On October 20, 2023, the Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, and the Department of Cardiological Thoracic and Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padua in Italy launched the China-Italy Joint Symposium on Cardiovascular Research grandly at the Multifunctional Hall on the 4th Floor of the Main Building of Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital. During the symposium, both sides signed a memorandum of understanding to conduct comprehensive and in-depth cooperation in clinical and scientific research, international exchanges, education, and talent training in the field of cardiovascular diseases. The University of Padua is one of the earliest universities in the world, and established the world’s first medical school.
Prof. Chen Jimei, Director of the Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, and Prof. Sabino Iliceto, Director of the Department of Cardiological Thoracic and Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padua, signed the memorandum. Prof. Yu Xueqing, President of Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, and Mr. Valerio De Parolis, Consul-General of the Republic of Italy in Guangzhou, attended and witnessed the signing ceremony. This memorandum involves comprehensive bilateral cooperation in medicine, teaching, research, and management in such professional fields as cardiovascular diseases, where both sides will jointly organize grand rounds on difficult cases, scientific seminars, and in-depth cooperation, and exchange young physicians, teachers, postdoctoral fellows, excellent graduate students, administrative personnel, etc. for professional training.
Prof. Yu Xueqing, President of Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, delivered a speech at the opening ceremony, stating that cardiovascular diseases have been a heavy disease burden in China, and Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital and the Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute have made globally recognized achievements in cardiovascular disease prevention and control, and talent training, and in particular, realized leapfrog development in medicine, teaching, and research in the process of high-quality hospital construction in the past five years; furthering a substantial cooperation with world-renowned universities and academic institutions actively was of great significance for promoting the establishment of a national medical center by Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital and the Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute.
Prof. Sabino Iliceto, Director of the Department of Cardiological Thoracic and Vascular Sciences and Public Health, University of Padua, delivered a speech on cooperation. As he recalled, exchanges and cooperation between China and Italy could be dated back to 1250-1300, when an Italian traveler Marco Polo visited China along the Silk Road, and this historic journey built a profound friendship between both countries. 800 years ago, the University of Padua established the world’s first medical school, which has trained generations of scientists, including Galileo Galilei and William Harvey. The University of Padua’s current cooperation with Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital and the Guangdong Cardiovascular Institute, which are well-known worldwide, will definitely attract the extensive attention of European peers, and make crucial contributions to the world’s medical sciences.
Mr. Valerio De Parolis, Consul-General of the Republic of Italy in Guangzhou, delivered an impassioned speech, in which he fully affirmed the significance of this strategic partnership in medicine, science, and education. Guangzhou and Padua are time-honored sister cities. The cooperation between the University of Padua and Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital will add greatly to the friendship between the sister cities, and further consolidate the ties of friendship between China and Italy.
Prof. Zhang Yun, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, also attended the symposium, and made in-depth discussions with experts from the University of Padua in many fields, including atherosclerosis, cardiovascular immunology, rare heart diseases, cardiovascular epidemiology, interventional cardiology, best management practices of heart centers, and talent training. Both sides also organized academic activities, such as grand rounds of difficult and rare diseases, and the seminar on clinical trial protocols on new instruments for interventional thrombectomy in acute pulmonary embolism.
Promoting cooperation and exchanges with world-class medical academic institutions actively is an important move of Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital to further the establishment of a national medical center. China and Italy are both ancient civilizations and comprehensive strategic partners for each other, and have extensive common interests and a solid foundation for cooperation. The academic cooperation between Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital and the University of Padua succeeds and carries forward the traditional bilateral friendship, and will inject fresh energy into the development of medical sciences and education in both countries.
Zhang Sijin, Jing Zhicheng
Updated: November 2, 2023
