Zhang Shoucheng, a Chinese-American physicist at Stanford University, died at the age of 55 "after fighting a battle with depression," his family has announced.

"As we face this devastating news, we are deeply grateful for the support and condolences that we have received,” Zhang's family wrote in a statement. “We would ask, however, the public to respect our privacy as we grieve over this immense loss.”

Family members of Zhang did not disclose the cause of his death on December 1.

Born in 1963 in Shanghai, Zhang began to study at Fudan University at 15.

He was identified as one of the top candidates for the Nobel Prize by Thomson Reuters in 2014 for his work on quantum effects, including topological insulators (material that insulates from the inside but allows the flow of electrons on the surface), spintronics, and high-temperature superconductivity.

His work on the quantum spin Hall effect was identified by Science magazine as one of the top 10 scientific achievements of 2007. This work also won him multiple physics awards, including the Europhysics Prize in 2010, the Oliver Buckley Prize and the Dirac Medal and Prize in 2012, and the Physics Frontiers Prize in 2013.

Zhang was a member of the National Academy of Science of the United States and an academician at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

He was also a co-founder of Digital Horizon Capital, a Delaware registered, Silicon Valley-based venture capital fund, promoting education, innovation and entrepreneurship.

(Cover image: Zhang Shoucheng delivers a speech at a tech summit organized by China's Internet company NetEase in Beijing, July 15, 2017. /VCG Photo)