ACMA 2007.11.4 Longwood Biomedical Forum

The ACMA Longwood Biomedical Forum was held at Harvard Medical School on November 4. The morning session was a Community Health forum, and afternoon session was designated to a Research and Development forum. Near a hundred physicians—including more than 40 physicians from China—and scientists participated the forms. Brandeis University associate professor Dr.Ruibao Ren again served as the conference chair.

Dr.Xuejun Kong, Clinical instructor of Harvard Medical School, attending physician of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, served as the first speaker in the morning.  She gave a progress report of ACMA’s community service. She reported more than 50 community free care activities had been held during recent years, including health fairs in Chinatown and at MIT.  ACMA also has held educational lectures, hepatitis B screenings, physician forums, and other events. She pointed out the unique aspect of Asian community and important healthcare issues, and emphasized the privileged and important role of Asian physician.  She introduced ACMA’s ongoing community service projects, as well as highlighting the organization’s future focus in serving the community better. The second speaker was Dr. Mark Li, an internist practicing in Washington, DC.  His topics focused on the unique role of the Chinese Primary Care Physician.  Dr, Li further addressed the urgent Asian community needs, the characteristics of disease process, and the responsibility of Chinese primary care physician.  The third speaker was Dr.Eddie Cheung, a Hepatologist and clinical professor of Medicine from University of California at Davis.  He gave an overview of hepatitis B in USA, especially its high incidence in the Asian population.  He also introduced the new advances in hepatitis B treatments.　The fourth speaker is Dr. Jidong Jia, a hepatologist and chief physician from Beijing, China and the president of the Liver Society of the Chinese Medical Association.  He is also a professor at the Capital Medical University, Beijing Friendship Hospital.  Professor Jia shared the current situation of hepatitis B and C in China, its epidemiology, its new treatment protocol and the healthcare coverage network. 　Lastly, Dr.Jerry Zhu, Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, an attending gastroenterologist in Brigham and Woman’s hospital shared the results of his research on embryogenesis and tumorigenesis.  Dr. Zhu discussed the potential application of Ying Yang theory in disease process and molecular biology level. He shared his personal opinion about direction and trend of future medicine.

To accommodate the physician delegation from China, ACMA offered a tour of Harvard Medical School and Brigham Woman’s Hospital.  Dr.Jay Zhou, attending physician in Brigham and Woman’s Hospital, gave a slide show about Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Woman’s Hospital; Dr.Xuejun Kong, attending physician of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, gave a mini-movie show of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center with its new clinical technologies and advances, including its famous Liver Transplant Center.

The afternoon session was on the Research and Development.

The first speaker is the chief patent lawyer, President of Chinese American IP Law Association, Dr.Philip Zhang.  His topic was “Realizing the practical Value of Medical Researches by Intellectual Property Law”, introduced the IP and associated basic legal concepts and processes.  He outlined the importance of research patents in realizing practical value of the medical researches.  Dr.Zhang also introduced how to establish biotech company to utilize the research achievements and realize their economical value.  Professor from Boston University Dr.Jinghua Yang presented his exciting research findings in dsRNA, its great anti-viral effect, and potential pharmacologic value.　Lastly, Brandeis University Hematology professor Dr.Ruibao Ren, presented his new findings on the mechanism of leukemia, which may provide a new direction to cancer treatment in the near future.

These exciting topics and presentations brought wide interest and discussion, and also better exemplified one of ACMA’s main purposes of bridging clinician and basic researcher together in order to better understand disease process and establish more effective treatments.

Taking picture with the Chinese guests in front of the Harvard Medical School where the conference was hold.

A Scene of the Conference in the morning session.