One place where you can see the flourishing connections between UNMC and its Chinese collaborators is the Annual Sino-U.S. Joint Research Symposium. The Symposium alternates location each year between Beijing and Omaha. This year UNMC hosted the Symposium on May 5, and the topic was "Drug Discovery and Delivery."
This was the Symposium’s seventh year. It was initially started by UNMC and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. This year’s Symposium included presenters from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, China Pharmaceutical University, and South China University of Technology. Le Kang, PhD, professor and president of the Beijing Institutes of Life Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Maode Lai, MD, president of China Pharmaceutical University both attended the Symposium.
In the morning nine speakers from UNMC and its Chinese collaborators presented their latest research. In the early afternoon, twenty students and postdocs from UNMC and UNL presented posters. A panel of judges awarded best poster prizes to Joshua Souchek (Postdoc in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences) and Fei Yu (PhD Candidate in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences).
Souchek said, "I appreciated the opportunity to participate in the 7th Annual Sino-U.S. Joint Research Symposium. During my poster presentation, I received several suggestions from faculty and students, which I am incorporating into my research plan. I enjoyed seeing the exciting research posters of other students and postdocs, and hearing the intriguing talks from experts in drug discovery and delivery from UNMC and its partners in China."
Sina Bavari, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer, Scientific Director at the U.S. Army Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), was the featured presenter. He shared his recent work on Ebola therapeutics. Dr. Bavari is a graduate of UNMC’s College of Pharmacy, and he was awarded an honorary doctorate from UNMC this year.
Fei Yu enjoyed Dr. Bavari’s talk. She said it "not only elucidated the scientific research in his lab, but also inspired us to develop drugs based on what people need and their living situations."
More than 80 people attended the Symposium.