University to hail opening of Chinese joint venture aimed at novel drug development
The University of Liverpool will open a new facility at its China campus this Friday (November 11), aimed at developing novel drugs for the treatment of modern-day diseases.
The University and Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU), in Suzhou, near Shanghai, will inaugurate their Joint Centre for Pharmacology and Therapeutics with an online/onsite event.
The joint centre, a Sino-UK collaborative venture, will engage top scientists from both countries to enhance research on disease mechanisms.
As a global hub for interdisciplinary and innovative research, the joint centre will offer a unique platform for knowledge exchange and talent cultivation between academic laboratories and their industrial and clinical partners in basic and clinical research on drug safety science, immuno-pharmacology, precision medicine, nanomedicine and regulatory science.
Members of the joint centre include senior researchers from XJTLU, the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics from the University of Liverpool – an established world leader in pharmacology and toxicology research – Hengrui Pharmaceutical Company (Shanghai), and Suzhou Guangji Psychiatric Hospital.
The joint centre’s research and development activities are expected to benefit both Suzhou — which boasts more than 400 high-tech biopharmaceutical start-ups in its BioBAY industrial park and aims to be the ‘Pharmacy Valley of China’ — and the Liverpool City Region.
XJTLU’s Dr Meng Huee Lee, co-director of the Joint Centre for Pharmacology and Therapeutics, said: “The combination of expertise, skills, facilities and resources from XJTLU and the University of Liverpool will offer a great opportunity for both universities to make significant impacts in the sector and foster new research areas.”
The joint centre will harness state-of-the-art equipment and facilities in pharmaceutical sciences, molecular biology, chemistry, and environmental sciences along with activities funded by the Government, the private sector and the pharmaceutical industry.
XJTLU PhD students, who are jointly supervised by XJTLU and the University of Liverpool, will benefit from the strengthened R&D ties.
Furthermore, the joint centre’s close links with local pharmaceutical companies will ensure a steady supply of researchers meeting pharmaceutical industry demands of today and tomorrow.
Prof Christopher Goldring, University of Liverpool co-director of the Joint Centre for Pharmacology and Therapeutics, said: “With our partners at XJTLU, through teaching and research, we will nurture a talent pipeline of research leaders and exciting international collaborations and ventures.”
The inauguration of the new centre is part of XJTLU Wisdom Lake Academy of Pharmacy’s second-year anniversary celebration.
