Serve Our Members Responsibly, Competently and Professionally

Chairman of CLSS-UK:  Dr Xiongzhong Ruan

        Chinese Life Scientists Society in the UK (abbreviated as the Society or CLSS-UK) is a non-profitable academic organisation, whose membership includes Chinese researchers across the life science field. It was founded with the support of the Education Section, Chinese Embassy in the UK and  support from the Chinese Students Scholars Association in the UK. CLSS-UK aims at facilitating the communication and collaboration among Chinese life scientists in the UK and in the motherland China.

           The History of CLSS-UK: The Society was founded in 1992. Annual Conference was the main form of the organisation in the first 10 years. CLSS-UK has also actively participated in many other programmes, such as the Spring Bud Programme, to promote the development of life sciences in China. Past Presidents of the Society include Dr Zihe RAO, Dr Fangzhen SUN, Dr Xiaoping GAO, Dr Jinrong PENG, Dr Ming LEI, Dr Min WU, Dr Qijun ZHANG, Dr Ningwen ZHU, Dr Wei WANG, Dr Xiaopeng LI, Dr Shijie CAI, Dr Xin LU and Dr Henglong HU and Qihe XU. In the past 17 years, CLSS-UK has taken on great initiatives, working passionately towards the aforementioned goals of the Society. It has played an irreplaceable role in maintaining UK's world-leading position in life sciences and enhancing the development of life sciences in China. It is especially remarkable that, in recent years, as more and more Chinese life scientists come to work abroad, CLSS-UK has evolved dramatically, with an ever-increasing size of member population, including tens of internationally renowned professors and programme leaders, hundreds of senior scientists, and thousands of research fellows, post-docs, and PhD students. Our members have been enjoying an ever-increasing visibility in all over the UK, from the traditional academic strongholds London, Oxford and Cambridge, to virtually all corners of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. In addition to the wide geographic coverage, the Society has boasted an increasing disciplinary coverage too, from clinical medicine to laboratory research, from traditional disciplines to emerging studies, from basic life science to bioengineering, from academia to related business and administration. This has, on one hand, provided the crucial prerequisite to organising multi-level, interdisciplinary, high-standard local or national events for members; on the other hand, it also posed new challenge to the administrative framework of the Society. During the past 6 years, chaired by Professor Xin LU, Dr Henglong HU and Dr Qihe XU, respectively, a two-year chairmanship with a standing committee serving as the core managerial team has been explored. The committee is composed of active scholars and senior members from universities, research institutes and pharmaceutical industry cross the UK with broad representation.

           The Present Status of CLSS-UK: As one of the oldest and largest Chinese professional societies in the UK, CLSS-UK currently has around 5,000 members. Many senior members have been playing leading roles in a wide range of fields. In China, Founding Chairman of CLSS-UK, Professor Zihe RAO, is now an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and is President of Nankai University. Former President Fangzhen SUN used to be Director of Institute for Developmental Biology CAS. Former standing committee members Dr George Fu GAO and Dr Bin GAO are current Director and Chair of a centre in Institute of Microbiology CAS, respectively. Also at CAS, one of our senior members, Dr Huiru TANG, has been enrolled into the Hundred of Talents Program and is at the frontier of China’s research on metabonomics. In the UK, Professor Qingbo XU at King’s College London has founded one of the biggest vascular biology research centres in Europe and is the Chair of two major research programmes focusing stem cells. Past CLSS-UK Chairman Dr Wei WANG is the leading inventor and programme leader in research of the third generation of computerised tomography technology. Dr Zhanfeng CUI and Dr Mingqing DU have become the first Chinese who are appointed full professors at Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, respectively. Former CLSS-UK president, Professor Xin LU has been appointed the first Chinese Director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research. Professor Ziheng YANG, University College London, has become the first British Chinese awarded the title of FRS (Fellow of Royal Society), due to his outstanding contribution to the theory of molecular evolution. Professor Tak H LEE, from King’s College London, Professor Kian Fan CHUNG from Imperial College, Professor Yongqiang KE from Liverpool University, Professor Ping WANG and Wen WANG from London University are leading figures in related fields.  Past President Qihe XU is a Principal investigator and Lecturer in the Department of Renal Medicine at King’s College London and is an internationally recognised nephrologists, cell biologist and activist in promoting collaboration between EU and China on the modernisation of traditional Chinese medicine. In addition to these outstanding academics, CLSS-UK also has members who are taking on senior administrative jobs in biomedical enterprises, including Past Presidents Dr Henglong HU, Dr Xiaopeng LI, and Past Vice President Dr Mingqiang ZHANG.

