On April 30, the Inaugural International Precision Medicine Symposium hosted by the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University was held in Xi 'an, China. World-class experts from Jackson Laboratory, University of Connecticut, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Xi 'an Jiaotong University and other countries gathered to discuss the latest progress, current challenges and application prospects of precision medicine. Yao Jianhong, Deputy Secretary of People’s Government of Shaanxi Province, An Haiyan, deputy departmental level leader of Health Commission of Shaanxi Province, Yan Hong, Vice President of Xi 'an Jiaotong University, He Changzhong, Director of Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges of Xi 'an Jiaotong University, Wang Qiang, Deputy Director of Division of Social Development of Department of Science and Technology of Shaanxi Province, Charles Lee, Director of the Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine in the U.S., Zhang Youhui, Senior Director of Strategy for Asian Studies of the Jackson Laboratory, and Shi Bingyin, President of the hospital attended the opening ceremony. The opening ceremony was presided over by Yuan Zuyi, Vice President of the hospital.
In his opening speech, Shi Bingyin, President of the symposium and our hospital, proposed that the Precision Medicine Center, inviting Professor Charles Lee, Director of the Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine in the U.S. as the chief scientist, was established in the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi 'an Jiaotong University on November 12, 2018, aiming to further improve the scientific research level of our hospital and cope with new huge challenges in the field of health and medicine, which is of milestone significance for international cooperation. The center will carry out international cooperative research on major diseases that threaten human health, make full use of advanced technologies and innovative models and achieve major breakthroughs in the prospective basic research and original research. President Shi hoped that the symposium can establish a better platform to make more contributions to the field of precision medicine in China.
In his speech, An Haiyan, deputy departmental level leader of Health Commission of Shaanxi Province, pointed out that the establishment of the Precision Medicine Center of the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi 'an Jiaotong University has set an international leading "model" in the field of medical research and industry in western China. The symposium plays a significant role in promoting the basic research and clinical application of precision medicine in Shaanxi Province and even the West. He hoped that the platform of this precision medicine symposium and future cooperation can widen the development of precision medicine in China and provide more paths for new medical service modes, application of modern medical technologies and scientific treatment methods, aiming to persistently improve the level of medical services and contribute to the construction of Healthy Shaanxi Province.
Yan Hong, Vice President of Xi 'an Jiaotong University, highlighted that the experts’ gathering to discuss the precision medicine is of valuable significance and serves as an excellent mechanism. He hoped that this platform can bring together, unite and invite all relevant experts to better the study of precision medicine. The team, platform and symposium itself will also contribute to the development of precision medicine in Shaanxi Province, the West, the country and human beings, which is dedicated to the control, diagnosis and treatment of mankind diseases.
Yao Jianhong, Deputy Secretary of the People’s Government of Shaanxi Province, wished the symposium a complete success on behalf of the provincial government. He stressed that the precision medicine may undergo three major changes. First, traditional one-size-fits-all treatment patterns will transform into the personalized, standardized, scientific and precise modes. Second, the human cognition of medicine will further deepen from the systems, organs and cells to the smallest micro-units. Third, the medical treatment-centered concept will become health centered. He added that precision medicine is a discipline of methodology, which will promote the development of multiple related disciplines. Besides, the connotation and extension of precision medicine significantly exceed those of precision treatment. The development of precision medicine will drive the identification of precision treatment and cultivate more precision physicians in clinical practice.
After the opening ceremony, four sessions of academic exchange activities including cancer biology and genomics, computational biology, microbial genomics and genetic engineering technology, and clinical genomics were launched. World-class experts from China, the U.S. and South Korea jointly discussed the latest progress, current challenges and application prospects of precision medicine.
Dr. Charles summarized and shared the entire process of establishing the Precision Medicine Center. He believed that the Jackson Laboratory and the First Affiliated Hospital of Xi’an Jiaotong University have much in common. A group of dedicated doctors and researchers work there, sparing no efforts to create a "disease-free world". Finally, Dr. Charles expressed gratitude to all speakers, audience and working staff and he was determined to establish the Precision Medicine Center as a leading research center.
This symposium aims at encouraging top biomedical scholars at home and abroad to deliver all-round and multi-level exchanges and collaboration in multiple topics related to precision medicine, such as cancer biology, cancer genomics, genetic engineering technology, computational biology, microbial genomics and clinical medical technology,etc.
