Source: Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital
Written by: Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

On the morning of February 13, 2017, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing ceremony was held between Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University and Cardiff University, signifying the official establishment of academic and clinical collaboration between the two institutes. The ceremony was witnessed by Alok Sharma, the UK Minister for Asia and the Pacific and Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Matthew Rous, Consul General of British Consulate-General Guangzhou, and Minbin Yu, Vice President of Sun Yat-sen University.

Erwei Song, Dean of Zhongshan School of Medicine and President of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, and Nora de Leeuw, Pro Vice-Chancellor for International and Europe from Cardiff University, signed the MOU on behalf of each party. The ceremony was attended by officials from the British Consulate-General Guangzhou and leadership from Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital. Tianxin Lin, Vice President of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital, chaired the event.
During the ceremony, Erwei Song introduced current scientific achievements of Cardiff University and Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital. He also stressed the need to bring in cutting-edge knowledges to promote health care. He said that both parties “will exert best efforts to yield solid results in medical science” and “boost social welfare development between the United Kingdom and China”.

Nora de Leeuw also expressed high expectation for the collaboration. She said that Cardiff University is one of the leading universities in the UK, and Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital has one of the largest research and clinical platforms for cancer and major diseases treatment in South China. She believed that the strengths of both institutes will be fully utilized through the collaboration.

Minbin Yu said the ceremony will reinforce the collaboration not only between Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital and Cardiff University but also between Sun Yat-sen University and Cardiff University in wider areas.

Alok Sharma, the UK minister, commented on the event that the partnership between Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital and Cardiff University will play an important role to promote health care collaboration between China and the UK.

Cardiff University is the leading institute of higher education in Wales with two Nobel Laureates in its staff, and is the only Welsh member of the Russell Group of research-led universities. The overall research quality of Cardiff University was ranked the 5th in the UK in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework. With the support from Fong Family Foundation of Hong Kong, Cardiff University began to work with Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital and made remarkable progress in the area of breast cancer. Since 2014, both parties have carried out high-level exchanges and published scientific articles together in high-impact journals. Moreover, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital has sent young doctors to Cardiff for scientific and clinical study. Recently, both sides have agreed to further the collaboration in three areas, which include talent exchange and training, establishment of joint research center on translational medicine, and setting up high-end joint international medical services. The collaboration will first focus on breast cancer and then extend to other areas. A university-wide agreement will also be discussed in the near future.
To further the exchange between China and the UK, the medical delegation (including delegates from Cardiff University) led by British Consulate-General Guangzhou visited the Breast Tumor Center and International Patients Center at the South Campus of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital after the signing ceremony.

Besides academic exchanges on scientific projects and talent training, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital and Cardiff University will also explore collaborative opportunities on telemedicine.