The Third PerkinElmer Translational Medicine Annual Meeting, held at the National Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering, recently brought together nearly 200 scholars and experts from both home and abroad to discuss the latest advancements and challenges in translational medicine, focusing on the application of cutting-edge technologies like bioimaging in this field.
Yan Xuehai, Deputy Director of the National Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering, explained that the laboratory, established in 1992, focuses on engineering science issues in biotechnology industrialization. Through combining theoretical and practical research, it drives the development of China’s biotechnology and chemical engineering.
One of the main goals of the biochemical laboratory is to apply its research results to the medical field, a process known as medical translation. However, the field of translational medicine faces challenges such as obtaining the latest equipment, advanced technologies, and professional personnel, resulting in a gap between the rapid development of basic research and the expected application outcomes.
In 2017, the biochemical laboratory and PerkinElmer, a leading analytical instrument company, established a joint translational medicine engineering laboratory. This initiative aims to provide comprehensive translational medicine technology and experimental services for researchers from scientific institutions, pharmaceutical companies, and hospitals.
Over the past two years, the laboratory has served nearly 180 units, including Peking University and Tsinghua University, and completed 407 systematic experiments. It has organized 25 technical meetings, conducted 172 training sessions on the application of different equipment, and welcomed 613 visitors. Additionally, it has published high-level papers in journals such as Nat Mater, Nat Chem, Nat Commun, JACS, and Adv Mater. The lab has also made progress in clinical research for exosome-based and microsphere-based tumor vaccines, achieving personalized precision treatment. Some of the results have already been approved by the ethics committee and are ready to enter the clinical trial stage.
During the special report session, researchers from institutions such as the Institute of Process Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, the Academy of Military Sciences, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, NIBS, and Tsinghua University presented cutting-edge reports on their respective research fields.
Wei Wei, a researcher from the Institute of Process Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, discussed the research progress of biomedical materials at the National Laboratory of Biochemical Engineering. He explained how to design efficient tumor vaccines and novel bionic adjuvants with multiple pathogen characteristics based on material design.
Wang Yunfang, a researcher from the Affiliated Changgeng Hospital of Tsinghua University, presented a report titled Organoids and Tissue Engineering Assist in Disease Model Construction and Drug Development. She discussed how organoids and tissue engineering help construct disease models and evaluate drugs from multiple angles, including organ morphology and function, using human fetal liver stem cell 3D-induced liver cell organoids as a model.
After the conference, DeepTech conducted interviews with several experts on the opportunities and challenges in the field of translational medicine.
Wei Wei, using his own nanodrug research as an example, introduced the challenges faced by translational medicine. He mentioned that although nanodrugs have received significant attention in recent years, only a few have entered clinical trials, and only a handful have been commercialized. The low conversion efficiency of drug development is mainly due to the complex physiological environment of the human body and the long safety evaluation cycle of complex design and new chemical structures.
To accelerate the process of translational medicine, Wei Wei’s team, led by Ma Guanghui, adopted a different approach to ensure both safety and effectiveness while shortening the conversion cycle. They prefer to use materials approved or at least registered by the FDA and employ clever design to improve the application effect of nanodrugs. They hope to accelerate drug conversion and quickly bring them to clinical use.
Wang Yunfang shared her insights on the combination of basic research and clinical translation in translational medicine. She mentioned that her background is in clinical medicine, and she has shifted to biological science research. Now, she has established her laboratory in a hospital to address clinical problems. This allows her to have a deeper understanding of the challenges and issues in the combination of basic research and clinical translation in translational medicine.
Wang Yunfang pointed out that one of the challenges facing translational medicine is the mismatch of information. While multidisciplinary treatment models (MDT) are becoming more common, they are still limited to clinical medicine in hospitals. She believes that a broader MDT should include clinical diagnostic departments, such as pathology and molecular pathology, as well as molecular medicine, molecular imaging, and interventional departments. In addition, emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, multidimensional big data analysis, engineering, materials science, and nanodelivery systems should also be involved. Only by integrating these multidisciplinary and multi-technological approaches can we address some of the difficult-to-treat clinical problems and scientific or technical issues.
Wang Yunfang mentioned that the PDO model of organoids introduced today is a way to establish a model using a small amount of cells obtained from patients in clinical practice. This allows us to evaluate the effectiveness, safety, and potential risks of drugs by simulating the drug response in the patient’s body and even in the entire patient population.
Wang Yunfang also discussed the issue of cross-disciplinary talent training in the field of translational medicine. She mentioned that they are already working on some interdisciplinary projects with Tsinghua University, such as the doctoral training program for cross-disciplinary leaders in medicine. This program involves sending engineering graduate students specializing in computer science and big data to hospitals for training, and doctors to engineering colleges for further doctoral training. The goal is to cultivate interdisciplinary medical leaders who truly understand the connotation of translational medicine and can promote the bridge between basic research and clinical applications.
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