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The 14th International Symposium on Viral Hepatitis and Liver Disease Held in Shanghai
Hosted by The Chinese Academy of Engineering and Shanghai Municipal Government, undertaken by Fudan University, the 14th International Symposium on Viral Hepatitis and and Liver Disease was Held in Shanghai International Conference Center on June 22. Liu Yandong, China State Councilor sent a congratulatory letter. Chen Zhili, Vice Chairman of Standing Committee of NPC, Zhou Ji, President of Chinese Academy of Engineering and Han Zheng, Mayor of Shanghai, attended the symposium and delivered speeches respectively. Wen Yumei, member of Chinese Academy of Engineering and professor from Fudan University Shanghai Medical School, presided over the opening ceremony. Other distinguished attendees included Yang Yuliang, President of Fudan University, and Gui Yonghao, Vice President of Fudan University.
As mentioned in the congratulatory letter from Liu Yandong, hepatitis and liver disease are diseases which are seriously threatening human health and many countries have put them on the list of severe disease prevention. Chinese government has paid high attention to the prevention and control of hepatitis and liver disease, including putting the prevention of severe diseases such as viral hepatitis on the list of major national science and technology projects, and working hard to explore more effective method of prevention and treatment to ensure people’s health. International Symposium on Viral Hepatitis and Liver Disease is the highest level of meeting in this field. This is the first time for the developing country to hold the meeting, which reflects that the international community has fully affirmed the achievement China has made in the prevention and treatment on of liver disease. The symposium also provided a good opportunity for Chinese doctors to learn the advanced technology and helpful experience, and in the meantime enhanced the exchange in the field of medical science and technology between China and other countries.
Chen Zhili pointed out that viral hepatitis and liver diseases were still severe diseases endangering human health despite the great progresses China had made in the prevention, control and treatment of liver related diseases. Therefore, China expects more communication and cooperation in attempt to fulfill the tasks. According to the experts, though the usage of APF as a biomarker for early diagnosis of liver cancer has brought benefit to many patients, clinical diagnostic accuracy of APF is only 40%, which means that more than half patients can’t get help from testing APF; thus finding more effective biomarkers for early diagnosis of liver cancer is an important task at the moment. Clinical doctors and researchers need to work together to seek technological breakthroughs.
Hepatitis B is another topic in the symposium. By taking effective measures such as introducing preventive hepatitis B vaccine to immunization programmes and safe transfusion, HBsAg carriers in China has declined from 9.65% to 7.17% and positive rate of hepatitis C virus antibody in China has declined from 3.4% to 0.4%. In the meantime, China still has a huge number of HBsAg carriers and HCV-infected patients, which poses heavy burden on both the nation and people economically and mentally. Blocking effectively the growth of cancer stem cells through national strategic prevention of Hepatitis B and high attention on the micro-environment of the growth of tumor is a guiding principle of liver cancer diagnosis in the future 20 years, bringing new hope to the tumor patients.
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Fudan Chancellor Visits University of Hamburg and Edinburgh
From June 4 to 9, 2012, Fudan Chancellor Zhu Zhiwen led a delegation to visit the University of Hamburg in Germany and then the University of Edinburgh in UK where he also attended the 2012 European Confucius Institutes (Classrooms) Working Symposium. The members of the delegation includes Prof. Feng Xiaoyuan, Fudan Vice President; Dr. Zhu Chouwen, Director of Foreign Affairs Office and Ms. Wang Ying, Program Director of Foreign Affairs Office.
Chancellor Zhu first visied Confucius Institute in the University of Hamburg. Dr. Carsten Krause, Director of Konfuzius Institute and and Prof. Geng Baosheng showed the delegation around the Institute and Chancellor Zhu made some suggestion for the development of it. Then he met with President Dieter Lenzen and Madam Andrea Schultze, Director of International Office. Both sides agreed to strengthen the communication on the platforms of Center for Chinese Studies and the Research Center of Chinese Civilization, and tried to open an all-around partnership with the support from DAAD in more cooperative areas and promote the doctoral-level exchanges. Chancellor Zhu also met with Prof. Michael Friedrich, dean of Department of Chinese Studies. The delegation was also invited to Molecular Neuroscience Center for Molecular Neurobiology and Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy at the University of Hamburg.
