In January, I visited the Center for Human Molecular Biology & Genetics at the Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences & Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital, Chengdu, China [Chinese website of the Institute]. It is a large provincial hospital in Sichuan Province with a population of 80.8 million. The hospital served approximately 3.6 million outpatient and emergency cases, and carried out almost 75,000 surgeries in 2011. With this number of patients, the Center for Human Molecular Biology & Genetics collected extensive human samples and has been a leader in genetics study in China.
Prof. Zhengli Yang, the vice president of the hospital and the director of Center for Human Molecular Biology & Genetics, invited both me and a renowned eye geneticist Prof. Shomi Bhattacharya to discuss our current research on eye disease therapy. I discussed how my lab is setting up the foundation to use zebrafish to screen eye drugs at Purdue. Prof. Bhattacharya discussed his work on gene therapy and stem cell therapy. It was a great experience to interact with a world leader in genetics whom discovered many of the key genes in retinal degeneration, and a top notch research institution in China.
Yuk Fai Leung lectured at the Center for Human Molecular Biology & Genetics, the Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences & Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital, Chengdu, China
Prof. Shomi Bhattacharya lectured at the Center for Human Molecular Biology & Genetics, the Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences & Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital, Chengdu, China. Prof. Zhenglin Yang (right) hosted the symposium.
Audience from the Center for Human Molecular Biology & Genetics, the Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences & Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital, Chengdu, China.