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Professor John W. Semple from Lund University visits Qilu Hospital

inputtime:2023-11-30 11:08:00 From:Qilu Hospital

November 13-14, renowned international scholar, Prof. John W. Semple from Lund University and University of Toronto visited Qilu Hospital. President of Qilu Hospital Chen Yuguo, Vice President Cheng Yufeng, Vice President Peng Jun welcomed him.
On the afternoon of Nov. 13, John W. Semple attended the 2023 Qilu International Hematology Symposium as well as the 68th Qilu Guangzhi Forum, and gave an academic lecture. Chen Yuguo attended the meeting and gave a speech. Heads of Hematology Department and the International Office, young talents, and postgraduates attended the meeting. The meeting was co-hosted by Cheng Yufeng and Peng Jun.

Chen Yuguo extended a warm welcome to Prof. Semple on behalf of Qilu Hospital. He pointed out that, Shandong Province is a populous province which has a strong expertise in medicine. As the leading institution in the region, Qilu Hospital has been expanding its global influence in healthcare sector and scientific innovation. International talent exchanges and cooperation is an important engine to promote the hospital’s high-quality development, and he hopes this opportunity will lay a solid foundation for more practical cooperation between the two sides.

Cheng Yufeng introduced attendees of the two sides. He said that the high-quality development of the hospital cannot be achieved without extensive participation and collaboration among all sides. Qilu Hospital will firmly implement General Secretary Xi Jinping’s instructions of talent work, and relentlessly enhance the ability to serve foreign experts working in China, to promote the hospital’s healthcare work and help build a global community of human health for all.

The academic lecture part was hosted by Peng Jun. He introduced Prof. Semple, and pointed out that the connection between advanced experience and managerial techniques could benefit the discipline construction in the hospital. The Hematology Department has established good cooperation with Prof. Semple through the foreign expert project at the provincial level, and will explore deeper and broader exchanges in the future.

Prof. John W. Semple subsequently delivered a lecture titled “An update on the pathophysiology and therapy of immune thrombocytopenia (ITP)”, shared the latest pathogenesis and treatment progress of ITP. He suggested that ITP is mainly caused by a variety of immune cell disorders, and about half of the patients with ITP have no response or recurrence in the first-line treatment, and some patients are not sensitive to the second-line treatment, so the new treatment and other potential pathogenesis still need to be further explored. After the lecture, Prof. Semple had a heated discussion with attendees.

Chen Teng, Director of the International Office,said in the closing speech that, the International Office will closely follow the strategy of serving the country and the hospital’s development, focus on implementing the cooperation on international advanced technologies and talents. He hoped that both sides will increase understanding and exchanges and yield more results in the future.
On November 14, Prof. John W. Semple gave a themed report titled “A brief history of immune thrombocytopenia (ITP)”, sharing with hematology healthcare professionals in terms of discovery, diagnosis, pathogenesis and therapeutic advances in ITP. Then he proposed substantial and targeted suggestions on young researcher’s research progress.

During his stay, Prof. Semple visited the Educational Department, International Office, Basic Medicine Research Center, and Qilu Building. President Peng Jun and Deputy Director of the International Office Xu Shuqian kept him company.
Prof. John W. Semple now works in Lund University, Sweden, and University of Toronto, Canada. He was appointed as our high-level expert at the provincial level in 2022. He has published more than 200 SCI papers on high-level international journals including BLOOD, Nature Review Immunology as the corresponding or first author. He has hosted or participated 52 scientific and research projects, with a total grant of over 1000,000 dollars. In 2021, Prof. Semple was invited to nominate candidates for the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

By Sun Yingtao, Ji Haoyi