Professor Zhao is Associate Professor at Renmin University of China, here in Beijing. Among her many publications are two books that look at the business history and economic development of Britain in the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries. She has been a visiting scholar at Harvard University, and received other fellowships. Her interests are looking at social history from a global and comparative perspective, and she has most recently examined the provision of health care in Europe after the Middle Ages.