The 2017 GIRD-FIRH Joint Academic Exchange Meeting, organized by the Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Disease/State Key Laboratory of Respiratory Disease (GIRD/SKLRD, was successfully held in the New building of the SKLRD in Guangzhou Medical University on Saturday, Feb. 18 of 2017.
The Firestone Institute of Respiratory Health (FIRH) is an institute committed to academic research, medical teaching and clinical treatment;thus earning it an international reputation. FIRH,which was established in 1978, is currently based out of St. Joseph's Healthcare in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada and is affiliated with McMaster University. FIRH and GIRD have conducted extensive collaboration on the research, clinical diagnosis, and treatment of respiratory disease in recent years; therefore, increasing efficiency and promoting bilateral development. This year, Academician Nanshan Zhong and Director Rongchang Chen once again invited FIRH to Guangzhou, to jointly discuss the possibility of widening and deepening the current collaboration and hopefully bring in the new direction and opportunities for both parties. Therefore, Dean and Professor Paul O’ Byrne led a group of renowned respirologists to Guangzhou in order to discuss future mutual collaboration.
The Joint Academic Meeting, lasting two days, has a combined of 25 topic representations and group discussions, covering a total of 4 sessions, including asthma and allergy, severe asthma, thoracic surgery, and chronic lung disease. Before the meeting began, the respirologists from FIRH was guided around the new building of SKLRD by the PI based on its four research directions. After the tour, by Prof. Paul O’Byrne, Prof. Jack Gauldie, Prof. Martin Kolb and Academician Nanshan Zhong all made opening remarks. Director Rongchang Chen and Prof. Martin Kolb also made some brief introductions from the bilateral institute. It was subsequently followed by the topic representation made by bilateral speakers, mainly for the research development from both sides. Finally, both parties discussed the possibilities of further cooperation.
This meeting received a great deal of support from Guangzhou Medical University and The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University, whose president and dean, Prof. Pixin Ran, Prof. Xinhua Wang, Prof. Jianxing He and Prof. Yimin Li, all attended this meeting. More than 100 people, including a multitude of researchers and postgraduate students, have attended the meeting.
After two days of academic communication, FIRH lavished praise for the advancements we have made in the recent years. Both parties consider further cooperation to be beneficial and necessary for its future. And some primary agreements between McMaster University and Guangzhou Medical University are reached. We believe this meeting will not only forge the future cooperation between the two institutes, but will also contribute to more achievements in scientific research, clinical diagnosis and treatment and talent training within the domain of respiratory disease in future.