On June 6, Chancellor Zhu brought the delegation to Edinburgh and delivered a speech on behalf of Chinese partner universities of Confucius Institutes at the annual European Confucius Institutes and Classrooms Working Symposium held there. He pointed out that the establishment of Confucius Institutes complies with the core idea of Chinese civilization, that is, “peace is the most valuable” and “be peaceful while being different”. Confucius Institute builds a platform for the world to understand China and for China to go to the world and opens a window for young people overseas to know about Chinese culture and civilization. It enhances the communication between Chinese and foreign people, therefore receives more and more support from other countries. In order to enhance our collaboration with overseas famous universities and promote cross-cultural exchanges on the basis of constructing Confucius Institutes, we are actively preparing to build up Fudan International Center for Studies of Chinese Civilization and its sub-centers abroad. By attracting reputed sinologists to have joint research, we will establish a platform to publish Chinese classic and strengthen academic exchanges. Besides we are planning to set up Fudan Overseas Research Center on Contemporary China, trying to provide a window and build an interdisciplinary platform for oversea scholars in the field of Chinese studies to get acquainted with China, to understand China and to do research on China. Meanwhile we will offer opportunities for the scholars in these research fields to visit China, create a good research environment, promote academic dialogue and joint research, thus to cultivate more young sinologists and oversea experts on China issues.
At the symposium, representatives from 75 Confucius Institutes in Europe, 15 Confucius Classrooms and 15 Chinese universities compared notes, helped each other resolve problems, and looked optimistically into the future. The Right Honourable Alex Salmond MSP, First Minister of Scotland, attended the symposium and welcomed the opportunities of understanding China that Confucius Institutes brought about to the Scottish students. Liu Xiaoming, Chinese ambassador to UK, said the development of Confucius Institutes is "shifting from an increase in numbers to an improvement in quality". He said the best way to ensure that the organization has a long, stable future is to improve its management, train local teachers and improve the quality of teachers, etc. Madam Xu Lin, head of Confucius Institute headquarters, namely Hanban, delivered a keynote speech at the opening ceremony. By April 2012, 129 Confucius Institutes and 104 Confucius Classrooms had been established in 34 European countries. There were 358 Confucius Institutes in the world last year.
On June 8, Chancellor Zhu met Prof. Timothy O'Shea, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh. The two sides reviewed the cooperative relationship and proposed to strengthen the collaboration in the research of Chinese studies and medicine. Both them wished to promote PhD exchanges and to establish a comprehensive partnership. After the meeting, Chancellor Zhu and Prof. O'Shea signed to renew the cooperation agreement in a partnership in the Confucius Institute for Scotland between Fudan University and the University of Edinburgh.
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Fudan International Summer Session 2012 Starts in June
Kicking off on June 4, the 2012 Fudan International Summer Session attracted more than 100 undergraduates form over 60 universities in 13 countries. These students joined this 5-week program through either self-application or recommendation by home university.
The 2012 Fudan International Summer Session was based on the Shanghai Summer School for American students organized by Fudan in the past two years.
The program offers a variety of courses, including 13 content courses taught in English and Chinese language courses of 4 different levels, for students to choose. All courses have a China focus, in order to give the students a general picture of China’s history as well as its social, political, economic and cultural development in contemporary period. In addition to that, students also have opportunities to be exposed to Chinese painting, calligraphy, paper-cutting and Tai-chi, to do some sightseeing and to visit a number of companies and organizations. With the support of Shanghai Municipal Government, 40 outstanding international students were granted with full scholarship.
Among the over 100 international students, quite a number were from world-renown universities such as Stanford, Cambridge, Duke, John Hopkins, Georgetown, New York, Toronto, UBC, NUS, among the others.
