WANG JIAN'AN(LEFT) AND LUCA ROSI (RIGHT)

SAHZU, represented by President WANG Jian’an, and Istituto Superiore di Sanità (Italian National Institute of Health), represented by Head of International Affairs Luca Rosi, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2019. The objective of the MOU is to establish the Sino-Italian Joint Laboratory on Cardiovascular Diseases to enhance communication and collaboration in research and education related to cardiovascular diseases, particularly valvular heart diseases, between China and Italy.

The signing took place at the opening ceremony of 2019 ANSO Young Scientist Forum and Zhejiang International Science & Technology Cooperation Conference. Distinguished guests including Zhejiang Provincial Governor YUAN Jiajun, Deputy Governor GAO Xingfu, President of Chinese Academy of Sciences BAI Chunli, 2001 Nobel Prize winner in chemistry K. Barry Sharpless, 2015 Turing Award winner Whitefiled Diffie were present at the ceremony and witnessed the remarkable moment. A total of 41 agreements were signed at the ceremony including 12 major collaboration programs. The Sino-Italian Joint Laboratory on Cardiovascular Diseases is the only major program in healthcare sector.

Under the terms of MOU, the two parties agreed to explore joint research programs on heart regeneration and remodeling, risk prediction and intervention on vascular heart diseases, etc., to conduct exchange programs to train students, postdocs and junior physicians, and to apply for research grants or funding to support the Joint Lab.

Italian National Institute of Health is the leading technical-scientific body of the Italian National Health Service, performing research, trials, control, counseling, documentation and training on public health under the supervision of the Ministry of Health of Italy. The institute acts as a hub within the Italian National Healthcare Service to support the transfer of knowledge and capacity building for health professional at national and international level.

As a comprehensive tertiary hospital and academic medical center in Zhejiang province, SAHZU has been actively launching contact and collaboration with countries linked to One Belt One Road Initiative (BRI). Recent years have seen much progress SAHZU has achieved in such efforts. For example, SAHZU was designated by China Medical Association as the first training base for anesthesiologists from BRI countries in 2017. In 2018, chair of SAHZU ophthalmology Prof. YAO Ke was awarded the Antonio Scarpa SOI Medal Lecture 2018 by Società Oftalmologica Italiana (Italian Society of Ophthalmology), being the first Chinese Ophthalmologist granted by this greatest honor. A dozen of doctors from 7 BRI countries have completed their training at SAHZU while our doctors have traveled to India, Greece, Argentina, Malaysia and other BRI countries to demonstrate our skills and technology.