Source: Office of Medical Science
Written by: Zhang Liheng
Translated by: Fang Jinghan
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

The list of 2013 national centers for international joint research was officially released by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) recently. Recommended by Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology and reviewed by experts, the International Joint Research Center for Translational Medicine at Sun Yat-Sen University (SYSU) was authorized as a national base for international cooperation in science and technology (national center for international joint research). This is the first national center for international joint research in SYSU as well as the first one in Guangdong.

The national centers for international joint research of MOST are international cooperation bases set up in domestic institutions in virtue of their capabilities in high-level scientific research and technological development. They are oriented to international science and technology frontiers, with the aim to promote collaborations with top-class scientific institutions abroad, improve the quality of international cooperation and enhance the ability of independent innovation. The centers are recommended by relevant departments under the State Council, provincial departments of science and technology and state-run enterprises, and reviewed by experts.

The International Joint Research Center for Translational Medicine at SYSU, whose central partner is Johns Hopkins University (JHU), was set up on the basis of the Institute of Clinical and Translational Medicine at SYSU (which was authorized as Guangdong International Science and Technology Cooperation Base in 2012). Focusing on Translational Medicine, the center has substantial collaborations with prominent foreign institutions such as JHU. It aims to selectively solve major health issues in China through several stages and cope with worldwide medical challenges using the rich resources in China, thus realizing a leap forward development in medical innovation and talent cultivation, and the objective of establishing a world-class cluster of medical disciplines.