The 2nd CLSS-UK North UK Life Science Symposium

The 2^nd CLSS-UK North UK Symposium was held on July 4^th, 2009 at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. Around 40 Chinese life science researchers coming from different cities in Scotland and a few from England attended the meeting.

The meeting consists of 3 technical sessions covering a wide range of topics in systems biology, medical sciences and public health, and molecular cell biology. Each session was contributed by one invited presentation and several other oral presentations. To highlight the multidisciplinary research nature in life sciences, this year we had speakers from biology, maths, computing science and engineering. The three invited speakers are Professor Xuerong Mao, Dr. Jun Yu and Dr. Yiguo Zhang, who gave talks on stochastic modeling of biological systems, evolution of the virulence plasmid in Shigella sonnei, and molecular and cellular control of the membrane-bound Nrf1 transcription factor, respectively. There was a unique panel discussion session at the end of the meeting, which gave a good chance to all attendees to introduce themselves, their research and their opinions on how to further strengthen this network in the future. Many helpful comments and suggestions were raised in this open discussion session. All sessions were well attended and well organized thanks to the session chairs, Dr. Hong Yue from Glasgow (Programme Chair), Drs. Hongwu Ma and Le Yu from Edinburgh, Dr. Tao You from Aberdeen and Dr. Hailui Liao from Dundee. Dr Chengli Song from University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, a past CLSS-UK executive committee member, attended the meeting and donated £100 to support the event on behalf of his university.

The meeting proves to be a successful and enjoyable event that provides an opportunity for Chinese life scientists in north UK, especially those young members, to network with each other and learn from senior members. It was decided by this year’s organising committee that the 3^rd CLSS-UK North UK Symposium will be held in Dundee in 2010.

Glasgow was bright and fresh on the day of the meeting. Delegates from Edinburgh, Dundee, Aberdeen, Kent, London and of course Glasgow enjoyed the lovely sunshine and viewing the beautiful architecture of Glasgow’s grand historic buildings.

For more pictures taken during the meeting, please visit the following web page:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/youtao80/200907042ndNorhtUKMeetingCLSSRoyalCollegeBuildingGlasgow?authkey=Gv1sRgCM_C95n36re8TA#
 

(by Dr Hong Yue)