Source: Science and Technology Daily 2014-01-17 Page 12
Written by: Xiao Nan
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

The result of the 2013 Chinese Medical Science and Technology Award was announced in Beijing recently. Professor Zeng Yixin, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Director of Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, won Health Policy Award. A series of research and applications of cataract phacoemulsification surgery completed by the team of Professor Liu Yizhi, Director of Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, won the first prize. This is another achievement for Sun Yat-sen University.

It is learned that the Chinese Medical Science and Technology Award was established in 2001 by Chinese Medical Association with the approval from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Science and Technology. It is the most authoritative award in the medical and health industry in China. Since 2006, with the approval from National Office for Science & Technology Awards, Chinese Medical Association has recommended outstanding winners of the first prize of Chinese Medical Science and Technology Award as candidates for State Natural Sciences Award, State Technology Invention Award and State Science and Technology Progress Award.

A total of 86 medical research achievements won the 2013 Chinese Medical Science and Technology Award, including 8 first prizes, 25 second prizes, 47 third prizes, 2 Health Management Awards, 2 Medical Science Popularization Awards and 2 Health Policy Awards. Academician Zeng Yixin won the Health Policy Award for offering advice and suggestions for medical reform. His proposal of setting up the special post of general practitioners has been adopted.

Cataract is the leading cause of global blindness, accounting for more than 50% of blindness worldwide. Surgery is the only approach to restore vision. Professor Liu Yizhi's team pioneered in phacoemulsification cataract surgery in China and made ground-breaking modifications to key surgical techniques including wound construction, nucleus fragmentation and intraocular lens fixation. Thanks to their efforts, phacoemulsification has become a standard, routine procedure for the treatment of cataract and the treatment outcomes have generally improved in China. His team is the first to implement the "3-D torsional" nucleus fragmentation technique in the world and invented the "axial rotation" technique. The team has published 140 articles with 1,491 citations, among which 41 are indexed in SCI (with 17 in top ophthalmology journals such as Ophthalmology), cited 449 times without self-citations. The most cited paper has 81 citations by others. They also wrote 3 books in ophthalmology: Ophthalmic Surgery, Lens Disorders & Surgical Management, Intraocular Lenses in the Refractive Surgery Era, as well as one of the first batch of MOH Multimedia Textbooks Diagnosis and Treatment of Cataract. The "3-D torsional" technique appears in several world-famous textbooks in the UK, Germany, etc.