October 12th marks the grand opening of the Second Global Symposium on the Development of Pharmacy Schools. Hosted by CPU, the symposium invites presidents, deans and representatives of 41 world high level pharmacy colleges and universities from 14 countries, including the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Singapore, etc., gathered in Nanjing to discuss the path of global pharmacy education and scientific development, and further, to jointly pursue the dream of a long-term future for global medicine. CPU invited many leaders and officers to attend this symposium, including Wu Yan (Vice Minister of Ministry of Education), Chen Zhichang (Deputy Secretary of Nanjing Municipal Party Committee and Mayor of Nanjing), Zhou Tianhua (Director General of Department of Higher Education of Ministry of Education), Zhang Guohui (First Class Inspector of Department of Science, Technology and Informatizational of Ministry of Education), Chen Dali (Deputy Director General of Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges of Ministry of Education), Yang Shubing (Deputy Director General of Department of Education of Jiangsu Province), Sun Baijun (Vice Mayor of Nanjing) and other leaders of Nanjing Education Bureau and Jiangning District, etc. Jin Nengming, Secretary of the Party Committee of CPU, Hao Haiping, President of CPU, Yao Hequan, Vice President of CPU and heads of relevant departments attended the symposium, which was chaired by our Vice President Kong Lingyi.
At the opening ceremony, President Hao Haiping, extended his sincere greetings to the leaders and guests at the site. He said the biomedical industry is knowledge, technology and capital intensive one. Pharmacy colleges and universities will not be able to catch up and lead the changes of the times if they work alone. Only by collaboration can they make full use of the talents, funds, technologies and other innovative elements of biopharmaceuticals in the global context, break through their own bottlenecks in development, and realize leapfrog development. Next, President Hao reviewed the achievements of the First Symposium. He said that CPU has been committed to cultivating pharmacy talents with international vision and global competence through international exchange and cooperation. He also mentioned that we would learn from each other with an open mind, conduct in-depth discussions with a rigorous attitude, and explore the new frontiers of pharmacy together with a forward-looking vision. We looked forward to promoting the two-way development of pharmacy education and research through our joint efforts and making greater contributions to improving the health and well-being of the global public.
On behalf of Nanjing Municipal People's Government, Deputy Secretary of Nanjing Municipal Party Committee and Mayor Chen Zhichang expressed a warm welcome to the guests and heartfelt thanks to the Ministry of Education and Provincial Department of Education for their long-term care and support in his speech. He pointed out that “Nanjing is the key town of science and education for the development of modern medicine in China. Colleges and universities, represented by CPU, have made important contributions in biomedical talent training, scientific research and social services”. He expected that Nanjing would seize this opportunity to build a modern industrial system, cultivate high-capacity innovation platforms, promote high-quality school-land integration, improve high-level talent support, solidly promote the open innovation of the entire biomedical industry chain, actively integrate into the global innovation network, and strive to build a globally attractive innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem. He said “It is expected that the Global Alliance for the Development of Pharmacy Schools will strongly promote the efficient flow of biomedical innovation factors across borders, and members of the universities are welcome to strengthen all-round cooperation with Nanjing's biomedical industry. We will do our best to provide good service and guarantee, and share the city's development opportunities and create a better future life with all of you”.
Wu Yan, Vice Minister of Education, pointed out in his speech that in recent years, the Ministry of Education had placed medical education in an pivotal position in relation to the priority development of education and health undertakings, and had given a new positioning of “the great country planning, good livelihood of the public, interdisciplinary studies and great degree programs, and led the innovative development of medical education with the new medical science. He said “At present, a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial change is accelerating the evolution, which brings new opportunities for innovation and development in the field of medicine. We are willing to uphold the concept of human health and wellness community and provide Chinese exploration and practice for the innovative development of global pharmacy education. We will promote the reform of pharmacy education by taking conceptual innovation as the lead; cultivate high-quality pharmacy talents by focusing on structural optimization; accelerate organized pharmacy science and technology innovation by taking the construction of basic research platforms; and create a new path of collaborative education and collaborative innovation by taking the integration of industry and education as the entry point. It is hoped that the symposium and the alliance will establish a sustainable innovation and cooperation mechanism, strengthen communication and learning, and promote co-construction and sharing. We will continue to promote cooperation and exchanges between domestic and foreign pharmacy schools and colleges, work together to promote the innovative development of global pharmacy education, cultivate more high-quality pharmacy talents, and make new and greater contributions to the building of a human health community and the enhancement of the health and well-being of the world's people”.
At the opening ceremony, Graham Lord, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Manchester, also congratulated the opening of the symposium with a video message on line, and hoped that the delegates would reap constructive results through active discussions and extensive exchanges, and jointly promote the development of higher pharmacy education.
In the main forum, Vice President Yao and some distinguished guests, including Cate Whittlesea (Dean of the School of Pharmacy, University College London), Vicki Ellingrod (Dean of the School of Pharmacy at University of Michigan), Paul White (Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy at Monash University), and Zhu Yiqian (Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy of Macau University of Science and Technology), all delivered keynote speeches.
The symposium has set up three thematic forums, focusing on cross-fertilization of disciplines and cultivation of pharmacy talents, pharmacy research and industry-university-research cooperation and other topics for in-depth discussions.
