Source: Office of International Cooperation & Exchange
Written by: Office of International Cooperation & Exchange
Proofread by: Huang Liqin
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

On the afternoon of October 15, the 13th Nobel Masters Series Forum of Sun Yat-sen University was held in the multifunctional hall on East Campus. The forum was co-sponsored by State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs of Guangdong Province and Sun Yat-sen University. Professor Barry J. Marshall, winner of the 2005 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, gave a lecture entitled “Practical Issues with Helicobacter Management”.
Lei Fengyun, Deputy Director of Department of Cultural and Educational Experts, State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs; Qin Limo, Director of Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs of Guangdong Province; Zhong Minyan, Deputy Director of Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs of Guangdong Province; Yan Guangmei, Vice President of Sun Yat-sen University; Huang Min, Dean of School of Pharmaceutical Sciences; Wu Chuanbin, Deputy Dean of School of Pharmaceutical Sciences; and Ling Wenhua, Director of Office of International Cooperation & Exchange, attended the forum. The forum was presided over by Professor Xu Jun of School of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Vice President Yan Guangmei and Deputy Director Lei Fengyun addressed the forum. The attendants included about 600 teachers and students from School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhongshan School of Medicine, School of Life Sciences and School of Public Health of Sun Yat-sen University, as well as Jinan University, Southern Medical University, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University and Guangzhou Medical University.

Professor Barry J. Marshall offered a feast of scientific knowledge during the one hour lecture. First, he encouraged the teachers and students to keep curious because curiosity drives scientific research. Then, he pointed out that it is easier to prove that a hypothesis is wrong than to prove that it is right. Taking his research of proving Helicobacter pylori as the cause of peptic ulcer disease as an example, he shared the research method with the audience. Finally, he introduced the latest research achievements on Helicobacter pylori and answered questions raised by the students.

On the morning of October 15, on behalf of School of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (SPLM) at The University of Western Australia, Professor Barry J. Marshall signed a MOU with School of Pharmaceutical Sciences (SPS) at Sun Yat-sen University. The two sides will jointly establish the Barry Marshall Research Center (BMRC) for Anti-infection Drugs at SPS. Using BMRC as a platform, SPLM will collaborate with Research Center for Drug Discovery, Institute of Pharmacokinetics, Institute of Pharmacology, and Institute of Medicinal Chemistry and Biology at SPS to conduct research on anti-infection drugs.

Professor Barry J. Marshall was born in 1951 in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. He graduated from University of Western Australia in 1974. He was appointed as a Registrar in Medicine at the Royal Perth Hospital in 1977 and became a NHMRC Research Fellow of Gastroenterology at the Royal Perth Hospital in 1985. In 1986, he was invited to the United States to serve as a Research Fellow and Professor of Medicine at the University of Virginia. In 1996, he was named Professor of Research in Internal Medicine at Virginia. In 1997, he became Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of Western Australia and he was given the added position of Clinical Professor of Microbiology in 1999. In 2003, he served as NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow at University of Western Australia. In 2005, Barry J. Marshall and J. Robin Warren were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in recognition of their 1982 discovery of a bacterium, Helicobacter pylori, which causes one of the most common diseases of mankind, peptic ulcer disease. In December 2011, Professor Barry J. Marshall was elected as a Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.