Hangzhou, China, Dec. 07, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Recently, the Board of Trustees of Westlake University decided to establish the Westlake University School of Medicine and appoint Professor Chen Dong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and renowned immunologist, to act as the first dean of the school.
In the face of intense competition in global medical education and technology, and in response to the urgent need for medical talent development under the “Healthy China” strategy, China’s current system for medical and health technology innovation and talent development is unbalanced and insufficiently developed.
As a new type of research university, Westlake University has the responsibility, capability, and advantages – as well as the need – to promote the implementation of the “Healthy China” strategy, make even greater contributions at the forefront of medical innovation, and establish a medical school dedicated to nurturing true physician-scientists.
The Westlake University School of Medicine will aim to cultivate top physician-scientists and will be committed to medical innovation and clinical transformation, focusing on microbiology and vaccines, immunology and inflammation, physiology and metabolism, tumor biology and treatment, medical genetics, rare diseases, drug research and development, public health, and other related research fields.
Westlake University President Yigong Shi said with the establishment of a new medical school, “we will work hard to build a new system of Westlake medical education and actively explore new ways to build a research-oriented medical school and contribute the strength of Westlake to the development of medicine in China and the world.”
On November 6, Westlake University and the Hangzhou Municipal Health Commission signed a cooperation agreement to jointly develop the Hangzhou First People’s Hospital Affiliated to the Westlake University School of Medicine.
Prof. Chen Dong, the founding dean of Westlake’s newly established medical school, also serves as Chair Professor and Vice President at Westlake University. Before joining Westlake University, he was a Professor of Immunology and the Director of the Center for inflammation and Cancer at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center before his move to China. He was Dean of Tsinghua University School of Medicine and Director at the Institute for Immunology at Tsinghua University, and also was Professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and Director for the Shanghai Immune Therapy Institute.
Dr. Dong’s research is to understand the molecular mechanisms whereby immune and inflammatory responses are normally regulated, and to apply this knowledge to the understanding and treatment of infection, autoimmunity and allergy disorders as well as cancer. The work from Dr. Dong’s group has led to the discoveries of Th17 and T follicular helper (Tfh) cell subsets in the immune system and elucidation of their biological and pathological functions.
About Westlake University
A first of its kind in modern China, Westlake University is a research-oriented institution that was founded by a group of globally respected scientists and scholars in 2018. It aims to be a world-class leading institution that caters to a truly international environment. The Westlake University School of Medicine aims to train top physician-scientists. It is committed to medical innovation and clinical transformation, focusing on microbiology and vaccines, immunology and inflammation, physiology and metabolism, tumor biology and treatment, medical genetics, rare diseases, drug research and development, public health, and other related research fields.