            The present Chairman of CLSS-UK, Dr Xiongzhong RUAN (University College London, UCL), is the Head of Lipid Research Laboratory in Royal Free and UCL medical School. As an example of CLSS-UK members serving the motherland, Dr Xiongzhong RUAN has been actively involved in the Spring Bud Programme and appointed as President Assistant of Chongqing Medical University. He has been supervising several National Key Scientific Projects of China, and also trained many researchers from China. The three Vice Chairmen are Dr Xin FANG (Executive and Standing Vice-Chairman) , Dr Hongwei ZHANG (Secretary-General) and Dr Shiyu YANG (Industry Liaison). Special appointments have been made to Prof Mingqing DU and Prof Qingbo XU as Honorary Chairmen, who join the Founding Chairman Prof Zihe RAO and other former CLSS-UK Chairs, to form the Advisory Committee, which is committed to the supervision of CLSS-UK’s social and academic activities. The Standing Committee is the ultimate decision-making authority of the Society. It elects members from all across the UK and represents members from different geographic and disciplinary areas. In practice, Chairman also appoints some Executive Committee members to assist the work of the Standing Committee.

          Departments within the Society include Finance, Secretariat, the Chinese Life Sciences Academy and the Corresponding Members’ Club. Dr Xuebin DONG is the Treasurer. Dr Hongwei ZHANG is the Secretary-General. The Secretariat is in charge of the housekeeping issues, coordinating the management of the Society. The Chinese Life Sciences Academy in the UK (ALSC-UK) is a department of CLSS-UK for senior members. It is responsible for the academic activities and external collaborations of the Society. Its select committee will carry out the nomination and selection procedures for its members. Professor Qingbo XU was selected as the President of the ALSC-UK. The Corresponding Members Club proposed will be in charge of the events and activities for members who have already returned China, in close collaboration with CLSS-UK and its Academy. The founding president of  CLSS-UK, Professor Zihe RAO has been invited as the Chairman of the Corresponding Members Club. Former Standing Committee Member, Professor Fu GAO and former vice-president of CLSS-UK Mingqiang ZHANG have been invited as the vice Chairmen of the club. Former standing committee member Dr Honggang ZHOU has been appointed as the secretary and coordinator for the Corresponding Members Club.

         The Prospect:  With the efforts of all members, the society is currently in a period of rapid development and becomes the biggest Chinese professional society in UK. The CLSS-UK has established its websites, published regular Newsletter, and established strategic partnerships with 16 sponsors. The quality and size of annual meeting of the CLSS-UK are gradually improved. The main gaols of current committee are to push the society to a more professional way and maintain the society in the mainstream of scientific societies.

          We are also aware that the society is faced with many challenges. The self-development of the CLSS-UK needs to be further strengthened. With the strong support by the previous committee, the transitional phase of the committee members has been a success, with experiences inherited and new enthusiasm evoked. But the current arrangement of the committee still needs to be improved, for example, the lack of committee members from Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as an imbalance in gender and areas of research. We cordially welcome nomination and self-nomination for opening standing committee vacancies. Secondly, the influence of the CLSS-UK to the members should be improved and membership database needs further refinement. Thirdly, the cohesion of the CLSS-UK to its members still needs to be strengthened. Fourthly, the fundraising campaign needs to be reinforced by attracting more funding from government, industries and charities. Implementation of designated spending control is to be combined with strict and institutionalised central financial management. In ensuring the academic conferences twice a year (the Annual meeting and the Northern Conference) in the future, we encourage our members and fellows to organise more small-scale academic and social activities. Finally, the launch of Corresponding Members Club in China has been a new initiative. The organisation and management of the Club should both enjoy autonomy and receive support and supervision from CLSS-UK. I sincerely wish this new programme enjoy a long-term success and look forward to the exciting future jointly constructed by CLSS-UK members both in China and in the UK!

           In conclusion, the core mission of the new CLSS-UK Committee is to service our members responsibly, competently and professionally. By strengthening teamwork, we will shoulder the responsibilities to serve both our motherland China and the UK, striving for a bigger contribution to the reconstruction of the science and technology development in China and in the academic exchange between China and the UK.