hiː wʌz ɐpˈɔɪntᵻd vˈaɪs dᵻɹˈɛktɚɹ ʌv tsˈɪŋhjuːəz ˈɪnstɪtˌuːt ʌv bˌaɪoʊmˈɛdəsən ænd vˈaɪs dˈiːn ʌv tsˈɪŋhjuːəz dᵻpˈɑːɹtmənt ʌv bˌaɪəlˈɑːdʒɪkəl sˈaɪənsᵻz ænd bˌaɪoʊtɛknˈɑːlədʒi bᵻfˌoːɹ ɹᵻtˈɜːnɪŋ tə tʃˈaɪnə.
In late 2007, He was appointed Vice Director of Tsinghua's Institute of Biomedicine and Vice Dean of Tsinghua's Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology before returning to China.