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Commencement 2012 Held at Fudan University
On the morning of June 29th, Commencement of Fudan University was held in Zhengda Stadium. More than 3500 graduates, about 400 faculty members and around a thousand of parents witnessed the grand moment. President Yang Yuliang, Chancellor Zhu Zhiwen and other university leaders were also present. The ceremony was presided over by Vice President Chen Xiaoman.
At the beginning of the ceremony, graduation-commemorating video "Love at Fudan" attracted all eyes. The video specially added a section of recalling Fudan Masters. During the four years, thirteen Fudan Masters passed away. They are Prof. Jia Zhifang, Prof. Cai Shangsi, Prof. Jiang Xuemo, Prof. Tan Jiazhen, Prof. Cai Zuquan, Prof. Yang Zaochen, Prof. Wu Haoqing, Prof. Zhang Peiheng, Prof. Ding Ganlin, Prof. Zhu Weizheng, Prof. Zheng Zukang, Prof. Jin Zhongyuan and Prof. Gu Chaohao. These names are all brightening stars at Fudan and will long live in the graduates' hearts.
Vice President Lu Fang announced the winners of "Great Professors in My Heart". These Professors were voted by all graduates of Year 2012. Graduate representatives presented flowers to them with a warm hug. Professor representative Cheng Shian gave a speech after that.
The degree-awarding section was solemn. The tassels were moved from right to left. Vice Chancellor Chen Limin read the list of "Graduate Stars" and issued certificates to them. Student representative Liu Ye and international student representative Shen Zhiya respectively gave a speech to express graduates' feelings. The graduates also bowed to all parents and teacher representatives to express sincere thanks to them.
Graduates presented a commemorative gift to Fudan--hand-made fudan map and hand-made Fudan pstcard designed and made by graduate representatives of Year 2012. The representative of the university also presented a gift, alumni badge, to the graduates.
At the end of the ceremony, President Yang Yuliang gave a speech to all the graduates. He proposed to take off the hats in silent salute to those "Grand" and "Common" Fudan People who has passed away.
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A Fudan Research Platform Passes Expert Appraisal
On May 25, Major New Drug Discovery Initiative Platform，a National Science and Technology Major Project of 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010) undertaken by Fudan University, passed expert appraisal.
Expert panel includes Academician Sang Weiguo, Deputy Chairman of Standing Committee of National People’s Congress; Academician Zhang Boli, Vice Chief Designer; Zhao Dasheng, President of Academy of Military Medical Sciences; Academician Zhan Qimin, member of Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, etc. In the appraisal meeting, Prof. Zhu yizhun, the principle investigator of the platform, reported to expert panel from all aspects of the platform, including characteristics, main achievements, technical services, international certification, social benefits and economic benefits, etc. Expert panel fully affirmed the research work performed by the platform after hearing the report, checking the site, communicating with the researchers, and conducting strict evaluation. According to the experts, the research team has finished all the contents stipulated in contract, and has huge potentiality on basic research. Its research on Hydrogen sulfide is taking the leading position in the world; its discovery on cardiovascular drug targets and research on antifungal drug are innovative and fruitful; its international cooperation is characteristic. Therefore, expert panel agreed unanimously that the project should pass the appraisal.
On behalf of undertaking institute of the project, Prof. Gui Yonghao, Vice President of Fudan University, and Prof. Li Jiewei, Vice President of Second Military Medical University, expressed appreciation to the expert panel. They said that universities, during the period of the 12th Five-Year Plan, would promote the ability of the platform innovation and new drug development by integrating 2011 Synergistic Innovation Scheme, strengthening industry-study-research cooperation, making full use of superior resources of universities in basic research and clinical research, and taking geographical advantage of Zhangjiang campus. Two universities will make joint effort to contribute to technological innovation of medicine and the development of medical industry. After the appraisal meeting, Prof. Yang Yuliang, President of Fudan University, and Academician Sang Weiguo had a heated discussion on the topics such as the future development of the platform, indigenous innovation of universities and industrialization of research results.
