On the morning of February 20th, the National Innovation Platform for the Integration of Industry and Education in Vaccine, based at NMU, held a work promotion meeting at Jiangning campus, NMU. The meeting was attended by university leaders Hu Zhibin and Xia Yankai, Chief Scientist of the platform and deputy director of Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention Zhu Fengcai, along with leaders from relevant university departmentsand researchers from the platform. Vice President Xia Yank chaired the meeting.
During the meeting, Wang Jianming, Dean of the School of Public Health and Deputy Director of the Executive Committee of the platform, provided a comprehensive overview of the platform’s progress in various key areas. This include updates on organizational structure, talent development, curriculum enhancement, scientific research, university-industrypartnership, and the construction of the Taizhou Industrial Research Institute. Additionally, he outlined the key focus areas for the upcoming year 2024. Representatives from Jiangsu Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the School of Basic Medicine, and Jiangsu Ruikang Biotechnology Co., Ltd. also shared updates on the their respective projects. These include vaccine efficacy evaluation research, vaccine basic research and team building, university-industry collaboration, talent development initiatives, and vaccine product research and development.
The Chief Scientist of the platform, Professor Zhu Fengcai, has presented valuable insights on crucial aspects, challenges, trending topics within vaccine research, as well as the advancement of vaccine-related courses and teaching materials. Professor Zhu has expressed his unwavering commitment to fulfilling his role as the chief scientist by spearheading initiatives in developing new adjuvants, innovative vaccine designs, and enhancing vaccine efficacy evaluation. Furthermore,he is dedicated to fostering seamless integration across the education, talent, and industry sectors to support the overarching goals of Healthy China strategy.
President Hu Zhibin emphasizedthe significance of the platform’s construction as a crucial component of the university’s commitment tomeeting national needs, advancing medical research, and fosteringindustry-educationintegration. As a distinguishedmedical institution, NMUis urged to consistently propel the development of the vaccine platform, with a focus on talent cultivation atits core.Leveraging courses, teaching materials, faculty expertise, and practical experiences as foundational elements, the university should drive the accumulation of resources and the enhancement of its unique strengths. It is essential to target key 'bottleneck' challenges in critical domains, intensify partnerships with collaborateorganizations, prioritize the training of core faculty members, facilitate the recruitment and nurturing of high-caliber talents in vaccine research and development, and establish a top-notch research team. NMU should create an open, collaborative, and shared innovative platform, strivingfor technological breakthroughs,facilitating the transformation and application of achievements, infusing innovative vigor into the university’s high-quality development, and significantly contributing to elevating the national vaccine research landscape and advancing the realization of a Healthy China.
The NMU-based National Innovation Platform for the Integration of Industry and Education in Vaccine was established in 2023. This platform serves asa comprehensive innovation hubwhere universities, disease control centers, hospitals, and enterprises come together to collaborate on talent development, discipline construction, and scientific research in the field of vaccine development. Through the implementation of a scientific and flexible talent management mechanism, diverse investment support mechanisms, and multi-resource sharing mechanisms, the platform aims to facilitate effective connections between the education chain, talent chain, industry chain, and innovation chain in the realm of medical research and development.[Drafted by Wang Liyi; Photographs by Ma Liping; Reviewed by Wang Jianming; Translated by Zhang Bei]
