International experts and scholars explored One Health in relation to university–industry collaboration in medical technology and beyond at the 12th QS WorldClass conference hosted by City University of Hong Kong (CityU) and QS Asia, a prestigious international institute.

The conference held from 12 to 14 June attracted presidents, vice-presidents and deans of higher education institutions from the US, Russia and Asia and was titled “One Health: University-Industry Collaboration in Medical Technology and Beyond”.

Lectures covered global public health, university–corporate research collaboration, the prospects for integrating Western and Chinese medicine, and education on drug use.

Professor Julie Li Juan, CityU’s Associate Provost (Academic Planning and Undergraduate Education), officiated at the opening ceremony. She said  One Health played a major role in CityU’s education, research and knowledge transfer. For example, CityU’s Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine programme, the first of its kind in Hong Kong, trains veterinary professionals while its pioneering research improves Hong Kong’s public health and livestock and fish farming industry.

In his opening remarks, Dr Kevin Downing , Chair of QS WorldClass and Director of Institutional Research Office, CityU said universities have the responsibility to solve urgent issues such as climate change and energy crisis. “CityU excels in all these areas and is well placed to contribute even more to food safety with the establishment of Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences (JCC).”

Professor Sir Colin Blakemore, Senior Fellow of CityU’s Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study, delivered an opening keynote speech. He used mad cow disease, the rabies virus, and the sight disorder amblyopia, known as “l(fā)azy eye” to demonstrate that One Health demands a commitment to interdisciplinary research among universities, funding agencies and publishers. His talk was titled “One Health: An interdisciplinary challenge”.

The implementation of interdisciplinary One Health is needed to tackle highly complex risks such as global infectious diseases, according to Professor Dirk Pfeiffer, Associate Dean (Research) of JCC and Chair Professor of One Health, in his speech “One Health for an ever more complex future”.

QS WorldClass is a platform for senior leaders from academia and industry from around the world to share ideas and build the relationships needed to put them into action.

Advocating the One Health concept, CityU established JCC, the first of its kind in Hong Kong. JCC offers world-class education and cutting-edge research in veterinary and biomedical sciences.

Media enquiry:
Kenix Wong, Communications and Public Relations Office, CityU (Tel: 3442 5228 or 9753 9505)