Major New Drug Discovery Initiative Platform is a National Science and Technology major Project jointly assumed by Fudan University and Second Military Medical University as well as the only new drug discovery initiative platform established on the cooperation between military and civilian industry. Since January 2009, with total investment of 96 million RMB, the platform has successfully completed 12 technology sub-platforms, obtained 3 new drug certifications, finished 2 phase III trial projects and had 643 papers published (impact factor of 67 papers >5.0). The platform also put 2 new drugs to market, obtained 14 approval certificate for clinical trial, and have 34 patents issued out of 158 patents applied. Expert panel expected that Major New Drug Discovery Initiative Platform would develop into a comprehensive platform which can both meet domestic need and reach international advanced level in the discovery of antifungal drugs, antitumor drugs and those for cardiovascular diseases.
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Fudan Professor Conducts Chinese Delegation to ATS Annual International Congress
American Thoracic Society (ATS) Annual International Congress 2012 was held at San Francisco from May 18 to 23. A delegation of Chinese respiratory doctors participated in the conference under the conduct of Prof. BAI Chunxue from Fudan University Affiliated Zhongshan Hospital.
ATS Annual International Congress is the biggest and most influential academic meeting in related field in the world. The conference this year, focusing on the latest most important clinical and experimental progress that have been made in the field of thoracic medicine, attracted over 15,000 doctors from about 90 countries and regions.
In recognition of diligent work and active attitude of Chinese doctors, Prof. Steve Crane, Executive President of ATS, awarded special prize for each of them. In addition to this, FANG Xaicong, a graduate student from Respiration Department of Zhongshan Hospital, was selected as one of the 25 winners of ATS’s award for international young scholars. Four doctors from Zhongshan Hospital—ZHANG Jing, SHE Jun, GE Haiyan and ZHU Xiaodan—were among the 12 Chinese doctors who were given ATS special award for Chinese doctors.
ATS has been giving out special award for Chinese your scholars, and will keep this item for the next annual congress, according to Prof. Gustavo Matute Bello, President of ATS. To issue award to scholars from certain country is unprecedented in the one hundred years of ATS history. Prof. BAI Chunxue has made remarkable contributions to the establishment of the award.
During his participation in the congress, Prof. BAI Chunxue visited Unversity of Illinois of Chicago and Northwest University, exploring the possibility of further cooperations with these institutes.
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President of Smith College Visits Fudan
On June 13, a delegation from Smith College, alma mater of deceased former Fudan President Prof. XIE Xide, visited Handan Campus of Fudan University. Prof. FENG Xiaoyuan, vice president of Fudan University, Dr. ZHU Chouwen, director of Foreign Affairs Office, met the guests. Prof. Carol Christ, president of Smith College, expressed his wishes for establishing cooperative relationship between the two institutes.
Smith College was established in 1871, and it is the biggest girls’ college in the States. Ever since the early years in the college’s history, it has boasted a leading faculty team. As one of the Seven Sisters, Smith College has a number of prestigious alumni, such as the first female mayor in New York City, first female partner in New York biggest Law Firm, first female Medical PHD degree Holder from Harvard University, writer of the novel Gone with the Wind Ms. Margaret Mitchell, and two former First Ladies of USA Ms. Nancy Reagan and Barbara Bush.
After the meeting, Prof. XIN Qiang, showed the delegation around American Studies Center, which was set up by Prof. XIE Xide.
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Foreign Affairs Office, Fudan University
220 Handan Road, Shanghai 200433, China
Advisor: ZHU Chouwen
Editor-in-chief: XUE Hua
Contributor: CHEN Zhaojun
JING Ying
LIN Jieying
LIU Xiaohui
WANG Xi
WANG Ying
XU Yefang
XUE Hua
ZHAO Min
ZHAO Peiran
ZHANG Yingying
ZHU Yifei
Technical Support: LU Yinhui
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