Senior CLSS-UK Members Lead EU-funded Chinese
Medicine Research
EU-funded Chinese medicine
research
Dr Qihe Xu, Chairman of the
CLSS-UK, and his colleague at King's Colleague
London have led a successful bid for a FP7
coordination action programme grant entitled
Good Practice in Traditional Chinese Medicine
Research in the Post-genomic Era (GP-TCM). With
funding of 995,100, the project has officially
started on 1st May 2009.
The project will review the
current status of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
research, identify problems and propose possible
solutions by applying functional genomic
approaches. Guidelines and priority areas for
future research will be proposed through 3 years
of networking and discussions leading to the
formation of a new academic society, the
European Society of TCM Research, to facilitate
and foster sustainable EU-China collaboration in
this area.
The project brings together a
consortium of 29 beneficiary partner
institutions and small-and-medium-sized
enterprises from the EU and China. The
consortium is further strengthened by
partnership with more than 20 additional
non-beneficiary institutions,
small-and-medium-sized enterprises and
independent experts.
A holistic approach
Dr Xu, coordinator of the
project, explained, In contrast to the
reductionist approach of Western medicine that
is based on modern anatomy, cell and molecular
biology, TCM uses a unique theory system and an
individualised holistic approach to describe
health and disease, based on the philosophy of
Yin-Yang balance with an emphasis on harmony of
functions. These two medical systems disagree
with each other in many situations since they
observe health from their own limited
perspective. GP-TCM aims to inform best
practice and harmonise research of TCM in the EU
using a functional genomics approach through
exchange of opinions, experience and expertise
among scientists, clinicians and pharmaceutical
sector in the EU and China."
"In 10 work packages, we will
review the current status, identify problems and
propose solutions in the quality control,
extraction and analysis of Chinese herbal
medicines. While these fundamental issues are
addressed, discussion emphasising the use of
functional genomics methodology in research on
the safety, efficacy and mechanisms of Chinese
herbal medicines and acupuncture are at the core
of this project. It will include the application
of the technique in in-silico modelling,
cell-based models, animal models and clinical
studies. Guidelines about good practice and
agreed protocols in related research areas will
be published to harmonise future TCM research in
the EU and online tools and research resources
will be made available to all EU member states.
Indispensible roles for Fellows
of the ALSC-UK
"As an excellent example of
productive collaborations among of CLSS-UK
members, Dr Tai-Ping Fan and Prof Kelvin Chan,
Fellows of the Academy of Life Sciences for
Chinese in the UK (ALSC-UK), play critical roles
in this international consortium. Prof Kelvin
Chan leads the work package on research and
development of Chinese medicine and is also a
Co-Chair of the Standard Operating Protocol
Panel of the Consortium. Dr Tai-ping Fan is not
only an Assistant Coordinator of the whole
Consortium but also serves as Editor-in-chief of
our GP-TCM Newsletters and website while serving
as deputy or assistant lead of two additional
work packages. In order to promote
collaborations among Chinese and European
scientists and governments, Dr Fan represented
the GP-TCM Consortium to co-organise an
international meeting on Chinese medicine
research in Beijing in January 2009, well before
the project has been officially launched. The
meeting was co-organised by the GP-TCM
Consortium, the Ministry of Science and
Technology (MOST) of China, the Chinese Academy
of Medical Sciences (CAMS) and Innovation China
UK. It attracted top scientists from both Europe
and China and has proven to be a great success
in forging collaborations."
Photo legend:
Group photo of GP-TCM Consortium group leaders
and top TCM scientists and senior officials from
China and Europe at the Beijing meeting. The 2nd
and 4th of the front row are Dr Qihe XU and Dr
Tai-Ping FAN; the 2nd on the right of the 2nd
row is Prof Kelvin Chan. The 6th-13th of the
front row are Academicians Prof Lianda LI, Prof
Peigen XIAO, Dr Michael PULCH, Deputy Head of
Delegation of the European Commission to China,
Academician LIU Depei, President of CAMS, Mr
Xiaoming JIN, Director General of MOST
Department of International Cooperation,
Academician Prof Shengli YANG, Mr Jijun XING,
Director of the European Section of the MOST
Department of International Cooperation, and
Principal Scientist of the European Commission
Dr Philippe VIALATTE, among other senior
officials and members of the co-organisers.
Related link on the King's
College London website:
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/news_details.php?news_id=1064&year=2009
Related link on the Chinese
Central Government website:
http://www.gov.cn/gzdt/2009-01/19/content_1208701.htm
Homepage of ALSC-UK Fellows:
http://www.clss.org.uk/ALSC-UK_Fellows.html
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