China US Joint SARS Study

2004-06-13 15:07

At the invitation of Professor lan Lipkin, a renowned US virologist and Director of the Immune Pathogen and Communication Diseases Center, Mailman School of Public Health, Colombia University, Professor Guo Zijian, researcher of the Chinese Xiehe Hospital and Professor Chen Zhongbin, associate researcher of the Chinese Military Academy of Medical Sciences, left Beijing on May 28, 2003 for a two-week collaborative SARS study in the US. The collaborative study will be conducted in the lab chaired by Professor lan Lipkin. Focus will be on early diagnosing techniques and testing approaches. Their results will become useful tools to assist China in the fight against SARS viruses.

Professor lan Lipkin visited Beijing in early May this year at the invitation of Xu Guanhua, Chinese Minister of Science and Technology. He shared his experience and techniques on pathogen separation, sequencing bioinformatics and PCR testing techniques with his Chinese counterparts and discussed relevant cooperation initiatives and plans. The visit of Chinese researchers is one of the concrete cooperative initiatives agreed upon between the two parties.

It is reported that with the arrangement of Professor lan Lipkin, the two Chinese researchers will also visit other relevant research institutions in the US and discuss applicable cooperative plans. All of these will create a base for future collaborative SARS studies between the two nations.